smell removal suggestions needed

[jweiss]

Greetings all.

I just took ownership of a mint 2002 xc70 this past weekend (pics and details to follow in my profile[thumbup] )

The car smells a bit from the previous owner. I think it is cologne. Any tips on what to do? Baking soda boxes?

Thanks in advance.
Joe

[slowflyer]

I have had good results with Fabreze. You won't be able to use it on the leather, of course, but on the carpet and headliner. You might want to shampoo the carpets or have it detailed first.

Your baking soda suggestion sounds good. A similar solution would be a volcanic odor absorber. I use one in an unfinished basement area. You can get one at a home center. Baking soda would be cheaper and I bet as effective for short term use.

[RedXC]

I would do is, clean the carpet with carpet shampoo. Dry it, and open all the doors/windows.

[EL008]

I strongly recommend a box of laundry concentrate powder. Works for me all the time when I want to get rid of my dog's odour from wife's Subaru Forester. Leave the box of laundry powder overnight and the car will be rid of the smell.[happy]

[jweiss]

i was thinking of renting a steam cleaner this weekend. Do you think that is going overkill or a soudn idea?

The cologne smell is a bit strong.

[littlewaywelt]

You can get rid of this odor, but it will require some elbow grease and anywhere between 2 & 8 man hours to do.

Passively:
You can throw a bag of activated charcoal under the seat and a bag of pumice/lava stones. That should get rid of or at least substantially reduce it over the course of a week. Alternatively if you are looking for a cover up, leave a can of cheap canned coffee or orange peels in the car for a day or two.

Actively:
As to soaping, use a mild soap & water with a little degreaser like dawn or orange oil spray. A degreaser is essential to getting rid of a perfume scent as that's basically flower oil.

Pull the mats out, soap them heavilly with a stiff nylon scrub brush and hose them off and leave them in the sun to fully dry.
Do the rest of the carpet with less soap/water. Try the orange oil sprays here. Remove with a wetvac or shop vac and let the car air out if you can for a day in the sun.
There's likely oil in the seat leather as well. Here you'd again use something that will cut oil, like orange oil spray. After the seats have been vigorously scrubbed with a cleaner-dampened terry you need to treat and seal the leather with something like a high quality saddle soap or at the minimum, a two part lexol.

Make sure you check the leather and carpet for colorfastness with your cleaner of choice.

Fwiw, I detailed cars during my first year in college. I'm no expert, but I've probably detailed hundreds of cars, some that were substantially odor-challenged. ;)

[jweiss]

Thanks littlewaywelt. I am currently doing the passinve thing but will jump on the active route this weekend. I bought a steam cleaner and will give that a try on the headliner, but I will follow your suggestions about the floor mats and carpeting.

Have you had good success with smell removal in the past? A vote of confidence woudl go a long way.

Thanks

[littlewaywelt]

Thanks littlewaywelt. I am currently doing the passinve thing but will jump on the active route this weekend. I bought a steam cleaner and will give that a try on the headliner, but I will follow your suggestions about the floor mats and carpeting.

Have you had good success with smell removal in the past? A vote of confidence woudl go a long way.

Thanks

I guess so. None of our customers ever came back saying we didn't get the smells out and I recall some pretty bad cars...the kind where you open the door and have to take a step backwards. If the orange oil thing doesn't work you may need to simply increase the concentration. Most liquid dish soaps do a pretty good job on oils. Soap, water and a hose are your friends here. Just make sure you do a really good job drying it. You don't want to mildew the car as that's extremely difficult to get rid of.

[EJones]

I just bought a 2002 XC70 as well. We test drove 2 of them. The first one had some definite odor issues. The second one (which we ended up buying) developed some odor issues after we had it for about a week (after the heavy dose of air freshner from the dealer wore off).

Have two suggestions: Go to an auto parts store and look for an air freshner called "Ozium". It comes in a small can (about 2-3 inches tall, about 1 in diameter). You spray it in the air intake vents (under the hood), and it's supposed to remove bad odors from the duct work.

The most effective suggestion may be to have the cabin pollen filter replaced. I hate suggesting that because it's about a $40 filter, and the dealership charged me about $40 to have it installed (I have to find some type of service manual for this car!!!).

After having the pollen filter replaced, the smell went away.

Hope that helps...

[jweiss]

Thanks for the filter replacement idea. That will get added to the list of things to do.

[methos]

Keep the windows down with the fan on full when your driving around... Lots of air will help prevent "masking" the smell and mildew issues...
Good posts gents!