Interior Freshness

[Galifrey 1]

My car has quite a nice interior in terms of condition, however, it has that old car smell, you know the one, like 20 years of oil smoke has permeated the fabric.

 

I want to freshen it up, and will of course use a decent freshener to keep it smelling nice in future, but wondered if anyone has had any success getting rid of that smell before?

 

I am thinking a good Steam Clean of all the fabric would be a good start, what do you guys think would help?

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

Check for damp under the carpets, and used condoms under the rear bench seat.

[Galifrey 1]

Check for damp under the carpets, and used condoms under the rear bench seat.

 

Doesnt smell of damp or squaddie semen (previous owner was a squaddie)

 

[Atari Boy 11]

The first person to be able to bottle ‘new car smell’ will be a millionaire overnight, it will never smell box fresh again but in my experience, give the carpets and seats a good wet vacuum, that will perk it up quite a lot.

[willmounsey 1]

The first person to be able to bottle ‘new car smell’ will be a millionaire overnight, it will never smell box fresh again but in my experience, give the carpets and seats a good wet vacuum, that will perk it up quite a lot.

Remember to do the head lining too

 

Will

[jimistdt 1]

I got a spray bottle of Freshener from Peugeot, was only about a quid. It's really nice and quite long lasting.

 

Would probably last longer if the inside of my car wasn't like an ashtray.

[chris-stdt 0]

A wet vac is a good place to start and after id be tempted to take the carpet out to let everythimg dry out properly ,but what ever you do dont be tempted to take the carpet out and steam clean it as you will find it very difficult to make it fit again

[GLPoomobile 958]

Depends how far you want to go with it really, but if it was me:

 

Seats out

Carpet out

Underlay WILL have been damp at some point and WILL smell mouldy. Bin and replace.

Clean carpet*

Clean seats

Use something like Febreeze on all fabrics (I've got a Febreeze Mist & Refresh for the home, ad it's really good)

 

*for carpets I do:

Vacuum

Hang vertically and bang the crap out of it

Vacuum again

Soak thoroughly

Chuck cleaning products on and scrub with a stiff brush (I add fabric softner for the nice smell )

Hose off

Hang to dry

[Galifrey 1]

The car is not damp inside at all, it has been Garaged for most of its life, although the sunroof has just started leaking around the handle, so needs fixing fast before it does get damp!

 

It is just a nasty oily smell which I think has soaked into the cloth, The fabric itself and carpets are VERY clean.

 

Going to try and get the seats steam cleaned by a pro and see how it goes, if it doesnt work, might replace the seats with some nice black leathers.

[Batfink 201]

I used autoglym interior shampoo and their fabric, plastic cleaners and car smelt good for ages.

If you want a new car smell you need to put loads of solvents and glues in the car.

[smokey 0]

Have to agree with Batfink

 

Whilst putting all my dash back in after the rebuild. I've been cleaning each piece with the Autoglym stuff and it does smell nice.

 

Also i did once use a can of Turtle Wax interior dash polish (from halfords) and the fragence was actually called "new car smell"

 

Probably not exactly as a new car but again it wasn't bad!!

[Arahan 4]

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41up...L500_AA280_.jpg

Edited October 26, 2009 by Arahan

[TT205 42]

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41up...L500_AA280_.jpg

 

^^^

 

You have to be careful with these, I hung one from one of the air vent knobs in my Saab and where it came into contact with the dash below it has permanently melted the plastic

[Lan 24 1 Cars]

I also agree with batfink, in pretty much all the cars I've had I have always used autoglym interior shampoo on all fabrics it works really well and gets rid off nasty smells and stains I also use there odour eliminator which is also really good.

[steve@cornwall 100]

Try talking to a pro valeter, I'm sure I heard of a "bomb" that's left in the closed car to rid it of unwelcome smells (fags, dogs etc)

 

Quick google gave me this

http://carchem.co.uk/odour-bomb-air-saniti...erry-p-198.html

[Richie-Van-GTi 71 2 Cars]

Try talking to a pro valeter, I'm sure I heard of a "bomb" that's left in the closed car to rid it of unwelcome smells (fags, dogs etc)

 

Quick google gave me this

http://carchem.co.uk/odour-bomb-air-saniti...erry-p-198.html

 

 

the 'bombs' are usually for aircon cars, switch it onto recirc close all doors and it helps remove the mildew off the aircon elements and stops the blower system stinking. In theory it should work with a non aircon car by recirculating it through the car.

 

Always worth checking all grommets and bungs in the bulkhead as thats where most nasty engine type smells will come in. Agree with the remove interior and carpet to clean it properly. Makes life easier for scrubbing and drying. Also the underlay is nearly always a rotten mess in these old tin cans.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Richie-Van-GTi

[Galifrey 1]

Thanks for the advice guys

 

Think I will let a pro deal with it, not looking for a new car smell, just get rid of the oily smell.

[ALEX 98 1 Cars]

Underlay WILL have been damp at some point and WILL smell mouldy. Bin and replace.

 

 

Sorry for the Hi-jack, but are these still available?

More precisely still available for a CTi ? (if not the same)