Dead rat smell removal?

M

marlinspike

New member
A friend`s car was in storage. Somehow, a rat got in. The rat then died. The rat then rotted. The car smells like hell, even with all visibly affected carpeting removed. Any tricks for this?
 
Marlinspike -
So sorry this happened to your friends car - yuck -

What I would do is go through the entire vehicle and take all the carpeting out, seats out, etc., and find all the nests the rodent had in that car besides the place where it died..

I have Detailed vehicles where rodents lived in, the elderly people didn`t notice for a long time, and the rodents had an entire city of nests all over the Cadillac floor under the carpeting, front and back seats, into the trunk and under the dash..

They even chewed their way up through the carpeting next to the Center Console between the front seats, because the old people dropped food down there when they ate in the car..

And since they eat, pee and poop everywhere, all that has to be found and all surfaces have to be washed clean to really get the smell out..

I have never found anything else better for completely removing all traces of the odor than doing just this...

It is not an easy task and will not be done quickly or easily if you want to really get rid of the smell - And Sanitize the vehicle - that rodent went everywhere and touched everything...

I had to use my Steamer, Extractor, and a lot of APC+ and another professional chemical that is used to remove mold spores, etc., and kill them so they don`t come back..

I ended up cleaning every square inch of the vehicle Interior - Top to Bottom - before I was satisfied the vehicle was clean and sanitized, and lingering odor was removed..

When I was finished, the vehicle only smelled - Clean -

Good Luck !
DanF
 
Stokdgs said:
Marlinspike -
So sorry this happened to your friends car - yuck -

What I would do is go through the entire vehicle and take all the carpeting out, seats out, etc., and find all the nests the rodent had in that car besides the place where it died..

I have Detailed vehicles where rodents lived in, the elderly people didn`t notice for a long time, and the rodents had an entire city of nests all over the Cadillac floor under the carpeting, front and back seats, into the trunk and under the dash..

They even chewed their way up through the carpeting next to the Center Console between the front seats, because the old people dropped food down there when they ate in the car..

And since they eat, pee and poop everywhere, all that has to be found and all surfaces have to be washed clean to really get the smell out..

I have never found anything else better for completely removing all traces of the odor than doing just this...

It is not an easy task and will not be done quickly or easily if you want to really get rid of the smell - And Sanitize the vehicle - that rodent went everywhere and touched everything...

I had to use my Steamer, Extractor, and a lot of APC+ and another professional chemical that is used to remove mold spores, etc., and kill them so they don`t come back..

I ended up cleaning every square inch of the vehicle Interior - Top to Bottom - before I was satisfied the vehicle was clean and sanitized, and lingering odor was removed..

When I was finished, the vehicle only smelled - Clean -

Good Luck !
DanF
Click to expand...

Thanks. What did you use for mold spores? That`s the next problem, in leather and plastic.
 
marlinspike said:
Thanks. What did you use for mold spores? That`s the next problem, in leather and plastic.
Click to expand...

I use a product called Mold Stat Plus. Works great, I was able to DIY stuff that "you have to have a Pro remediator do!".

As for the rodent...sheesh, I dunno...but I`d plan on replacing (not just cleaning) whatever go urinated on and also the site of its demise. When rodents got into one of my cars I ended up just writing it off.
 
Skunk formula that works....
Hydrogen Peroxide
Baking Soda
Just a little liquid soap. To make it flow easy.
Mix to a thick soupy mixture.

This works. Worked on my dog. She slept with me that night.
Baking soda is the best odor remover known to mankind.
The Hydrogen Peroxide works the baking soda into (whatever)

I would suggest rinsing well. To avoid the hydrogen peroxide from bleaching (whatever). You`ll want to rinse well anyways. The mixture makes a real mess. Clean mess. But a mess.
 
marlinspike said:
Thanks. What did you use for mold spores? That`s the next problem, in leather and plastic.
Click to expand...

Here is what I used ---
Microban Germicidal Cleaner Concentrate (QGC), Lemon | Jon-Don

Having lived in the Pacific Northwest for over a decade, I saw lots of vehicles that were locked up, and leaked water inside enough to make the entire Interior a huge fuzzy-mold spore farm!!!

If you have a lot of this in this vehicle along with the rodent damage, you might want to get an OSHA Respirator and wear it all the time in there...
I had one and used it but it still made me sick for about 2 weeks after...

Good luck !
Dan F
 
I would wipe all surfaces with a product called microcode tb. It`s available at most top notch janitorial supply stores. A ready to use quart is all you should need. Wet wipe let air dry. This will kill all the germs and bacterial that cause odors. When dry , Step 2 is to hit the area with an enzyme product with odor counteractant. I like biopwer plus. A quart is all you will need. You can cut it but I would use it straight.

Good luck if you can find these products pm me.
 
I`ll tell you about a product that worked great on removing the smell of cat piss and I verified that 6 months later, in stifling heat, it was still gone. Check out the write up (the product is listed therein, I don`t want to break forum rules...not sure if Autopia is the same as AG in that regard):

1st Ever Interior Only Post
 
I like what all have shared, I like to suggest possible pulling the blower motor out and take a look around that area or in the squirrel blower wheel
 
rlmccarty2000 said:
Luckily we can talk freely about all detailing products here. Just can`t post links, which is more than fair.
Click to expand...

Absolutely more than fair. Thanks for letting us know. I`ve gotten in crap from AG for different things in the past, so I`m gun-shy with them now (for the most part).

Therefore, if you didn`t want to suffer through the linked thread, it is Valu Guard`s Odor Eliminator. I have a very high opinion of this product!
 
The dead rat you see is the best dead rat.

My guess is there are others you don`t see if it still smells that bad.


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