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So missus doing the food shop the other day, 4 Pinter of milk leaked and about 1 pint of milk leaked onto the rear seats, down the seatbelt gaps so under the seat and some into the footwell.
Cleaned up what we could, cue 3 days later car absolutely stinks! It’s an Astra with leather/leatherette seats so think milk has seeped into all the small holes…
Any advice? I’ve read equal parts of water and vinegar liberally dabbed on with a cloth so it soaks into the foam inside the seat.
Quite happy to have someone valet it too, but wouldn’t be happy if 3 days later after the valet smells wore off the smell started coming back.
Wind the windows down and spray air freshener when you use the car. The smell will fade once it all dries out.
Not so much the seats themselves, it’s more likely to have soaked the carpet and the felt underlay that covers the steel bodyshell, so that’s where your problem is going to be. It might require the seats being removed and the carpet given a thorough cleaning, possibly steam cleaning to get the worst out. Probably your best option is to get it thoroughly valeted by a professional cleaning company who know how to deal with spills and the like.
Working with ex-fleet cars, especially Motability cars, they often stank of dogs and cigarette smoke, and possibly other things, and even with a thorough cleaning inside, the smell would come back, especially in hot weather, but it was more or less ‘baked in’ after a couple of years or more - yours is still pretty fresh, so catching it early is key. A worthwhile expense, but it could have been much worse - it could have been a tin of paint… 😖
It will have gone under the rear seats, and possibly down under the carpet - but not necessarily.
First thing to do is pull up the rear seat. It's usually easy to do - in some cars I've seen you just pull it up, but do check the internet for your make and model, there might be clips you need to release. From there you'll be able to see if it's overflowed the under-seat area and dribbled in to the carpet - probably not.
This a good idea generally when cleaning a smelly old car, there's probably loads of other crap under there especially if kids have been back there on long trips 🙂
This happened to my dad’s car when we were kids. Unfortunately, and despite best efforts It was never the same again. The car absolutely stank (as you’ve experienced.). The smell slowly faded but never really left and seemed to be reactivated when the car got hot in the summer months. Hopefully you can get the seats out, steam clean etc… Good luck.
Crash for cash to write it off. Anything else is just tinkering
I spilled milk in the rear footwell on a camping trip once. Stank for months. Cleaned, put baking soda down, cleaned again... It either went away eventually or I just got used to it.
Burn the car. Only surefire way to deal with it 🤷🏼♂️
This happened to my dad’s car when we were kids. Unfortunately, and despite best efforts It was never the same again. The car absolutely stank (as you’ve experienced.). The smell slowly faded but never really left and seemed to be reactivated when the car got hot in the summer months.
Same as my car about a decade ago. Still stinky when it was sold a couple of years later.
You need to get some of that early covid, the good stuff with the smell ruining facility.
Don’t cry.
OK, in stepwise order.
If not already done, go back to school / college and get physics A level.
Use that to get on a physics degree course at a top University with a high element of quantum theory, and then take that on to PhD level.
Make it your life's work to understand the theory that eventually enables you to build a functioning time machine.
Go back in time to the day your wife did the shopping and make sure she doesn't buy leaky milk (remember to allow for continental drift when setting your co-ordinates to avoid an embarrassing mistake)
It sounds involved, but it's still easier than getting the gone-off milky smell out of car fabric.
Wind the windows down and spray air freshener when you use the car. The smell will fade once it all dries out.
I'm not saying you are a liar...
... But you bloody are.
It would be a shame if say whilst filling up at the petrol station you accidentally covered the car in fuel then you tripped and accidentally lit a box of matches that fell into the fuel tank...
There's a big kitty in Berlin who could lick it clean?
This happened to my dad’s car when we were kids. Unfortunately, and despite best efforts It was never the same again.
Ditto. We used to deliver milk from the farm and one customer insisted that we fill her own can, rather than supply it in cartons. One day, this can fell over in the footwell of the van and spilled. Despite my dad hosing the carpet, the van stank ever after. It used to seem that the smell had gone, but hot weather always used to bring it back.
I’d go with a professional valet company or sell the car quickly.
In all seriousness, if it's something that really bothers you and it has soaked into the seat, I'd look into how much it might cost to replace it.
If it's soaked into the floor, I'd remove the seat and wet vac (you can buy one for £50 from screwfix).
If anything, removing the seat might pinpoint where the problem lies.
Had a kids milk drink forgotten under the front seats that exploded after a few hot days. The spill was easy to reach and only a smallish area, but it still took multiple wet vacs, cleaning products and months for the smell to go. Had to drive with the windows open for weeks.
The smell you have is N-butyric acid (smells of baby vomit). To really get rid you need a mild alkali to neutralise it. Bicarb or something should do the trick. Neutralise the acid and the smell will be eliminated.
Failing that then resort to the obvious petrol and matches.
Exactly what's been said above. Had it happen in a car where a pint spilt in the footwell. Other than shampoo it, you may have to put up with a stinky car for a bit - semi skimmed should be less bad than full fat.
I had a 2 pint bottle of full fat 'milkshake' (just picked it up from a local dairy) on the way home last month. All over the car boot, and into the spare tyre well.
Pulled everything out, wiped down, then hosed off the boot carpet for about 20 minutes. Fortunately it dried fine and no smell.
Leave unlocked with keys in the ignition and hope some scrote takes the bait. Double win as you lose the car and the scrote regrets their actions and will think twice before doing it again
Cat piddle smells worse. One of ours wasn't a great traveller, and widdled through the cat carrier slats over the rear seat. Loads of shampoo, add in hot weather, steamy cat piddle smell every time you got in for weeks.
I've heard that baking soda is a good DIY approach although I've no idea how effective it is.
This happened to my dad’s car when we were kids. Unfortunately, and despite best efforts It was never the same again.
Same here (but with toddler sick). The smell only went when we gave the keys back to the lease company.
Similar to above, only way to really get rid of it is to take seats out and properly clean underneath, unfortunately its likely got everywhere.
Speak to a local car detailer/Valet if you dont want to do it yourself im sure they will be helpful.
DIY approach, other than baking soda you can get an Enzyme Eater a company called valet pro do one https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/valet-pro-enzyme-odour-eater-500ml?language=en-gb¤cy=GBP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0_3Ho5SngAMVi9ntCh2DwAKQEAQYAyABEgLoB_D_BwE
I used this stuff after my teenage son vomited in the footwell of my old car, saturated the area with interior cleaner, wet vac'd that all out, put this stuff down.
Rinse and repeat the above until the smell goes, took me a good 3/4 times repeating the above before the smell went. And that was with rubber mats.
wife spilt a cappuchino in the rear footwell of our car.
tried , vanish cleaner , steam cleaning , Baking soda , hoovering with the wet ne dry. before resorting to removing all the seats ripping the carpet out , steam cleaning , pressure washing and fabreezing it. when the carpet was out - i cleaned the floor , the milk had drived under the rubber flooring - youd never have got it out without removing the carpet....
Left it dry in the spare room for a couple of days with the dehumidifier .and refitted.
No smell since even on hot days.
Hahaha wow what a lot of interesting advice, some more useful than others as I’m sure you’ll agree 😂
have been in touch with a pro valet company who are booked up so if I can figure out how to get the bench seat out of an Astra J I’m going to attempt the baking soda approach and a wet vac…. Sadly even following online guides can’t get the seat out from the front fixings… so more googling required!
the “leave keys in the car and hope some scrote takes it” as well as “just burn it” made me laugh though thank you.
Taking it to fort bill world champs soon too, would take my Audi but hers is bigger! Sod!
the milk had drived under the rubber flooring – youd never have got it out without removing the carpet….
Yep. The smell isn't in the fabric any more, you've sorted that. It's under it. So no amount of chemical scrubbing will get rid, cos you're scrubbing in the wrong place.
If it's gone into the flooring, then you can remove the rear seat bench and the front seats as well. It's surprisingly easy to do and then you can pull up the carpet which will be held on around the edges with some kind of popper probably.
Re the fixings, it's always needed a lot of force when I've done it.
Happened to me. You need an enzymee cleaner like Simple Solution (available in large pet shops).
I removed the rear bench seat. Cut the affected section of carpet out. Cleaned it thoroughly, then let to soak in Simple Solution.
Waitied for it to dry and then stuck the underseat carpet section back in using carpet tape or duct tape.
Did the job but it was a right pain!
Good luck.
have been in touch with a pro valet company who are booked up
Did they tell you that before or after you told them what the problem was? 😉
https://www.pharmacydirect.co.nz/Nilodor-Spray-Mist-Deodoriser-100ml.html
You need this. It has magical powers.
Also maybe an ozone machine
Thanks so I’ve covered the area in the car and the back bench seat in baking soda and will leave it like that for a few days. Also bought some enzyme cleaner to after that give it a good dousing then we’ve been offered a wet/vac is required…. Tbh she’s getting rid of the car quite soon but can’t have it honking like it is… worse case scenario then douse the leather (as it has holes in) with equal parts water and white vinegar and then literally rinse the thing to death once it’s broken down any milk left over and give it days to dry out… nobody sits there anyway, just the young lad and he’s in a baby seat! In the mean time my car’s getting some miles on it so sooner I sort it the better 🤣
Thanks so I’ve covered the area in the car and the back bench seat in baking soda and will leave it like that for a few days.
You run the risk of damaging the leather or stitching like that. Don't just throw an endless series of chemicals at it, you'll just end up with even more gunk in even more places.
If you're applying stuff to the seats, you aren't touching the milk. It's not ON the seats, it's under them.
Don’t just throw an endless series of chemicals at it, you’ll just end up with even more gunk in even more places.
The best stuff to use is petrol....
...and a match
😀
Deliberately hid a fish in the tractor cab of a shopping center i used to work in.
I think they would have been happier had we poured milk in instead. Every time it drove past the shop we got the view of the gigantic tin of industrial strength air freshener they started to keep in the cab. That always raised a smile.
Tbh she’s getting rid of the car quite soon but can’t have it honking like it is…
That will be a job for winter then.
My MiL had the same thing happen. In her case the car cleaner pulled out the interior and steam cleaned it, then they scrubbed the bare floor and surrounding area. Afterwards they they used some kind of chemical in a fog machine inside the car and let the car run with the blowers on recirculate for quite some time.
People always give me odd looks when I tip the milk upside down in the supermarket and check the lid is not leaking. But having smelt the results in the car mentioned above, i'm taking zero chances!!
As an update (and thank you so far) vacuumed, enzyme cleaner, getting a wet vac on it next and had a holts odour bomb delivered. Last time I smelt, it didn’t smell of milk anyway it smelt like someone was trying to get rid of the smell of milk with a chemical cleaner 😂
we continue!