My son dropped a sippy cup full of milk on the floor of the car - upside down! I didn't realize it was there until the next morning and it had leaked everywhere because it was the kind of sippy cup with a straw. I sopped up the milk with as best I could, but it is really in the carpet. It smells soooo bad. I have a bottle of febreeze that I have been spraying on it everytime I get in the car so that I don't pass out from the smell. How can I get rid of this horrible smell?? Will it just take time? This happened on Tuesday afternoon - discovered yesterday morning. Still smells.
Take it to a car wash and have the carpet done. Using anything on top of the rancid odor is just putting a band aid on the problem. It will always seep through and stink regardless of what you put on there.
Shampoo the carpeting
You might be able to have the carpet shampooed. Try a full serve carwash like Simonez to see if they can shampoo it. That's probably the best way to get rid of the odor.
Definitely have the carpet shampooed, and instead of febreezing just that one spot, do the whole interior - the smell has likely soaked into all of the fabrics. You also may want to think about replacing the cabin air filter, too.
The exact same thing happened to me when my son was younger...and yes, the odor was horrible!!! I used vinigar to clean it up and the odor and mess was gone. I think I went over it about three times to make sure though. As others recommended, having it shampooed by a professional would probably work as well. Best of luck to you!
Try some vinegar or some Nature's Miracle on it. You can also get a citrus magic disk and lock it in the car. I spilled some coffee with a lot of cream in it a while back and boy did that stink. I had to get a cloth on a stick with NM on it to scrub down the side of my seat. But it worked.
The only thing worse than that is when your child drinks milk and then throws up in your car...keep doing what you are doing and wait it out. The car needs to air out badly...
Oh no....! I feel your pain. I did the same thing a few years ago. I finally shampooed the rug - it took hours to wash the amount of soap I used - but I needed to, because I was literally gagging and retching every time I stepping into my car. It worked. Good luck!
1) Stop spraying hazardous chemicals which will do nothing but give your son asthma at best.
2) Got to pet store and buy an enzyme cleaner. You must wait 24-48 hours before and after using enzymes to have used/use any "antibacterial" or other chemicals/cleaners for the enzymes to work.
I used this on spilled milk in my car, no worries. I also remain, to this day, the ONLY person any of my friends and family know who has gotten cat urine smell out of carpet for good. If you can get that, you can get anything! :-) Good Luck!
Get your car detailed. God only knows what all my daughter has spilled on the back seat of my car (I know milk is definitely there), but after I got it detailed it was SO much better.
The carwash on Loop 288 (the one with the big green tents) will shampoo your seats and carpets for around $30. Just had the same problem a few months ago.
My friend's son left a gallon of milk in the back of her car and they didn't realize it until it exploded! It had rolled under the seat and he didn't see it when he was bringing the groceries in. Her car was only weeks old too! The smell did come out so don't worry just take it to have it shampooed like other posted suggested.
This happened to us and we took it to the car wash in Frisco to have the carpets detailed. There isn't any smell.
Same think happened to me and the smell was awful! I just cleaned it alot and just waited the smell out. it will come out. I didn't want to spend money on a cleaner since it was an older car anyway. If it were brand new, I probably would've popped the $100 to do it.
Yep, the carpet Ned's to be cleaned, we had to pull it up, because it had gotten all the way through to the actual car. Febreez, cannot cover this.
