Serious Query - How to Get Throw-Up Scent Out of Car

Seriously embarrassing, but, on New Year's Eve, I got too drunk, and threw up in my car. Didn't intend to go that overboard, but well, it happened (this is why I mostly only drink beer anymore).

While I was initially glad I didn't throw up in the party host's house, I realized that getting this smell out is really difficult. I spent a lot of money on car cleaning products, thoroughly cleaned the seats/upholstery, steering wheel, seatbelt, dash, etc, loaded the car up with air fresheners, but the smell is still sour three days later.

I heard baking soda or vinegar work, and I don't want to take it to a detailer. Any ideas? Joke posts are ok, but serious ones preferred!

take it to a detailer.

If you have a garage or some other place you can leave it parked overnight with the windows down, set a bowl of vinegar in it and let it absorb (some of) the stench. This worked okay when I was trying to get cigarette stench out of a previous car of mine.

were you driving?

(But yeah, it only worked "okay". I eventually went to a detailer and had them run an ozone generator in it. That worked MUCH better.)

Scrub with washing-up liquid. Do you have Febreze or equivalent over there (you're in the US, right?) - that's great too.

yeah i've found regular cleaning products plus air fresheners plus spell with window open has done the trick in the past. are you sure there isn't a little secret cache of chunder that you've missed somehow?

oh dude

spotbot or rug doctor or any other steam cleaning vacuum

take it to a car wash, take out the floor mats, and pressure wash them

were you driving?

― fiscal cliff paul (k3vin k.), Friday, January 4, 2013 11:19 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No, thankfully I have very good friends who ganked my keys. Apparently I went to my car to sit down, but no keys in the ignition. I remember nothing else. This is why I trust bartenders to make my drinks because apparently, mine were too strong.

thanks for the suggs guys, admittedly I haven't let the car air out much because I don't have a garage, it's been raining, etc, but I will do that this weekend.

As far as the 'extra chunder', there might be. I'm going to take a look.

Seriously, the first time I've thrown up in 6 years, and I can't even take the precaution to not be in my own car. At least it wasn't somebody else's!

Ask a cab driver! They are well versed with getting puke smell out of cars.

Also check the Ask a Clean Person archives at the Hairpin. I know she has responded to a lot of barf-related questions: http://thehairpin.com/tag/ask-a-clean-person/

OZIUM

Triedd the vinegar, but it's obv dark out and rainy, so I'm also going to try again tomorrow. that and some of those 'vent sticks' have helped so far (Turns out the air fresheners I originally bought didn't mix well with the scent in the car).

I'll need to give my nose a few hours in the house as a 'smell sorbet' before I go back out and check again.

Oh maybe you could spray the upholstery down with cheap vodka (assuming you can smell it without puking again).

buy a new car

Man if I didn't owe 7k more on it....

I've tried prayer

charcoal might work?
(open bag of briquettes or match-light or whatever you can get a small bag of) with the doors and windows closed
it is really good at absorbing stinks.

I dunno if this will work in a car but I once got a terrible fish smell out of my fridge by putting used coffee grounds in a bowl overnight. it will replace the smell with coffee for a while, but far less unappealing than old fish/old vomit

good luck dude

Ans. Sprinkle the affected area, let's call it, with baking soda and let it sit overnight. The next day, vacuum it out.

I will vouch for using a bowl of vinegar and slightly opened windowsm, in addition to serious cleaning. My kid suddenly came down with a bout of the stomach flu while we were out driving. Just ka-BLOWIE! All over the back seat. The smell was so unruly. It took a few days, but it's not there now.

Heard about the baking soda option too, I may try taht as well.

put baking soda everywhere and then spritz it with vinegar

poop in the car

If anyone else comes in the car with you, just keep looking at them quizzically while scrunching up your nose.

Sprinkle the affected area, let's call it, with baking soda and let it sit overnight. The next day, vacuum it out.

yep. janitors at grade schools deal with barf crises on a regular basis, and this seems to be the preferred strategy. although i think they maybe go with some sort of pink sawdust concoction.

do bowls of things like vinegar actually "absorb" scents? that seems not right to me.

Mask the smell of vomit by stashing a dead body in the boot.

The vinegar solution worked! now my car smells like vinegar and Refresh tabs, but that's preferential, and the vinegar is dissipating. Yay!

Found out another friend of mine puked ON her b/f's car on New Years, so apparently this is infectious.

solved this problem by totaling the car btw

Was this one of your random revives or did you recently total your car? If the latter that sucks. Maybe get a good deal in these times though