Hi,

I left some fresh chicken in my trunk for 2 weeks and forgot about it. Yesterday when I opened the trunk it stank. Maggots were roaming everywhere. I took the carpets out and cleaned the the trunk with detergent. What can I do to remove the stench. It stinks in the car too.

Thanks,

Kevin

'70 280sl

Here are some things that might help:

1) Open the windows and the trunk and let the car air out overnight. You may have to remove the trunk light bulb to keep from draining the battery.

2) place a small box of backing soda in the trunk. Wedge it in somehow so it can't turn over and tear off the top so it will absorb the smell.

3) Get a couple of those "Bounce" fabric softening sheets like you put in the clothes dryer. Make sure it is the scented variety. Put one in the trunk and one under the seat.

4) Place a small piece of apple skin in the trunk and also under the seat.


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Bill Wood - Webmaster
MercedesShop.com, LLC

I hate to tell you this, but the smell of decomposing organic material (chicken) will never leave until you completely remove all of the carpeting in the trunk, wash the metal down with a good organic cleaner (TSP) is OK. Flush with a lot of water. Do the same with the carpets, let them dry in the sun and then really douse them with Fabreze. After all this you may still have a lingering odor. When people die and decompose in their cars, they are almost always a total write off (the car that is) as they can never seem to get rid of the smell. Sorry..

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Jeff Lawrence
1987 300e
1989 300e
2000 Dodge Grand Caravan SE



[This message has been edited by jeffsr (edited 07-28-2000).]

Hi,

I took out all the carpeting from the trunk and the car, washed it and left it in the sun for 2 days, chucked some charcoal and soda. Still stinks but it's getting a little better. What does the apple skin do?

Thanks for hte advise

Kevin

Just a thought, but how about spending around $100 bucks and buying one of those new little portable steam cleaners (Eureka, the little yellow one?) for household use and hitting the carpet a couple of times?

If it doesn't work, at least you have a neat toy to clean the rest of the car and house with .


Good Luck


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Ross
96 C280, Greenish Black

Kevin, I s**t you not, you have got to really scrub the trunk inside sheet metal with an organic solvent, do the same with the carpets 2 or 3 times and bash the whole thing with Fabreze 2 or 3 times, otherwise you will spend the rest of your life trying to get rid of the stink. Half measures will not get it done in this case. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to look at a 1998 Corvette (BRAND NEW) that a guy had been shot in. Only visible damage was a shot out driver's door window and blood on the upholstery. The poor guy was in the car in the woods for 2 1/2 weeks before he was discovered. I can't even begin to describe the odor from that car. Almost lost my cookies just standing near it. The car was put up for auction as the insurance company totaled it (due to the smell) Don't know what the ins co. got for it, but I did hear that the guy who bought it finally ended up breaking it down for parts as he could not get the smell out. Heard he replaced the entire interior. At any rate, you are dealing with a world class problem here, so you need to be really aggressive, otherwise you will surely have fewer friends willing to go for a ride with you.. Good Luck!!

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Jeff Lawrence
1987 300e
1989 300e
2000 Dodge Grand Caravan SE

Perhaps you can try the stuff they use to get out skunk smell. I don't know what it's called, but you can check omahavaccine.com, I know I have bought stuff to get out cat smells and it works great.

I have seen the skunk stuff advertized there.

good luck.
I know that smell......yuck.

Try giving the local coroner's office a call, I'm sure the Ambulance driver has a couple of tricks up his sleeve!

This sounds like a real horror story! I was wondering what that awful smell was coming from the southeast

Good luck!

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Make it a Good One!
1993 500E

Back in the ole days, when a pet got sprayed by a skunk (aka polecat) we'd wash the pet with tomato juice. Somehow I think that applying this idea on your trunk stinks.
I wish you luck!!!
What about throwing out the carpet and getting new/used? By the time you spend $ on chemicals etc. you may not be too far from the cost of a carpet. (not to mention time)
-Larry

I got some Lysol disinfectant and sprayed it inside the whole car and then wiped it down. Did wonders. Still stinks a little but I guess it's tolerable. Sunning the car at the moment. Thanks for your advise.

Dont' forget to spray the intakes for the ventilation system. If the interior stinks then its in the ventilation system. Even if you were able to remove the rest of the offensive odor 100% then the ventialtion system could keep circulating it for years. Lysol being sprayed into the system intakes while running the system in various methods should help.

Hope this helps...Lee

Contact a fire damage shop. They can tell you what would work best. I know you can have items ozone treated to remove smells, but I am sure they place them in a sealed enclosure to do it. Worth a shot though. Bet you won't do it again.

Meguiar's does make an odor eliminator spray.