[godog]

Originally Posted by ascertain

Today morning I opened the door and found an "ODONIL" bar on the floor, on enquiring as to which brilliant soul put it there- Professor Moriarty's name cropped up again (read- my wife) . Now it has a very very strange stink (Old socks+Sour curd + jasmine)
My dear fellow BHP-ians - please please guide me out of this precarious situation- eventhough I am getting extra nicities from the wife, the thought of having my car stink like this really cuts deep.

I need suggestions on HOW TO GET RID OF THE STINK from the spilt milk.

Do keep in mind that it's now 8 days from the unfortunate event.

Contrary to the age old saying - I AM crying over spilt milk!

Oye Sherlock. Remove the carpet from the car ASAP. This will entail removing the seat/s first. Delay this and you'll end up with maggots. My dad has this fascination with dairy ka doodh as well. His cars have stank for years; right now the alto stinks like blechhh. Some genius also tried Dettol- undiluted. DON'T.

Remove the carpet. The acidic suggestion is pretty close to the best thing. However, phenyl is a little too extreme. See if you've got holes in the carpet by now. Mild disinfectants should do ok. Your best bet is the sun. If there's sunshine, make hay out of your floormat.

Let it dry completely, bake the poor thing if needed

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Where is that thread on cats?

Soak the affected carpet in water mixed with a SURF or some clothes detergent. Then dry it by using a sponge. Repeat this twice and leave it in the sun with the doors open. Give 24 hours for the smell to totally dissappear. Dont keep carpets on the wet area and dont let people stamp on that area either.

I tried this when instead of milk i had Barley water poured on the carpets of my dad's ANHC.

Originally Posted by quicksilver

+1 to that, it had worked for me on umpteen occasions when I was hesitant to use some perfume to remove the odor from my car.

You can also try camphor. Place lumps of camphor underneath the seat and it may absorb most of the bad odor.

You can try a combination of the above, but do remove the carpet/ all infected cloth-like material from the car first. Don't bake the car itself!

[Ravveendrra]

Hats off to you for a brilliant read. The humour floored me.

Something similar happened to me. A packet of milk split in the dickie of my car during a long drive. The stink was unbearable.

I first irrigated the carpet after opening the drain holes. Next I washed the whole carpet with about 2 buckets of surf & water. I then washed out the surf with lots more water. The stink gradually disappeared. I think the trick lies in using lots of water. (My parking space was flooded by the time I finished.)

Cheers and best of luck,

[T_Girl]

Hi can't help quoting "men are men". Though it's quite humorous the way you have put the entire incident. Instead of experimenting it at home I think it is advisable to give it to an expert car cleaner. The carpet can be dry cleaned and put back.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Lol!!! Hilarious! Although i don't have a remedy for you, i have made a list of things suggested as of now. Do let us know what happens once you mix all of these together!!!
milk +
-phenyl and soap
-ODONIL
-SURF
-Odour Neutraliser
-Lux
-lemon juice
-HOT water
-shampoo
-Colin spray
-neem twigs with leaf
-saucer of vinegar
-cocoa powder
-camphor
Mix the above and bake in sunlight!

[quickdraw]

You should remove the carpet asap. The milk is rotting below it and you will soon have a insect problem to add to all this. Take it to a specialist car cleaner asap!

[mmmjgm]

Hi ascertain.

Very entertaining post on a trivial incident.

Do also note, the best solution is to take your car to a professional car cleaning outfit, if not remove the carpet and take it to a carpet cleaner/dry cleaner.

Home style jugaads will not help you getting the correct thing done. The reason is if you wash your car with water/mild detergents/mild acids, there are chances of rust and other uninvited problems coming in.

Say for example there's the Chassis number which i understand on a ford Fiesta is on the floor inside a plastic housing, if water were to go there, there are chances of rust, the problem won't be evident now but then later it will be an issue.

There are also wires criscrossing the floorpan of the car, be it your handbrake light wire, your speaker wires, etc. If some of these electrical items were to short, it may damage your ECU. To be on the safe side, its going to be wise to let the professionals do a good job of it.

Again, having dealt with chemicals and plastics, you will have to watch out for the grommets getting attacked by chemicals, some of these rubber grommets may or may not stand upto chemicals.

Then present your wife with the cleaning bill, that should help in dissuading her from transporting milk and associated food stuffs in the car.

Cheers

[goandude]

I Really enjoyed the manner in which this was narrated and couldnt stop laughing. The solutions suggested were also ingenuous. Told to shut up a number of times by daughter who was wathcing tv.

[iceman91]

Just a suggestion throw coffee beans in there. They mask the other smell and coffee beans smell nice.

[anupamsinha]

Very nicely put. Makes an interesting read.

Just for information : Milk is acidic in nature.

[HappyWheels]

(I am actually laughing my head-off while trying to post a serious advice here! )

You need to first take out the carpet and clean that and also the milk that would be beneath it. God only knows what it might have turned to now!!!

It might lead to something even worse and maybe a feeding ground!

Another option is, assuming that you love tea, put in some tea powder all around. At least smell of tea is better than milk!

[Nitin]

Oh dear! Not meaning to sound like an MCP..but women sure have a knack of doing things different! Poor you, I hope you are able to get rid of the odor!

[greenhorn]

hey, be glad the milk didnt fall on and drown your rainbow HU - that was what I was first afraid of when i read the thread title.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Never try to cover one bad smell by using another: it does not work, it just makes for a combination of smells!

Take the advice to have the car professionally cleaned, or, if you want to take it on, go the full-carpet-removal route. Drying out the milk by thoroughly airing the car may achieve some small relief (though it is just as likely to achieve cheese!) but it can only be temporary; that organic matter will start to do its organic, smelly thing again, any time it gets damp.

You have to wash all that milk away before drying it out.

Good luck, and thanks for the great tale!

[Zahir]

Dude! If you're wife reads how much you're mocking her, it might solve your problem of having to smell a stinky car.... because when you die, you wont be able to smell anything! hahahah

Just call a good car wash, there are tons that come home and wash your car and you will be fine. My family thinks our logan is a dining table on wheels, smells horrible! Got the car wash guys to come over and they did a good job

[Roy.S]

My friends 2 yr old daughter once threw up her formula all over the rear seat of my swift. It smelt terrible and to make matters worse, we were holidaying in Ooty at the time. Managed to find the one shop in Conoor that stocks car care products. Hey gave me a can of upholstery cleaner from Wurth manufactured in Ireland. It cost Rs. 485 and is one of the best solutions for this kind of stuff. The pukey smell was gone after about 15 min of spraying and wiping. I have seen the same product at the Shell pump near the Chennai airport.
Ascertain, I feel your pain, but cannot stop laughing.

Originally Posted by null

Try adding other stuff? Mustard? dry fish? etc.. one at a time.. after a couple of days each time.. that way you can enjoy new flavors in your car daily. ....

Mercy! My sides are splitting!

Originally Posted by quicksilver

You can also try camphor.

Worked very well when I was trying to get rid of the horrid 'cheap plastic' smell in my new Swift.

Originally Posted by anupamsinha

Just for information : Milk is acidic in nature.

Hell! I didn't know that. You're right. Looked it up on Wikipedia.