Carpet Odor

[Sunnyledge]

I am try to reserrect my 84 318i. It was taken off the road for rust issues, but unfortunately the car sat for 4 years and became a rodent condo. I have the carpets out while doing the floor repair. Any suggestion about how best to clean and remove rodent urine from carpets.

[cheffy30]

steaming hot water, bac-out cleaner:
https://www.amazon.com/Biokleen-Bac-...0009ET4XQ?th=1)
and a power washer to start

[ForcedFirebird]

I was hoping to come in here and hear about Crayola Crayon smell. Rodent urine is a new one for me. :(

[NC325iC]

you mean I'm not the only one whos car smells like crayons?

[AndrewBird]

Pressure washing works very well, no joke. Takes a while to dry out after, but will get a carpet much cleaner than any carpet shampooer.

As far as odor removal goes, I've used odor remover spray from Lowe's/Home Depot that worked very well. It has enzymes in it that break down the stuff that causes the smells. It does smell kind of vinegar-y for a few days, but then goes away along with the smell. I can't remember the exact brand, it might have been ZEP. I used it on a wet-dog smelling carpet before and it came out great.

[Big swifty]

Take it out and power wash it. PITA

[ScottSneed]

Ahh, I hate that piss/shit smell. Only way is to remove it and clean it. If you just wash it while its in there, the fecal matter and what not will just be moved somewhere else in the car.

[ZEKTI]

I took the carpet out, scrubbed with Chemical Guys shampoo. Did that a few times. Use warm water and shop vac to suck up. Cleaned out any odors. Air dry with fan then if still a lingering odor used a ozone machine for a few minutes. Be careful with the ozone machine though if you go that route.


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[Sunnyledge]

Thanks for your comments. Carpets are out and I’ll try my pressure washer. They’ll have all summer to dry out.

[bobdavisnpf]

Sun drying also provides a free UV radiation treatment. Should help a lot.

I used a cheap ozone generator repeatedly on mine, probably 72 hr total exposure over the course of 2 weeks, being sure to "rack-dry" and treat to get both sides.

Even with all this, that foam rubber is thick, dense, and going to keep a grip on rodent detritus forever. Killing it off completely may be out of reach. Occasional re-treatment with a cheap ozone generator is not eco-friendly but knocks odors back down when they start to re-emerge. I do my car 2-3 times a year.