Smelly upholstery foam

10

Asked by Sabrina Aug 07, 2020 at 03:16 PM about the 2006 Toyota Corolla

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I purchased a used 2006 Toyota Corolla that was unused and closed up for
a while.  The first summer the interior got hot, the car smelled very bad.  I
called a detailer and he asked me if I had a Toyota when I described the
problem.  He said he's heard this about the foam inside the upholstery.  I
paid to have all of the upholstery cleaned and the air filter changed but the
very next day the car warmed up and it stunk again.  How do I get the smell
out of the foam? Can I saturate the seats with something? What can I use?

9 Answers

40,180

I would suggest you air out the car for some time, there is nothing that I know of that you want to soak into the foam. Buy the special Fabreze for fabric and see if that helps. There are also certain car dealers that redo salvage vehicles, they have special air chambers that they put carpet and seats in to get all moisture and smells out.

10

Thank you for the answer. I have aired the car out so much that my dashboard is covered in pollen. Febreze for fabric was the very first thing I used when I thought the car was just stale. Thank you for the air chamber idea. I will see what I can find.

735

Try shampooing them once or twice if you have to a good deep clean or if you don't have a shampooer get some good carpet cleaner and good stiff brush I recommend the Bissell 4xspower shampoo they sell it at Walmart that's what we use at work give them a good hard scrub and let it air out for a day or two you might have to do it more than once we've had some smelly ones comes to work that I've done wonders on that way also if you had an ionizer it wouldn't hurt to purify the whole car for an hour or two

735

Also it might be so bad that you have it in your HVAC system find a good air system cleaner that you could run to the HVAC that would help immensely to and check your cabin air filter

735

Normally with the system cleaners you take out your cabin air filter and spray a good amount while the AC is on and recirculating into the cabin air filter hole and it'll run through your hvac

Get a few boxes of Arm and Hammer deodorizer (baking soda). Keep them in the car for a few months.

1 people found this helpful.
10

Thank you everyone. Shampooing the upholstery didn't work. I had the whole filter and air system cleaned out too. The next thing I was going to do was sprinkle baking soda everywhere, vacuum well and then spray generously with a vinegar solution and let it soak in and then use a friend's Bissell. If the odor comes back after my car stops smelling like a salad, I am just going to use natural air fresheners. I will try to find an ionizer to borrow too.

1 people found this helpful.
735

The ionizer does help immensely if all that other stuff failed I'm kind of worried it won't help as good as I'm thinking but it doesn't hurt to try just don't overrun that ionizer in your car because then you're going to be stuck with that smelling that smell it to me is the worst smell I'd rather smell garbage than that ionizer

735

On average I stick the ionizer in the car for 45 minutes if it's really bad smelling I'll do an hour and just judge from there let it air out each time because trust me you do not want that ionizer smell stuck in your car I can't even describe it it just chokes you

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