Cleaning Out a Stinky Car Myself (vehicle, auto, SUV, seats)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I love my two Great Danes endlessly, but my SUV stinks. Bad. It's because I drive them wherever they need to go in it, they shed like crazy, they have more doggie odor than other dogs, and my old girl developed hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and bloody diarrheaed in the vehicle on the way to the vet a year ago, and I had to clean and clean and clean the thing after that. There is no hope for the resale value, even though it's a Toyota At least I don't smoke anymore!
But never mind that. My wife and I will be driving around 3000 miles in it to visit family for Christmas and she has a sensitive nose. I have to clean the heck out of the thing, remove as much dog hair as possible, and deodorize. I'm on a limited budget so I don't want to get it detailed but I want to make it comfortable from me and my wife to ride in. How do I do that? What products should I use? The interior is COVERED in dog hair and vacuuming is ineffective in removing it. Please give me suggestions on hair removal, deodorizing, and general cleaning. It has fabric seats. Thanks!
Shop vac, keep at it. Go over it with a lint roller first. Febreeze. Maybe upholstery cleaner because the stink is in the fabric. Allot 2 or 3 days (not all day).
After cleaning the physical objects such as hair and dander, soak an enzyme-based cleaner-deodorizer in the carpet and upholstery, such as Simple Solution or its current analogs.
Ozone generator, $40 on Amazon for industrial one, good for all smells without the chemical residual. It dries out rubber over time if you use it for years, but chemicals do as well. Use rubber/leather lub on car once in a while to fix it
A seat cover to hide fur if you want as easy fix, and duct tape to remove fur from other place.
Ozone generator for sure. I don't know how good the $40 one will do, but professional grade models have been used for years to take cigarette odor, and even the smell of death out of cars and buildings.
I also have two Great Danes, who are not in the car as often as before but I know full well how their short spiky hair can embed itself in every surface. I have no solution on hand except repeated brushing with a stiff brush just ahead of a vacuum.
Funny, I find that they are much less smelly dogs than many I've had. My older girl, however, is half European and I joke that she has Euro body odor. But then again, she's had GI problems too, and I've needed a gas mask to clean up after her once or twice.
Frequently carrying dogs in an upholstered vehicle is just a no-win situation.
Ozone generator for sure. I don't know how good the $40 one will do, but professional grade models have been used for years to take cigarette odor, and even the smell of death out of cars and buildings.
I love my two Great Danes endlessly, but my SUV stinks. Bad. It's because I drive them wherever they need to go in it, they shed like crazy, they have more doggie odor than other dogs, and my old girl developed hemorrhagic gastroenteritis and bloody diarrheaed in the vehicle on the way to the vet a year ago, and I had to clean and clean and clean the thing after that. There is no hope for the resale value, even though it's a Toyota At least I don't smoke anymore!
But never mind that. My wife and I will be driving around 3000 miles in it to visit family for Christmas and she has a sensitive nose. I have to clean the heck out of the thing, remove as much dog hair as possible, and deodorize. I'm on a limited budget so I don't want to get it detailed but I want to make it comfortable from me and my wife to ride in. How do I do that? What products should I use? The interior is COVERED in dog hair and vacuuming is ineffective in removing it. Please give me suggestions on hair removal, deodorizing, and general cleaning. It has fabric seats. Thanks!
I can not imagine hair, regardless of the amount, being resistant to a good shop vacuum . I have cats, and I am able to suck up all the hair I find in the house with either the vacuum cleaner or shop vac.
To deodorize it, once you get it cleaned, there is an aerosol product made by Mequiars that works great. My one son has a lot of cars, so some of them do not get driven often. His Suburban developed mold inside from sitting in an underground parking garage, and he used this product to get rid of the odor. It worked great:
I can not imagine hair, regardless of the amount, being resistant to a good shop vacuum . I have cats, and I am able to suck up all the hair I find in the house with either the vacuum cleaner or shop vac.
Big, shorthaired dogs have fur that is much stiffer than any smaller animal, or cat hair. Little half-inch nylon spikes that drive themselves into the weave and can only be plucked out with tweezers or endless brush/vacuuming.
And with Danes, you get them in the fraggin' headliner...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
At least I don't smoke anymore! 
