Vomit on car upholstery - lingering odour

[ddiogyn]

Hallo,

As thread title. The incident happened a couple of weeks ago. The seat has since been professionally cleaned with a pressurised steam cleaner, and i've tried applying sodium bicarbonate. All to no avail, the smell is awful.

Advice greatly appreciated.

 

[davegoody]

Get a new car . . . . . . .

Hallo,

As thread title. The incident happened a couple of weeks ago. The seat has since been professionally cleaned with a pressurised steam cleaner, and i've tried applying sodium bicarbonate. All to no avail, the smell is awful.

Advice greatly appreciated.

That may sound like a flippant answer, but unless you can take the cover off and deep clean the underlying foam, it will smell for ever. I have a 4 year old who puked in my brand new car, fortunately it is leather, wiped clean with no lingering smell. . . . . feel for you though, been there many times !

 

[RKO]

You could always try a mixture of vinegar and water and saturate the area underneath and allow to air/dry. Window cleaner is another option and also baking soda. The vomit has obviously soak well and truly below the surface. Hope this helps.

 

[ddiogyn]

The seat covering material appears to be hard-sewn onto the underlying structure, so removing it isn't a possibility.

I've heard of the vinegar method, but i'm not too fond of the smell of vinegar, and i'm afraid the odours will combine into something far worse!

 

[RKO]

Trust me the vinegar smell will go eventually when it dries.

 

[rdowns]

Cover the area with charcoal briquettes. Place a thin piece of material beneath them so they don't soil the upholstery. That should take care of the odor in a couple or three days.

 

[GoCubsGo]

The seat covering material appears to be hard-sewn onto the underlying structure, so removing it isn't a possibility.

I've heard of the vinegar method, but i'm not too fond of the smell of vinegar, and i'm afraid the odours will combine into something far worse!

It's up to you, puke or vinegar.
If that charcoal idea was serious then it sounds good. Get the mesquite smoked ones.

 

[ethical]

How long did you leave the bicarbonate soda on for? In my experience that's what works best with this sort of thing. It's less extreme than replacing the car... but could you replace the seat?

 

[ddiogyn]

I made a paste of bicarb with water, spread it over the offending area, and left it for about a day and a half. By that time it had crystallised out so i could hoover the remnants.

Coal briquettes sound messy; i'll have to give the vinegar a go.