Old car smell

[suckapunks]

this is a little different, sorry. but a 35 year old car invariably comes with the old vinyl/leather/carpet/cushion/everything smell in the cabin. is there any way to mitigate this odor some? will ozonating the vehicle help any or is this just an odor i'll have to live with? it's not a mildew or rotten smell, its just the smell of oldness. if that makes sense.

[whitevan73]

I love the smell of my old merc. A mixture of leather, mould, dampness, petrol, oil, its much nicer than the stail smell in our new honda civic.
Sorry, not very helpfull.

[Dee8go]

Someone suggested putting a couple bars of soap, specifically Irish Spring, I think, in mine to get rid of the damp smell after my roof had leaked. It really worked pretty well. I left them in there for about a week and the odor was completely gone. You might try that with yours.

[TheDon]

Sage...

let it smolder


other than that.. sometimes I like the smell of melted crayons (that is what it smells like to me)


with my new euro interior it kinda smells different so I've been giving it the febreze treatment until I can find some good sage

[GaryF]

If you've still got the original seats as I do then the horse hair in them stinks, all part of the "old car" experience

[rocknroll101]

I love the way my 73 smells on a hot summer day, mostly old carpet and dust. I'd go for a deep cleaning using scented soap if I wanted to get rid of it.

[have mercy]

I love the feel and smells. The older the car the better. Make's me feel right at home.

[miljohnj5]

Oxy Interior1 by Turtle Wax is great. It includes a plastic bristle applicator to scrub carpets but the cleaner and top can also be used for everything else such as MB Tex which might have a waxy smell left over from old cleaning agents. The wax itself can also take on smells over time, scrub it off. Also, work on the headliner very lightly, its a huge source for odors. Also, look for small interior openings/tears for air to escape from under areas where the old car smell can hide. I use my car as a commuter and I am not going to ride in a smelly car. I spent about 2-3 hours a day for two weeks last summer cleaning. Baking soda still works as a great deodorizer, especially after spilling an extra-cream dunkin-donuts coffee.

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by Dee8go

Someone suggested putting a couple bars of soap, specifically Irish Spring, I think, in mine to get rid of the damp smell after my roof had leaked. It really worked pretty well. I left them in there for about a week and the odor was completely gone. You might try that with yours.

Diego -- Great idea, thanks!

[cheapold280ce]

I had a 69 chevelle with old car smell. My friend got rid of it for me. He was smoking in the back seat and some of his cigarette ashes must have caught the back seat on fire. well not on fire per say but a good smoldering. The car was full of smoke the next morning I pulled the rear seat out but I never got rid of that smoke smell and I did sure miss that old car smell after that.

Honestly I would try fabreeze. or spray perfume inside the car.

[TX76513]

Ionization is a good way to kill odors in a vehicle, high enough doses will even kill mold. Your common machines like you see advertised on TV (Ionic Breeze, etc) are not strong enough. You need a machine that will produce >2100 mg/hr or ozone. Ozone can damage plastic, rubber, etc. For that reason in vehicles I recommend two or three sessions ISO one session as many detailers do. When you ionize a vehicle what you are really smelling after the basic ozone goes out the door is the lack/absence of odor. After ionization simply place your favorite smell, (flowers, booze, sage, etc) into the car and it will be partially absorbed back into the material. It's not complicated just the swapping of negative and positive particles.