How to clean and eliminate odor from foam rubber?

[John_Mc]

I need to clean some rare original foam from my 1970 Lincoln, is there a secret?  Yes I can buy a used one or buy new foam, but assuming these are not the answer, what to do?  Thanks.

[Digger914]

From dog urine to dead body, there are lots of things that work to get odors out of the car innards, after your do the necessary cleaning. Would help to know what kind of odor.

 

[John_S_in_Penna]

I have a 1995 Buick Riviera with seldom seen 60-40

cloth seats and a column shift.  (Most have a console instead.)

I got it just for its unusual seating configuration and low mileage.

 

However, the previous owner had smoked a pipe, and that 

bad odor could be smelled in the interior.  I used Odor-X,

which I got in a one-pint spray bottle from the local discount store.

 

The Odor-X would make the odor disappear, but the odor

would gradually return.  All in all, I probably sprayed that product

in the car (directly on the upholstery) once a year, about 

4 times in all.  After more than 10 years, the odor is gone.

I don't know when it disappeared, but after some time I realized

it never came back.

[Restorer32]

Dad drove Cadillacs and smoked cheap cigars. After a while the Caddy of the year developed a certain ambiance to the point where Mom wouldn't ride in it. Dad's solution? Take the Caddy, a '64 Coupe de Ville as I remember, to the car wash and give the interior, dash, headliner, seats and carpets a good pressure washing. After a week or two sitting in the backyard in the sun the car dried out and smelled fresh, if slightly moldy. Only lasting effect of the washing was a slight condensation inside the instrument panel which never totally disappeared.

[John_Mc]

9 hours ago, Digger914 said:

From dog urine to dead body, there are lots of things that work to get odors out of the car innards, after your do the necessary cleaning. Would help to know what kind of odor.

 

Thanks guys, my issue is a pungent urine smell from mice that got into the seats.  I've already replaced the carpet, headliner and all remnants of the vermin are gone, but they also got into the non-reproduced seat foam.  Someone suggested an ozone machine.

[John_S_in_Penna]

9 minutes ago, John_Mc said:

...they also got into the non-reproduced seat foam....

 

John, if you are reupholstering a seat, you don't need to use

pre-cut, reproduced foam for the seats.  I had to solve this

situation recently in a car that had 1-1/4" wide pleats--a foam

configuration that isn't made today.  Similarly, I know Lincoln had

some upholstery patterns where the pleating was done in an X-pattern.

 

You can find an upholsterer who can cut or score the foam as needed.

 

For example, many southern or western cars have dried and

deteriorated foam due to the hot weather.  If he couldn't find pre-made

foam, no one should say that such an interior is unrestorable or beyond hope!

Edited June 22, 2016 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[Digger914]

Don't be afraid of replacing foam, you would be amazed at how easy this stuff is to cut and fit with an electric carving knife and a hot wire.

 

If the foam isn't all chewed up and you have the upholstery off so it's easy to work with, soak it down with apple vinegar then squeeze it out, let it dry then rinse with water and dry it out again.

 

If the seats aren't all tore up needing new skin and you want to clean only, go to the local pet store and a good pet odor eliminator, clean the carpet everywhere, then damp sponge the leather. Cut apples into quarter sections, set them in trays, pie pans, whatever is handy and slide them under the seats. Keep the windows closed as much as possible, toss the old and replace with fresh cut ones every couple of days, depending on how bad the odor is, this could do the job in a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

 

 

[John_Mc]

Great tips guys, I'll give them a try. Thanks very much.

[60FlatTop]

Aratari in Rochester used to sell two types of malordor counter reactant. http://www.aratariautofinishers.com/store/c/27-Odor-Eliminators.aspx

 

It is not listed on the website but they are friendly and would take a call. I used to sell a wide range of car chemicals in the 1990's and I used it myself. The stuff was great.

Bernie

[Spinneyhill]

I can't recommend a product, just an experience. I leant my work truck to someone years ago while I was away. He was a heavy smoker. I could hardly get into the thing when I came back it was so repulsive. So I got a can of spray air deodorant and emptied the thing into the truck, shut the door and left it for the weekend. It smelt "normal" on Monday! It was a small ute - Mazda B1600 - so a very small space for so much deodorant. I was amazed at how well it killed the smell. I think good deodorants can lock onto the smelly molecules and make them not smelly, based on molecule shape.

[John_Mc]

Guys I tried the ozone machine and WOW, did it work.  Urine smell comepletly gone.  Now, let's see if it returns.

?

Edited June 27, 2016 by John_Mc (see edit history)

[John_Mc]

It did, in about 2 weeks time! :-/

[JACK M]

Please explain the ozone machine and where to borrow or buy one.