[aah78]

Similar story narrated by my wife.

Once, her father bought a quart of milk (in a cardboard carton). He kept the bag along-with other groceries in the rear loading area of his Grand Cherkoee.

The carton slipped out of the plastic bag and into some tight spacer, under the rear seats, and there it lay forgotten for a while.

The car stank for months and nobody could figure out why until somehow they re-discovered the, by now, decomposed carton.

They had to have the carpets removed and new ones put in.

[MillionSwords]

Add these to your recipe:-
Black Coal Piece - removes odor
Peeled Small Onion[bellary] - removes odor

Ambi Pur has a odor [neutralizer] bottle dispenser, which can be fitted to the perfume diffuser, it helps - leave the doors closed, open the diffuser to full mouth, leave it all night, and open the doors and roll windows down 1 hour prior to driving.

[What I did once was, to remove the carpet, all of them and drip dry them in hot sun!]

[ascertain]

OK BHPians - my god - this thread is catching on quite fast I must say. I am headed to my car with a saucer of vinegar. camphor in a small pack and some charcoal- hope for the best!.. hope I come out of the car alive!.

[ascertain]

Ok guys- placed the saucer of vinegar on the carpet, and put camphor pellets on the floor (right & Left) - the car is in the sun. Made it out alive.

Am giving it 3 hours waiting time. took out the rubber mat and floor covering from the boot too, and kept it open in the sun.. now hope for the best.

I just chanced to see some flower petals on the floor-It's not Moriarty's work ,this time its the snoopy driver, who must have decided that the best place to air the car to get rid of the stink would have been under a flowering tree or something.. Just wait till I get hold of him tomorrow!

There's some yellow petals in between the seats, the seat recesses- everywhere- looks like he ran a mobile tulip shop from inside. Anyway-I spent 1 hour cleaning the car, and its better.

[Thad E Ginathom]

None of that will remove the milk solids, including the fats, from the carpet; you must get rid of the cause, don't just try to cove the effect!

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Alright. Here's a tried and test method that works. Got it from a friend in the 'cleaning' industry.

Quoting from his email:

Removing and Treating Sour Milk Odors

Speaking of deodorizer, another method that works well in some cases is using baking soda.

-Blot excess milk with a sponge or paper towel.
-Sprinkle baking powder on the stained area.
-Using a small spray bottle of water, lightly mist the baking powder making sure it absorbs the water.
-Allow the wet baking powder to dry overnight.
-When it has completely dried, scrape off the excess; using a small brush, give it a light brushing to loosen the rest of the baking soda.
-Vacuum the whole area.
-If the stain remains, treat with lemon juice.
-Allow the lemon juice to remain for about 15 minutes.
-Then spray with water and blot with a paper towel

[ascertain]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

None of that will remove the milk solids, including the fats, from the carpet; you must get rid of the cause, don't just try to cove the effect!

Yes Thad- cleaning will definitely have to be done- the smell removal is to enable me to sit in the car and get to the cleaners in the first place heh heh.

[blacmagic]

Thad!! get rid of the cause? do you mean Moriarty??

[ascertain]

LOL blacmagic - its a one in a billion moriarty who shares my life- never would want that one away.

OK guys- I sat in my car 10 minutes ago- stink's come down a lot, smell of camphor everywhere. I can get a faint whiff of the "deadly combo " i mentioned earlier.

I got an 'odour eliminator' from ambipur.. just in case..

Anyway- took the car for a spin, and turned on the AC with external circulation, was ok- once inside - after a couple of minutes, you don't really notice the smell now.. but still- in the quest of perfection, am going to leave another saucer of vinegar on the floor till the morning.

[ascertain]

Hey all..thanks a lot for all the valuable suggestions..I placed the saucer of vinegar on the car floor On two occassions- and also put a few camphor pellets- after that there was a 40% reduction In the stink. I decided to do my monthly cleaning of the car a little early this month and you should see the things i discovered! I'll post the pix. I found that the driver (mr. Crookshanks) a real messy chap..and he's gonna get it royally from me in two days. I also aired the boot and got hold of an ambipur odour neutralizer. I tried the neutralizer on the second day and the stink has reduced by 90%.

[jithudigitised]

So atlast its almost gone.

Make sure you check for any other problems like water in ICE wiring etc,since you were cleaning with water also.

[Takumi-san]

happened to us once with a fiat padmini we had loaned to a family friend. He managed to spill a glass (we think the whole pot) of tea. It stank like a skunk in heat ( which I assume they do when they are in heat). It was a surprise how that guy ever made it back with the car. If you think milk is bad, just try masala tea on the carpets. It was 6 months and a lot of different ideas before it was completely odour free again. Needless to say we dont bother loaning out cars now. Pity it was in the days before Team-BHP - I am sure we could have saved a lot of time with all your wise suggestions.

[jkdas]

Was a great Sunday morning read. Thanks. lol.

Which stinks more? milk or curd? You could have made curd out of it; would have been easier to clean I guess...

Edit: you may not feel the odor much now coz you got used to it. Ask someone else to check it. Take it to a TBHP meet

Edit again! : Having fun.

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Alright. Here's a tried and test method that works. Got it from a friend in the 'cleaning' industry.

Quoting from his email:

Removing and Treating Sour Milk Odors

Speaking of deodorizer, another method that works well in some cases is using baking soda.

-Blot excess milk with a sponge or paper towel.
-Sprinkle baking powder on the stained area.
-Using a small spray bottle of water, lightly mist the baking powder making sure it absorbs the water.
-Allow the wet baking powder to dry overnight.
-When it has completely dried, scrape off the excess; using a small brush, give it a light brushing to loosen the rest of the baking soda.
-Vacuum the whole area.
-If the stain remains, treat with lemon juice.
-Allow the lemon juice to remain for about 15 minutes.
-Then spray with water and blot with a paper towel

Viola ! and you get paneer, made in Ford Fiesta!

[ascertain]

All the above mentioned are GREAT recipes for a FORD FEAST-A. selling paneer from the car will cover my cleaning expenses for sure.

Loaning out the car is not going to happen for a long time- maybe never!