Can I clean the poo or just sell?

T

Trek

Full time employment: Posting here.
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About a month ago my dog had a severe tummy ache while riding in the back of the car. I don't know what she ate but it didn't agree with her. So she had the worst case of diarrhea I've ever seen come out of a dog. Not just once but 3 times by the time I could race home. She normally rides in the very back of my estate, but after the first poo shot out she freaked and with poo covered paws jumped all the way to the front (guess I need a doggy barrier thingy). So the poo got strewn all about the whole car. And being it was so runny, buy the time I could do anything about it, it was all nicely soaked through the cloth interior to the foam below, between the rear seat cushions, in every nook and cranny of one of the rear interior doors (all up in the switches), etc. And boy did it stink!

So I took the car to a professional detailer and they did the best they could but said they just couldn't get all the smell out. They did a really good job, cause I didn't smell it for a couple weeks (I guess the cleaning chemicals were still blocking it), but now the smell is back.

Is there any way to get that smell out for good (short of replacing the whole interior) or do I just need to sell the car?
 
Trek said:
About a month ago my dog had a severe tummy ache while riding in the back of the car. I don't know what she ate but it didn't agree with her. So she had the worst case of diarrhea I've ever seen come out of a dog. Not just once but 3 times by the time I could race home. She normally rides in the very back of my estate, but after the first poo shot out she freaked and with poo covered paws jumped all the way to the front (guess I need a doggy barrier thingy). So the poo got strewn all about the whole car. And being it was so runny, buy the time I could do anything about it, it was all nicely soaked through the cloth interior to the foam below, between the rear seat cushions, in every nook and cranny of one of the rear interior doors (all up in the switches), etc.
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Thanks for sharing. This is the type of thread that keeps me coming back to the good old ER forum. :eek:
 
I'm thinking that a shop that does custom upholstery could take the covers off the seats, deep clean the foam rubber with an enzyme cleaner (like is used for carpet pet stains), and out it all back together for less than the depreciation you are looking at.
 
I was thinking the same thing, get a good enzyme cleanser and soak the heck out of it. Take a trip to your local PetSmart. They will have a whole section of enzyme cleaners just made for the job, and maybe rent a carpet steamer after the enzymes do their work!
 
a) Get your own bottle of air-cleaning chemicals. There is something over here called "One-drop" that does a great job of masking odors. Give it away with the car.

b)
...preferably to someone who is a nasal amputee...
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Old people can't smell as well as you kids can. Make sure they are VERY old. And smoke. And have their own dogs.

c) Do you need a tax deduction? Donate it to a charitable organization. This may not work for you.

d) I don't know if this will help or not. The chemicals that make poop stink are organic bases (indols and scatols--the name should tell you a lot). It might help to spray dilute vinegar into the cushions. The acid may neutralize the base, rendering it a non-volatile (therefore un-smellable) compound--hopefully. I would try this first on some piece of cloth that fido had 'touched' first to see if it works. Don't bet the farm on this hare-brained idea though. I have never tried it. (Never needed to. No animals in my cars.)

e) Last resort: Sell it to a Russian? ;-)

So, how is this winter in Estonia?

Ciao,

Gypsy
 
Olav23 said:
I was thinking the same thing, get a good enzyme cleanser and soak the heck out of it. Take a trip to your local PetSmart. They will have a whole section of enzyme cleaners just made for the job, and maybe rent a carpet steamer after the enzymes do their work!
Click to expand...

If you can get the enzyme cleaner where you live, it's probably your best alternative. And like Olav says, you'll need to use a lot to "soak" up the smell. I had a somewhat similar problem, except my dog used a built in piece of upholstered furniture. A gallon of enzyme cleaner later, the smell was gone for good.
 
Nah, you've lived with it - just leave it there. 'Course you'll get **** for a price on the car, but doesn't that seem fair? (smiley face) I haven't had great sucess with the enzyme cleaner on apartment carpets - we do use a "biostat" carpet cleaning product between tenants, but regular carpet and pad replacement seems to be pretty much necessary.

Oh ****! i can't say **** on this board! Damn, I'm sorry! >:D

But i can say damn? now where's the logic in that?
 
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I don't have any advice for you. However geez that is one heck of a story. Sorry to [-]hear[/-] er read about it.
 
I've never been able to get pee or poo smell out of foam or any sort of seat/mattress with any sort of cleaner, enzyme or other. It always comes back unless you saturate the item and can wash it.

Heck, our dog mobile has never been peed or pooped in, and regardless of how much I vacuum and steam clean it, I cant get the dog smell out.

If you sell it without disclosure, make sure its to someone you think you could handle in an ambush. I'm thinking that selling a car with a hidden dog poop smell to some stranger in eastern europe to be a high risk strategy. Heck, that'd make a pretty good storyline for a stephen king novel.
 
i almost didn't open this thread. damn. i've either got to start listening better to my intuition or learn to take what people write literally.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I figured I'd either get a lot or none. >:D

REWahoo said:
Do they have PetSmart stores in Estonia?
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No, sure don't. There are some smaller independent pet stores scattered about though that I can check for those enzyme cleaners. I really like my car so I'd like to keep it if possible. Takes a while to sell them too with the small population and the abundance of cars for sale.

Ed_The_Gypsy said:
So, how is this winter in Estonia?
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Hasn't been at all bad so far. We had a really cold snowy spell back in November, but it warmed up a bit and nothing much more than some rain since. About like Western Washington just now, maybe a touch colder. But winter here runs till April so plenty of time yet. Really it's the polar nights people complain about most, being dark all day. But in the summer you get the midnight sun where it's light 24 hours so it evens out. :)

Ed_The_Gypsy said:
e) Last resort: Sell it to a Russian? ;-)
Click to expand...

Might work if I mask the smell with cheap vodka and get them drunk first. They won't remember where they got the car. :D

lazygood4nothinbum said:
i almost didn't open this thread. damn.
Click to expand...

You posted in it too! :p
 
I bought a used car from a dealer lot in 1986. We did not notice anything unusual until summer when it got really hot and humid. Then we realized the car must have been previously owned by a duck hunter. It smelled of wet dogs... one dog but several dogs. We tried everything to get the smell out but whenever it got humid (which was most of the time in the South) the car reeked of wet dirty dogs.

Eventually, we got used to high doses of air freshner. We traded the car after a couple of years in another state during a very cold winter. :cool:

We have two house dogs that are still "in training" so accidents are still frequent. We found an enzyme cleaner called "OUT" to work the best so far. It smells like cleaner for a few hours and then nothing after that. You could mail order it perhaps or see if your local pet shop could get it for you. Soak the seats and carpet and let it air dry. Don't forget the door panels.

Good luck.
 
I have had similar incidents with my dogs and cars / carpets over ther years. I agree that the
enzymatic cleaners are the best solution. I use one called "Anti Icky Poo", and it seems to get
out all urine / feces / vomit smells and stains. Of course, my nose might be a bit insensitive
after living with multiple dogs for 22 years, so no guaranty.
 
Trek said:
...
Might work if I mask the smell with cheap vodka and get them drunk first. .../quote]

That reminds me: Think i saw a Mythbusters which tried vodka to kill foot odor and determined that it was effective. Doubt it would hurt anything if you dumped a liter of cheap vodka over the offending areas. Might avoid smoking in the car for a while thereafter....

Remember a really nice old Caucasian rug we bought that had been used as a bed by old greasy dogs for some extended time. Wanted to save the rug so i washed it - repeatedly - then soaked it in the above mentioned Anti-Icky-Poo in a 5 gallon bucket for days, then dried, then re-soaked. It was summer, so the rug was outside over a railing for weeks at a time in the sun and breeze. It got passable, but if you put the rug to your nose the dog persisted. That was just the dog coat smell. Selling to another dog owner, or driving the car yourself until it dies may be the best answer.
Click to expand...
 
Trek said:
Is there any way to get that smell out for good (short of replacing the whole interior) or do I just need to sell the car?
Click to expand...
My dog once crapped in my car. I got the smell out. I took out the seats and anything else I could, then worked on the rugs with the same stuff that places like Petsmart sell to clean poop out of carpets. I had to try a few different products, and unfortunately I don't remember what worked best. But it does work and is worth the effort I think. I drove the car for several years longer until it was wrecked and I never smelled it again, nor did passengers smell it.

Ha
 
Since everyone is voting, I'd try the enzyme cleaners people are talking about that you get from pet stores. You can also buy them online. Natures Miracle is the one we have used for pet accidents.

If that does not work, and it might not in your dramatic circumstances, you might consider pulling out the seats and replacing the upholstery and foam and replacing the carpet, if you are sure you got the poo out of all the secret hiding places, such as inside doors, etc. I would only bother doing this if the car is a good car and the work is relatively cheap in your area.

By any chance, do you have insurance that might cover this "accident?"

I sure am glad that I didn't work for the auto detailers.
 
For anyone who's nose is good, my guess is you will never get the smell out.

You may habituate to it, whereas any new passengers will probably notice.

I assume you are leaving all the windows open as often as possible.

Reminds me of an ad shown in one of Jay Leno's headline segments:

Queen size mattress. Slight urine smell.
 
Martha said:
By any chance, do you have insurance that might cover this "accident?"
Click to expand...

No, I don't have "full coverage." Just the basic required by law here.


I'll try to find the enzymes first and see if that helps. Failing that I can try to go to some junkyards and see if I can find a matching interior. Estonia has one of the highest accident rates in Europe (mostly alcohol related) and my car is a fairly common model here so I might have a shot that way.

I do like the car and really want to keep it. If I sold it I'd probably replace it with the same model of car. I specifically bought it as a family car because of it's good Euro NCAP crash test scores, safety features and reliability ratings. And it cost me the same as the car I sold when I left the States so I broke even on it.
 
Wow .. another reason not to have a pet.

Had a cat that went off the deep end in her old age ... started peeing in every corner of one room (who needs a litter box). Sooo after she passed I ripped up 3 levels of flooring ... still smelled. Ripped out the walls around the corners. Spread baking soda in the cavity and refinished to room. No more smell ... and NO MORE PETS.
 
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