Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cleaning and car

Faint of butt

ignignokt — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:14:09 -0800

While I was driving him home from the vet yesterday, the cat took a dump in his carrier, which was made of cloth. (He was in the front passenger seat.) After taking care of that, I noticed it still smelled like cat feces in the car. I didn't see any stains on the seat, and I had to go, so I just rolled down the windows and went to work.

Later that night, it still smelled like cat poo in the car, but I had a bad, tiring day, so I left it alone and hoped it would be better today.

Unsurprisingly, it's not. So, I guess some secret poo liquid got onto my car seat. What method for getting rid of it and the smell maximizes efficiency and minimizes effort?

My car is melting. (Melting!)

6and12 — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 08:23:04 -0800

What's the best way to clean the tarry, semi-melted center console of my 2001 Honda Accord? Years of South Florida heat have started to take a toll on the interior of my Honda, specifically the black, rubber-like material that surrounds the cup holders and shifter in the center console. The same material also lines the little alcove in front of the shifter. I learned the hard way not to keep jewel cases or anything else in there because the black material tends to come off on anything left in there for more than a few hours. This material also tends to act like flypaper, catching little bits of dust, hair, or anything else flying around in my car. Occasionally I get the interior detailed, and they always manage to get this stuff semi-clean. I've tried a few car interior products, but haven't had any luck myself. Can anyone suggest a good product for cleaning this type of surface?

Smells like team spirit -- or worse!

ubiquity — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:23:43 -0800

I live in a place that is rainy or snowy half the year, and during that half it is impossible to keep the floor of my car dry. It has begun to smell pretty bad. I recently had the interior detailed, which included washing the floor mats, and it smelt fine until the floor got wet again, which was almost immediately. Does anyone have a good technique for keeping wet carpet from smelling bad? Drying it is not an option. For bonus points, exactly what is it that causes the smell?

Auto spring cleaning

yellowbkpk — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:14:22 -0800

Happy Spring! What should I do to my car after a long winter of snowy roads and lengthy sitting in the driveway? My last car was a Volvo 240 and it seemed to enjoy getting road salt rubbed into its nooks and crannies (my average mpg would go up in winter) and loved basking in the sun on the driveway when I took the train or bus on a business trip. I bought a newer car (2005 Jetta) last year that I'd like to treat a little bit better.

What can I do to make sure my newer car lasts as long as possible after its first winter in my hands? I'd like to hear about your spring cleaning ritual for your car. Do you wax it yourself? Do you pay a porter to do the cleanup for you? How do you clean out the underbelly beyond a run through an automatic washer?

New car - cleaning & waxing advice.

rdurbin — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 07:00:58 -0800

I just bought a new 07 Accord and I want to clean and wax the car myself. In the past I have done the automatic car was thing. What type of wax? Should I buy a buffer? How often do I need to do this? Also... How do you clean off bugs from road trips without abrading the paint?

I live in MN (no heated garage) so what the hell am I supposed to do in the winter? I am assuming that if I go down the path of hand washing, I don't want to switch to the automatic scrub car washes during the winter, right?

I have a car! But it smells funny. How can I fix it?

MadamM — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:19:18 -0800

How can I make my car smell better? I have recently been passed partial stewardship of a family car and I want to fix it up. It's a good car, but recently it's had some window issues that have, in turn, led to some smell issues. Basically the windows wouldn't stay up, so a certain amount of water would get inside it when it rained (especially because we park it outside, uncovered, sometimes). Not a lot of water, because the windows were never stuck more than an inch or two open, but over the course of a few months I think it's made the car smell sort of... funny. Add to that the fact that my father smoked in it when he was the primary driver, and you get a car that smells somewhat unpleasant- not awful, but it definitely has a musty funk that I would like to keep from getting any worse. The windows are fixed now, which should help, but I'm worried about mildew.

I'm going to have access to the car this week because my brother, the other driver of the car, will be out of town. I have plenty of time and effort to devote to this project, but unfortunately not much money or other resources (including any knowledge of cars or how they're made). I can maybe spend/convince my mom to spend about 30 bucks on supplies beyond what we already possess, but not much beyond that. I want to make this thing smell good. What do I need to do? What parts can I easily clean without having to dismantle the car beyond what I'm comfortable with? I want to do the best job I can.

(I did search for and find other questions about wet cars, but they didn't really apply to this situation because most of them dealt with soaked cars. This is more a matter of dampness.)

How can I eliminate the smell of spilled soup?

ignignokt — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:17:31 -0800

I've spilled some chicken noodle soup in my car. I wiped up what I could with napkins, but some of it soaked down beneath the surface of the seat. I suspect my car will now smell like chicken broth. What can I do?

tar on my car :(

(lambda (x) x) — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 15:40:39 -0800

I drove through a work area today and my car is covered in tar. What can I do? On my way home from work I passed through a work area on a rural state road where they were filling cracks on the road with a tar/asphalt substance. It was the typical situation where they have two guys with stop/slow signs at each end of the temporarily one-lane road. They directed me through, and a few minutes later I noticed that my steering wheel was unusually wobbly. When I got home, I got out and saw that my tires were covered in tar/asphalt. It also splashed around the wheel wells. This stuff is incredibly sticky, and it seems to be hardening. I can't get it off myself. Will I need new tires, or is it possible that a tire shop will be able to clean this off? What about the body, should I even try to get it off myself?

Also, would it be worth trying to get the state DOT to foot the bill? Ugh.

Help make my car like new...

ieatwords — Thu, 18 May 2006 17:52:16 -0800

I am going to be detailing the interior of my 2002 Ford Mustang this weekend. I'm looking for the best techniques/products for the job. My goal is for it to end up looking like a professional detail job (or at least as close as I can get it to be). What has worked for you? I have no leather seats so I don't have to worry about that. But what about the cloth seats...carpets...dashboard...steering wheel...sticky soda drips? What do you suggest?

Removing Dog Hair from a Car

machaus — Mon, 29 Mar 2004 16:24:28 -0800

Needed: Advice for removing dog hair from a car I'm about to sell. Tape works well for upholstery, but what about stubborn hair embedded in carpet? All the 50 cent vacuum rentals suck. Uhhh, I mean they don't suck.