Carpet Extraction Smells!

S

silvergray

New member
Hi guys,

I cleaned the carpet in my Audi A4 the other day with my LGCM. I presprayed and scrubbed the carpet with Folex, and extracted with hot water. Now my car smells really musty and disgusting.



Any ideas why this happened? How can I solve it?
 
Sounds like you soaked the carpet a bit too much. You can try just opening all the doors and running a few fans in there all day to get a nice crossflow going. Personally I'd disassemble the interior in order to get the padding out and up on some sawhorses and leave it in the sun all day with a fan or two blowing on it.
 
Yeah I think this happens when you don't do enough dry passes over the carpet to extract all the moisture. You should do 2 dry passes for every wet but I do like 3 or 4 because of bad "musty" experiences.
 
Charlies02GLS said:
Sounds like you soaked the carpet a bit too much.
Click to expand...



Probably the case.



Remember you typically only need to apply enough spray to wet the carpet fibers, not soak the backing/padding.



Also a good idea to set up fans/blowers to dry the carpet as quickly as possible.
 
Thanks guys! Currently, it is parked in my driveway with the windows and sunroof open. Its about 80 degrees today, so I have a fan oscillating in the interior.



When I cleaned the carpet, I followed that G35xxxx person's post. I sprayed Folex on, agitated, and extracted using only hot water. Maybe I used too much water when extracting the Folex.



Hopefully time will cure the smell?
 
If it sat w/ the windows closed while everything was wet, then it's a breeding ground for nastiness.



Hot sun will take care of the moisture issue. IF the carpet pad got moldy, that's a whold other headache.
 
I'd extract it again with shampoo and hot water in the LGCM tank. Just use a little bit of water and extract until almost dry to get all the musty water out. Let it sit in the sun windows down mats out and it'll be like new in 4-6 hours.
 
Funny, I got the same thing when I did a rare shampoo on my car yesterday. My process was spray carpet with LGCM solution (something I rarely use though), agitate with brush, steam with steamer, and extract with LGCM. I didn't oversoak it, but still wound up with a not so clean smell even though the carpeting came out great. For me, I think it may be the odors being released from deep within the carpet due to smoking a lot in the car and only shampooing like twice a year. I followed up with an application of tuff stuff and it was fine.
 
Adding a mildewstat to your extraction fluid will help prevent this, as will making sure your carpets are *completely* dry before rolling up your windows.
 
There's only a few reasons why your car stinks:

1-All the *dirt* isn't cleaned from the interior

What happens when you get dirt wet? It turns into mud. Even if you dump a bunch of dried mud inside your vehicle, it will still make it smell. Also, if there was prior food spills that got re-wetted, that's also a possiblilty that it's making the interior smell. If it's not cleaned with the proper products there's a good chance that you'll have a smell. If you had a food spill between the seats and it got wet while you cleaned and it wasn't extracted, you could have a smell.



2-The interior was still wet when you closed it up

Having the interior totally dry is essential. If you leave water inside of a brand new vehicle in a dark part of if it (like under the seats) and you close the door, there's a chance mold could form and cause a smell. So if this interior wasn't totally dry and you closed it up prematurely, you could have a problem. Add the dirty aspect from above and it's a recipe for a major problem.



I'd suggest buying a disinfectant cleaner (anti-microbial) and re-clean the fabric and then extract again. Try to hand dry (with cotton towels) as the car dries in the sunlight for several days. When it's totally dry to the touch (everywhere), you should be all set. Just to be safe, keep a window cracked on both sides to allow more ventilation for several days afterwards.
 
I sprayed some Folex on the carpet last night. I've also had a fan running on it for a couple of days and I think the smell has improved.



We'll see how it goes from here.
 
i had the same problem in my truck. on a hot day it would stink. i solved it by rubbing teen spirit under the seats. now on hot days it smells more like teen spirit. you can get it at just about any drug store. if you cant find it send me a note and i can help you. i still have some left.
 
Wow. It would really be a good idea to stop posting on the forum until you read a lot of information about what detailing actually is. You don't want someone who is expecting to get expert advice to read your post and then do something like apply deodorant to their carpeting. It pollutes the quality of the forum.
 
Rewash the carpte with soda. Just pour club soda over the stain and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Then blot with a clean white cloth. Club soda also works on black cherry soda stains as well.

Fabric stain remover such as "Shout" works great for stain removal. It's lots cheaper than other carpet cleaners.

Use small sampoo or other solvent so keep it away from any bad smell
 
heyyo302 - That might help for a stain, but the OP is trying to solve an odor problem.



With odors, you really need to focus on the reason it's smelling and usually requires more work than the actually cleaning step already completed. Air fresheners and ozone machines won't destroy the odor causing bacteria and will more or less just mask the problem temporarily.
 
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