To figure out why there is a smell in the car interior, you will have to carefully examine it and listen to the odor itself. He will tell you where to look for the cause and, based on this, understand how to remove the smell from the car.
There are technical and everyday reasons that provoke an unpleasant smell in the car. Failure of certain vehicle systems or careless behavior with certain parts can make themselves felt through odors. The fluids that ensure the functioning of the car are the causes of the stench.
- If your car smells of gasoline, then this is a signal to check the fuel system.
- A sweetish taste indicates antifreeze leakage. If you add coolant, the smell in the car will disappear.
- Mustiness and dampness indicate a clogged air duct or air conditioner. Replacing the device or antibacterial treatment will correct the situation. Allergy sufferers will feel unwell first, and an attack may occur.
- The scorched scent encourages the driver to shift gears more carefully. The clutch is pressed too hard, and this stinks inside the car. New drivers are especially guilty of this.
- The smell of gas in a car running on gas equipment appears if errors were made during installation or low-quality components were used.
- Burnt oil cannot be confused. The aroma is pungent, recognizable and appears when oil drops hit the engine when topping up. If you don’t wipe the body, you’ll have to endure the unpleasant smell in the car’s interior for a couple more days.
But the described aromas relate only to the technical condition of the “iron horse”, and the car can smell bad for other reasons, which are provoked by the passengers and the owner himself. When smoking, tobacco smoke is absorbed into the upholstery and plastic elements; even ventilation does not help get rid of it. The smoky taste lasts for a long time.
Crumbs or leftovers from bagged food used as snacks spoil and emit a stench. Animals also leave behind an unpleasant odor. Winter time is characterized by high humidity. The inside of the car is sealed, moisture does not evaporate normally and a swampy smell appears in the car interior.
Ways to remove odors in a car
There are several methods to get rid of the smell in the car interior. To understand which one to use, you must first find the source of the stench. Thanks to modern chemical cleaning agents, you can quickly bring the air back to normal.
The sequence of actions is as follows:
- examine the vehicle and find the cause of the bad odor;
- wash with chemicals. clean the fireplace, dry it and walk over plastic and metal elements with a cloth;
- Remove dirt in hard-to-reach places using a vacuum cleaner.
There is a simpler option - go to dry cleaning. The main thing is to constantly keep the interior clean, and stench will not spoil your trip.
Manufacturers of car accessories offer many options on how to get rid of unpleasant odors in your car. This:
- air fresheners;
- aerosols;
- steam treatment;
- ozonation;
- the use of substances that are found in everyone’s home - ammonia, activated carbon, baking soda, vinegar.
A good option is to do a complete dry cleaning. But this will cost more than expelling the stench yourself.
10). Do not pollute the car interior
Try to regularly clean all surfaces of the interior from dust so as not to accumulate dirt, which will then be very difficult to clean.
Wipe the inside and outside of your car windows more often, as they are a frequent source of dirt and unpleasant odors.
Friends, see also the special section of our website 1 GAI.RU - “Knowledge Base”, in which we have collected a large number of useful tips for motorists.
Also look and read the article: “How to make an antifreeze with your own hands.”
Masking an unpleasant odor
When choosing a method to get rid of smell in a car, you need to pay attention to the properties of the product used. Fragrances that are sold in the form of “stinkers” or aerosol air fresheners do not destroy the scent, but only temporarily mask it.
When two pungent aromas combine and a person has to breathe them in for a long time, using a car turns into torture. Headaches, irritability, and shortness of breath occur. These symptoms reduce the driver's vigilance on the road and cause poor health.
It is worth noting that too strong aromatic bouquets, even without the presence of stench, can irritate the nervous system. You should select compositions with a coffee, lemon or sea scent.
Deodorants
This is a simple and cheap method available to every motorist. To combat unpleasant odors, conventional flavorings are used, which come in several types:
- paper (“Christmas trees”, etc.);
- gel, filled with aromatic liquid;
- aerosol (in the form of a can);
- as well as hanging toys.
Before purchasing a deodorant, decide on its scent. British scientists have scientifically proven that each smell has a certain effect on the driver. There are also professional fragrances that are sprayed throughout the cabin and it acquires a pleasant smell for the next week.
Odor neutralizers give a fresh aroma to the interior (can be used both in car washes and privately).
Negative Impact:
- the smell of fresh bread (can provoke speeding and cause irritation);
- jasmine, lavender, chamomile (will weaken attention and reaction speed while driving);
- the aroma of roadside herbs and freshly cut grass (will cause nostalgia and reduce the pilot's concentration).
Positive Impact:
- coffee and lemon smell (drive away unnecessary thoughts and help you concentrate on driving);
- marine aroma (improves breathing, calms the nervous system, helps relax tired muscles);
- cinnamon and pepper (have a positive effect on attention and invigorate).
It often happens that when fighting one smell by means of another, a third, even more disgusting one results. If you want to drown out the smell of an animal or food product, then do not experiment, because many deodorants can become a catalyst, and your sense of smell will not tolerate such a caustic mixture.
Steam treatment and ozonation
If the car interior smells of gasoline, then a simple Christmas tree will not help. An effective method is steam treatment. But the steam does not contain pure water, but a special antibacterial drug with the addition of a pleasant aroma. Cleaning goes like this:
- all internal surfaces are steamed for three minutes;
- doors and windows are quickly closed for an hour;
- the vehicle is opened and left for ventilation;
- Use a dry cloth to remove accumulated condensation.
The air will become clean, without even a hint of harmful impurities.
With ozone treatment, things are a little different. The first thing that makes this procedure different is its cost. If the previous option is available to every car owner, not even all detailing centers provide ozonation services.
A special device will not only remove the smell of gases or fuel from inside the car, but will also destroy fungi. It works on fabric and hard surfaces. The cleaning process looks like this:
- The ozone device operates in the car with the fan on for 20 minutes;
- then the fan turns off, the operation of the device does not stop for another 20 minutes;
- the vehicle is not ventilated for long;
- Wet cleaning of all surfaces is carried out.
You can find out how much such a service costs in the centers where it is provided, but the price is steep. All bacteria are killed during ozonation.
What if there is a smell from the air conditioner?
If a damp smell comes from the air conditioner, you need to open the front cover of the unit and remove the filter.
It is useless to clean it, as after a while the smell will appear again. The filter needs to be replaced, and the air conditioner itself needs to be treated from the inside.
Procedure:
- Remove and dry the rugs, wash and dry the floor.
- Turn on the oven at full power, close the doors and leave it running for 10 minutes.
- Switch the air conditioner to recirculate.
- Use a special air conditioner cleaner. This can be foam, gas or liquid that needs to be blown into the system cavity.
- After another 10 minutes, turn off the oven and open the doors for ventilation.
What's at hand
There are a lot of tips on the Internet on how to remove the smell from the car interior. The simplest ones are to use substances found in household use.
Soda or sodium bicarbonate
Every housewife knows about the properties of the substance in cooking. How to remove odor from a car using it? It's simple. You need to sprinkle the product over the upholstery and wait 12 hours. The powder will absorb the smell; all you have to do inside the car is vacuum it. The second option is to dilute baking soda with water and remove stains or greasy marks.
Coal
Another popular method will tell you how to get rid of an unpleasant smell in a car. Open strips of activated carbon should be placed throughout the vehicle and in the trunk. It will absorb excess odor, but removing odors from the car will take a long time.
Ammonia method
Pour ammonia powder into a container with a volume of up to 15 ml and leave overnight. The smell of gasoline in the car or other interior will disappear if you do this for several nights in a row. In the morning it is necessary to ventilate, otherwise the ammonia will begin to choke.
Vinegar essence
Why the car interior smells of gasoline is still worth figuring out. But if you leave an open container of vinegar for seven nights, the stench will definitely go away.
Whether to use these tips or not is up to each driver to decide at his own discretion. But if you approach interior cleaning correctly, the occurrence of bad odors will be a rare occurrence.
conclusions
Not all drying methods are equally good. Many work poorly or not in all cases.
The most effective method is to completely remove the sound insulation and carpet. Then turn on forced heating or leave it in the sun, weather permitting. After this, check the body for rust and coat it with Movil or Pussal. And lay construction polyethylene foam on top with a thickness of at least 10 mm.
Life hack from Domovushkin: it is better to cut the carpet under the front seats so that it can be folded back and the bottom inspected for moisture.
After drying the car interior under the mats, try to do everything to prevent moisture from getting inside again. Otherwise, your efforts will be in vain.
How to get rid of tobacco smell?
For a smoking car enthusiast, the smoke may not bother you, but not all passengers like it. If the car interior smells like exhaust fumes, it is tantamount to tobacco smoke. It can be removed by washing plastic panels and cleaning fabric upholstery. You should use cleaning solutions, use a vacuum cleaner, and clean the ashtray. Next, you can install a fragrance on the air duct; special ones are produced to eliminate tobacco impregnation of the interior.
Why a tobacco smell remains in the car after treatment, the reasons may be hidden in textile mats. They, like a sponge, absorb not only moisture and dirt, but also aromas. In summer the problem is less noticeable, but in winter it is better to take rubber ones.
An independent option on how to eliminate the smell of tobacco in a car does not provide a 100% guarantee. Large-scale dry cleaning will help deal with the cause perfectly.
Antifreeze
The sweetish smell of antifreeze is difficult to confuse with something: it’s the only one in the car. Due to the “family ties” of the cooling and heating systems, the leak quickly becomes known to the occupants of the cabin. Not only by the smell, but also by the slight fogging of the windshield near the air deflector. Another reliable indicator is the coolant level in the expansion tank. His fall indicates an emergency situation.
Eliminating pet odor
Before you remove the smell of animals from the interior of your car, you need to get rid of hair on the seats and other interior coverings. Special deodorants are sold that eliminate pet odors. They are used to treat the ceiling, doors, and upholstery.
But deodorants will only mask odors for a short time. To be on the safe side, it is better to use dry cleaning services. They definitely know how to remove smell from the car interior quickly and efficiently. The product used to wash carpets is used for this purpose.
Advice for car owners
To prevent stench and stench from becoming your companions on the road, you should follow simple rules.
- Monitor the condition and wash the car regularly. Particular attention should be paid to the space under the seats, as debris accumulates there.
- Do wet cleaning of the interior. Hard surfaces also accumulate odors. Special detergents will help prevent the absorption of fragrances.
- Use a brush and vacuum cleaner.
- Deodorize the car. The interior should be treated with a liquid spray to prevent new odors from appearing soon.
Perhaps the most important tip is to avoid unpleasant odors. To do this, it is enough to monitor cleanliness and immediately remove the causes that contribute to the appearance of suffocating aromas.
Prevention
To prevent the smell of dampness from appearing in the cabin, you must adhere to the following recommendations:
- do not leave the car outside in the rain, you need to park it in the garage;
thoroughly dry the rugs and the floor underneath them;- regularly clean the salon;
- carry out timely replacement of door seals;
- periodically clean the seats with a washing vacuum cleaner and a steam generator;
- store gel moisture absorbers under the seat or in the glove compartment;
- ventilate the car by leaving it open;
- undergo maintenance in a timely manner.
