Left my windows cracked...

[NotChetHanks]

And I had a big puddle of water waiting for me in my car. Now, the car smaells like crap. How do I get the smell out? Thanks!

[Nick Sheldon]

ROFL.

I thought you had left your MICROSOFT Windows cracked, and let it autoupdate, and now it's fooked..

brilliant!

[spy beef]

Febreeze!

[random_n]

Dry it well, vaccuum the hell out of it, and make sure it gets fresh, dry air for a few days (parking in a garage with the windows down should work if you're not in a humid environment).

You can also use carpet deodorizer powder if it still stinks, or you can't air it out. Sprinkle on, and vaccuum off in a couple of days.

[david]

Takes 15 mins to pull the carpet out. I flooded out my car the other week ago. Removed the seats, center console, and pulled the carpet. Easy job. (Y)

After all that, shop vac the water and let the carpet air dry. I'm telling you now, just vacuuming the carpet will NOT get alot of water out.

If you let it sit in there and just vaccume or spray it to get rid of the smell, it wont go away. There is material under the carpet called jude and it will stink if you don't pull the carpet.

[clotz2000]

I personally would recommend going to an Auto Detailer and having them shampoo and clean the interior of the car. They have ways of extracting any remaining water out of your seats and carpet and then cleaning them afterwards to make sure that it doesn't smell musty and moldy. It might cost you a little bit but I think it's worth it, plus your car's interior will look nice, clean, smell good, and shiny.

[sensurround]

Febreeze!

+1

Seriously, before you try any more expensive methods; Fabreeze the $#&(^*@^ out of it! Then roll up all the windows and let the Fabreee fester. :D Then buy a new air freshner.

If you've still got the puddles, I recommend thick towels under thick books. I had a car that leaked every time it rained and I had to soak up all the water with big towels set in place by dictionaries....it wasn't pretty but it helped a lot.

The rest of the posters have really great suggestions though, this is just the most bare bones method.

[NotChetHanks]

Some really good responses guys! I really really appreciate it. Tomorrow is my day off so I might just go ahead and pull it out and vac the hell out of it. Thanks guys, any other suggestions are welcome. I also have Febreeze so that helps! :D

[5c077]

I also recommend pulling up the carpet and everything... The water that gets trapped under the carpet, inside the seat. etc will stay there for a while and cause mildew and will have that smell for a long time. Carpet is easy to lift up, take the screws out the stripping, pull the carpet up, dry it all, empty half a bottle of febreeze, let it sit a bit and wipe all excess, put carpet back down and carefully screw the strips back on (dont overtighten). Spray the entire seat and carpet with febreeze or freshener on a hot day when the car is in the sun.

Put some air fresheners under your seat after.

[NotChetHanks]

Yeah, the seats are leather so they don't really hold the water AFAIK.

[5c077]

Yeah, the seats are leather so they don't really hold the water AFAIK.

I got leather too...

So in that case, I can recommend something else after you do all that... Get some Zaino Z-10.. It will restore the leather and also restore the leather smell.

[NotChetHanks]

Someone told me that instead of taking out the carpet, just sprinkle baking soda and then vaccum it up. Any thoughts?

[tom01]

Someone told me that instead of taking out the carpet, just sprinkle baking soda and then vaccum it up. Any thoughts?

Should work, they use that method all the time on "How clean is your home" on TV for the carpet :p That and giving it a good scrub.

[Pilsbury]

I'd have to disagree that removing the carpet is an easy job on a car. It may be in some vehicles, but, it's a pretty major job on a lot of cars and can require removing the seats, a fair bit of the dash, the center console, and a lot of the interior trim.

[redvamp128]

Some auto detail shops- actually plugin a dehumidifier and leave them in the vehicles- as well as the febreeze.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4532762

Or if you know where you can get the moisture absorb packets for shipping items- Sometimes you can get a 50 pack for around $30.

[david]

I'd have to disagree that removing the carpet is an easy job on a car. It may be in some vehicles, but, it's a pretty major job on a lot of cars and can require removing the seats, a fair bit of the dash, the center console, and a lot of the interior trim.

I have worked at car detailing jobs and custom interior installations. Carpet jobs are easy. Removing seats, trimming, center console is easy. All held together by screws.

[ralph_tran]

This happened to me one time...

I just put down some newspaper to soak up as much water as I could, then used a shopvac to suck up the water underneath the carpet. My car still smelled like crap, so I laid down some baking soda... after a few days the smell was gone and I just vacuumed up the baking soda.

You might also try turning on the heater and setting it to blow to the floor.

[Matt]

Takes 15 mins to pull the carpet out. I flooded out my car the other week ago. Removed the seats, center console, and pulled the carpet. Easy job. (Y)

After all that, shop vac the water and let the carpet air dry. I'm telling you now, just vacuuming the carpet will NOT get alot of water out.

If you let it sit in there and just vaccume or spray it to get rid of the smell, it wont go away. There is material under the carpet called jude and it will stink if you don't pull the carpet.

that's the only proper way. my brother left the window open to my moms car before and it smelled horrible for a good two to three weeks.

[mycoolkim]

Do you smoke? That will get the moldy smell out, in with the cigarette smell, nah but seriously, get it all fixed under the carpet before anything else starts to go bad.

[Xerino]

Febreeze does wonders.... except when its 3 guys puking at the same time in your cab after you picked them up from outback steakhouse with fullbellies of booze and onion flowers...... I had to race across town to the only chevron with do it yourself detailing service.... got there too late... the funk had already set into the upholstery.... I can still smell the onion flowers.....

[Pilsbury]

I have worked at car detailing jobs and custom interior installations. Carpet jobs are easy. Removing seats, trimming, center console is easy. All held together by screws.

Really? And what happens if he sets off the seatbelt pre-tensioner by accident? Nicks a wire underneath the seats?

And I'd hope by screws you mean bolts holding the seats in?

[david]

Really? And what happens if he sets off the seatbelt pre-tensioner by accident? Nicks a wire underneath the seats?

And I'd hope by screws you mean bolts holding the seats in?

Turn off the car, remove seats (bolts), unplug all wires (they wont nick, they have connectors). Don't start the car without reconnecting seat belt wire or you will ruin it. And what I meant by screws, the console is held by screws.

[JackBauer87]

Baking soda has to be the best odor remover out there. Cheap, environmentally safe and works far better than any febreeze type products out there. If you can get your hands on a handheld steam vac use that, then put down baking soda. The steam will kill mold and bacteria and the baking soda will remove the stink for good.

[Pilsbury]

Turn off the car, remove seats (bolts), unplug all wires (they wont nick, they have connectors). Don't start the car without reconnecting seat belt wire or you will ruin it. And what I meant by screws, the console is held by screws.

I'm sorry, you can't have worked on anything modern - for a start, you need to disconnect the battery or the airbag sensors will be triggered and the airbag warning light will come on. If you accidently hit the seat belt pre-tensioner, if will be fired - even a small knock can be enough to set it off. By nicking a wire, I meant what if they did it accidently. In a few cars I have worked on, there is an exact order to do things to get the seats out.

While it's not impossible to do, or actually that difficult, it's nowhere near as easy as you make out, and should only be undertaken with the correct instructions by someone that feels they are capable of doing it.