crying while driving over spilled milk

September 12, 2007 5:22 PM

I just had this unfortunate incident where I was cleaning up from a meeting and someone placed the open quart of half&half in a bag which tipped over in the trunk of a new Prius (which is, of course, rented). I've been soaking it up with towels, lots of water (being careful to avoid the batteries) and even used some "Nature's Miracle" odor remover. What's the best way to continue cleaning up this mess and hopefully be able to preempt any negative effects (i.e. horrible smell).
posted by buttercup to Home & Garden (7 answers total)

How to clean up spilled milk.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 5:54 PM on September 12, 2007

I'd rent a steam/hot water carpet cleaner and use the "wand"-like attachment. Or perhaps take it to a special auto detailer that does that type of cleaning.
posted by amtho at 6:49 PM on September 12, 2007

If it were me, I'd just clean it up as best I could with soap and water, let it dry, then tuck a fabric softener sheet somewhere inconspicuous, so the smell won't be overpowering until several renters from now.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 7:10 PM on September 12, 2007

A "water extraction" upholstery cleaner is best. It sprays solution into the pile, then sucks it out along with whatever it picked up. My local hardware store rents the Castex Anser machines, which I absolutely adore.

Or you could just call the rental folks, since they probably have such equipment at their shop. If they're like my local rental folks (Elizabeth and Tommy, you rock!) they'll appreciate your honesty and have you bring the car in. I bet they'll clean it while you wait, and if you offer to buy lunch, it'll probably turn out cheaper than renting a machine yourself.
posted by Myself at 10:58 PM on September 12, 2007

Might be an obvious point, but if there is a spare wheel well under the carpet, then make sure you take out the carpet altogether, and thoroughly clean up anything that has seeped through and dripped under.
posted by bifter at 3:03 AM on September 13, 2007

Best answer: After a catastrophic fish sauce spill in the backseat of my car (and subsequent high temperatures for a couple days) I liberally doused the seat with baking soda, let that sit for a day, then vacuumed it up. That got rid of nearly all of the smell. I did a final cleaning with a scrubby-top upholstery cleaner like this that I got from Target.
posted by rxrfrx at 9:07 AM on September 13, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice. The baking soda, a lot of scrubbing and some good design by Toyota has cleaned up this mess. The trunk actually disassembled quite easily and I was able to get the milk smell from all corners of the car.

Thanks and I'm curious about the situation that caused the catastrophic fish sauce spill if its more than a bottle breaking in the grocery bag.
posted by buttercup at 7:33 PM on September 17, 2007