Hi everyone,

I hope somebody out there has some advice on this one, because this is pretty bad.

So I just got back from a week's trip overseas to discover
that apparently my girlfriend left a gallon of milk (supposedly
it "fell" out of the bag) to rot in my trunk for seven days.
So I've returned home to that pleasant (and overwhelming)
odor of sour milk which has now seemed to permeate the
interior of my beloved MB. I have, of course, removed the
offending item and everything else with it in the trunk. I
have shampooed, deodorized, scrubbed and sprayed many
times over but cannot get rid of the odor entirely.

I have heard horror stories from my friends about how the
same thing happened to them and they never fully got the
smell out. I could not live with that. I beg you, there must
be some sort of homespun remedy I could apply -- vinegar,
or pureed cucumber, or something crazy like that? There
must be a way to get it out -- it's driving me nuts!!! If all
else fails, I suppose I will just take it in and have it professionally
done.

Thanks,

Zach
1992 300CE

Some pharmacies sell an aerosol spray called 'Ozium' that is pretty good at taking out odors. Those cigarette lighter air fresheners may also help, but they also produce ozone, which isn't very good for vinyl, leather, plastic, etc in the long term. This site gives a good overview; http://www.moderncarcare.com/Articles/111deta2.html . A search under google for 'car sour milk odor removal' came up with 10 pages of links that might help.

Otherwise, a trip to a professional detailer may be in order. Sometimes this is covered under your auto insurance - at very least they can possibly recommend a shop. (and a dating service for finding a new girl friend: it sounds as if you are a touch peeved with the old one, or at least skeptical of her explanation!)

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

Zach,

Two thoughts:

1. Pet supply houses sell a product called "Nature's Miracle" that eliminates pet odors related to "pet accidents". This may help.

2. Lose the chick-you have too nice of a car to have someone be so careless!

Regards,

__________________
Regards,

Tom S.
1971 280SL Tunis Beige Metallic
1971 280SL Tobacco Brown (13K miles)
1970 280SL Deep Red
1994 E320 Cabriolet
1999 E320 Wagon 4Matic
2002 LX 470
1992 Land Cruiser

zach next to a dead body in a car,milk is one of the worst.Call auto dealers,some of them may know a name to give you.This is not a do it yourself prodject it will take a pro,and even then it may not work,good luck,

This may seem pretty simplistic, but how about getting a couple of boxes of baking soda, opening them and setting them on the floor, one in front, one in back? Baking soda, my wife says, gets rid of odors in refrigerators, and it just might work for MBs, too. Worth a shot, at least. Good luck.

Baking soda absorbs odors, like charcoal. If the source of the odor has been eliminated, this would help alot. It sounds like our lister has not yet eliminated the source.

__________________
Regards,

Tom S.
1971 280SL Tunis Beige Metallic
1971 280SL Tobacco Brown (13K miles)
1970 280SL Deep Red
1994 E320 Cabriolet
1999 E320 Wagon 4Matic
2002 LX 470
1992 Land Cruiser

Fresh Coffee grinds.
Leave them on the rugs for a week, then vacuum them up and toss them.
They absorb the ordor.
And keep you awake at the wheel;.......

I would vouch for the baking soda to get to the root of the odour. You mght then want to make a trip to the DIY and look for a pack of volcanic ash to absorb the remainder foul air, and then spray on some FeBreeze that puts in the good smell while taking out whatevers bad.

__________________
... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I have now tried a number of them, all in quick succession, and to an extent they have all helped somewhat. The root of the odor remains, however -- as I suspected it would. I have an appointment tomorrow morning to bring it in to a professional detailer. They're going to shampoo all the trunk carpets and then ozone the whole
car, so we'll see how that works. One of my friends -- a physics major at UC Berkeley -- is shocked that they can put ozone into a car at all, being that it's so corrosive and volatile, but I'll have to put those fears aside and trust the professionals. I will report back on the results.

My girlfriend is wonderful actually, and I have forgiven her for her slight automotive misdeed. She understands my love for the car, but everyone makes mistakes sometime, no?

Thanks again,

Zach
1992 300CE

My wife had spilled baby formula in her Prelude years ago (that smells WORSE than cow's milk)! Anyway, I got a tip from a detailer friend to place lots of those dryer sheets (or fabric softener sheets) on the affected area.

I did that and let the car air out for a week.

It actually worked!

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Wish you well, Zach!

__________________
... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

I share your friends disbelief over the ozone treatment, but dozens of big name manufacturers sell ozone generating "natures air cleaner" units for the home, car, and office.

EVERY pulmonary physician I know warns against their prolonged use, OSHA has standards on concentration/duration of exposure to ozone, and SoCal Air Quality alerts are based on ozone concentrations - not particulates, hydrocarbons, PAN, or NOx/SOx levels. I wouldn't want it done to my car on a routine basis, but sometimes extreme measures....

Good luck on the problem removal - I would have them vinylex the plastic/rubber/vinyl and hide treat the leather after the ozone!

John

__________________
John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

I feel sorry for you. I ended up selling my 1993 taurus after my son spilled two mcdonald's milk shakes on the back seat. worse than barf!

Hi everyone,

Well, the car has come back from the detailer's
shop, and here's the verdict:

smells pretty good.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I took a deep whiff of my newly deodorized mercedes. The ozone really does a bang-up job of clearing the air. Actually, it leaves its own strange aroma of ionized air, but it's a lot better than sour milk. The trunk responded really well to treatment, and I suspect its because I didn't actually spill any milk into the fabric -- instead, it just sort of evaporated from the carton into the trunk space. When you lean in real close to the trunk, you can still catch a funky eau de milk, but I suspect that will remain for some time then disappear. As long as my passengers aren't dry-heaving, I don't mind some residual odor in the trunk.

Now, all I do is keep some baking soda in the trunk to absorb any leftover odor, and return to the detailer for a (free) follow-up trunk ozoning if necessary.

My advice to anyone who encounters a similar problem: definitely not a DIY, go right to the professionals before you make it worse.

Thanks for all your help and advice everyone,

Zach
1992 300CE

Well done, Zach!

__________________
... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.