How to Remove Odors from Your Car or Truck's Interior

Uh oh, you accidentally left your car's sunroof open and it rained. How are you ever going to get that smell out of the interior? Here's how it's done.

Category: Interior
Tags: smell, odor, remove, mildew, mold

Added Jan 25, 07 by car_man

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Uh oh, you accidentally left your car's sunroof open and it rained. How are you ever going to get that smell out of the interior? Here are some tips on how it is done from someone who accidentally left the top off of his Jeep and had to actually park it on a hill and open the back to let all of the water out.

Step 1: Dry your vehicle's interior.
OK, first things first. Completely dry out your vehicle's interior using towels. Paper towels will work, too but you may end up going through a lot of them. If your car's still damp and you have access to an electrical outlet, you can use a hairdryer to help speed along the drying process. If you don't have access to a hair dryer or a plug, you can turn your vehicle's heat on so that it blows out where your feet would be and crank it up to full. The hot, moving air often helps dry your floors off.

Step 2: Locate the source of the problem
Use your nose and sniff around to try to find the source of the stench. Pay close attention to the carpet, floor mats, seats (especially cloth seats), and even the air conditioning vents.

Step 3: Air out the floor mats.
If the floor mats are the source of the smell, pull them out of your car or truck and let them bake in the sun for a few days. Make sure that it is not going to rain before doing this, or you'll be back to square one :). If you can't get the smell out of your floor mats, you can always throw them out and buy new ones.

Step 4: Put baking soda on the problem areas.
If there are other areas of your vehicle in addition to the floor mats that smell musty, sprinkle baking soda on them and massage it into the carpeting. Let the baking soda do its job for several hours, preferably over night and then vacuum it up.

STEP 5: Apply a commercial odor removal product if necessary.
If your car still smells funky, you may have to resort to a commercial odor removal product, such as.

Step 6: Clean out the air conditioning vents.
If you think that your vehicle's air conditioning vents smell funny as well, clean them with a q-tip or cotton ball that has been soaked in Windex or some other cleaning product. Then crank the heater for a while to dry out the inside.

Step 7: Spray the interior.
If the smell persists, try spraying Lysol on the smelly areas, including into the air conditioning vents. Lysol works great on mildew. Febreze often helps remove persistent odors as well.

Step 7: Leave the windows open.
Leaving your vehicle's windows open will help any smells dissipate. Just make sure that it isn't going to rain or you'll have to start all over again.

Step 8: Leave an odor absorber in your vehicle
While I have never personally tried it, some people claim that leaving charcoal or a bowl of vinegar in your vehicle will help to eliminate any smells.

STEP 9: If these steps don't work, seek professional help.
If you try all of the aforementioned techniques and your vehicle still smells musty, you may need to take it to a professional vehicle detailer to get their help.

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Recent Comments (5 total):

keng4 - Aug 29, 2008 2:18 pm

I found that using a fragranced air freshener just covers up the problem. I recently read about a product called Innofresh AUTO odor eliminator which I tried and it was truly really very good. The activated carbon filter really did get rid of the smell and I wasn't left with some masking fragrance. I was considering some of the other sprays and gels which claim to get rid of odors but they all had some fragrance or the warning statements were pretty bad. With Innofresh auto, no chemicals to worry about and completely fragrance free which I love. I really recommend this product and found that it is available at Checker auto, Schucks, kragren and Murrays auto. I give it highest rating. very satisified.

604doc - Aug 18, 2007 9:33 am

I also heard that placing a small bowl of lemon ammonia in the car overnight will get rid of cigarette smoke smell.

machgmars - May 27, 2007 7:46 pm

As this is a great thread and all advice is pertinent and will work, for how long will it. Odors are very problematic but not permanent. In order to eradicate an odor you must know its source and remove the source. Odors permiate all surfaces in a car and must be cleansed thouroughly. Odor removal professionals can 85% of the time eliminate odors for a period of 6-8 months. The odor may return but not as strong depending on the original source. It is possible to eradicate most all odors but there are exceptions and if you smell that exception you will know. LOL .I provide these services as a certified professional in the central Ohio area. Please let me know if you have any questions. If not all of the advise here is very good and will work to a degree. www.marsinternational.com

ilaveo - May 13, 2007 5:19 pm

Generally good advice but I have two comments. I would recommend step 2 to be: "Clean the whole car including shampooing the carpet while trying to locate the source of the stench." Maybe your roommate left a piece of Limburger someplace you won't find unless you clean eveywhere. I have also noticed that sometimes (particularly in fall) musty smells from the vents come from leaf litter that has collected in the fresh air intake area. Cleaning this area (under the hood just in front of the wipers in some cars) and changing the cabin air filter if your car has one, may help eliminate vent odors. I think this probably should be part of Step 6.

steve_ - Feb 24, 2007 9:38 pm

Fresh ground coffee does a good job of covering up smells for a week or two. After a few snowboard trips, I toss some on my rear floor mats to cover up the damp smell and repeat until the warm weather comes and I can really air out my Subaru.