Have you just bought
a car that smells?

Some odours can be easy to remove, so you might want to try these few tips which could save you a journey to us.

Usually the smell has a single source, if you can locate the source and remove it, you will often have removed 90% of the problem in one go.

If you have a wet-vac you can use this to wash and extract things like spilt milk from carpets and upholstery. We would recommend washing using a solution made with a liquid biological laundry detergent, this is the best product you can get without going to a specialist supplier. Just be careful when washing not to spread the contamination. It does need to be sucked out of the carpet completely.

If the source has been removed frome the car, a foam spray upholstery cleaner which can be bought from any motor accessory shop can be misted over all surfaces and wiped clean. Odours most often cling to hard surfaces such as plastic and glass as well as the fabric, giving them a good clean will usually go a long way to removing many common smells. Just don't be too liberal when sprinkling all over the car because it can be hard to vacuum from gaps and crevices.

Don't overlook age-old remedies such as baking soda, this can be sprinkled and brushed into carpets and upholstery and left overnight and vacuumed up the next day.

And don't overlook obvious sources of odour such as old rubber mats, and stickers. The adhesive on many stickers for things like insurance companies and car dealerships can emit very strong odours.

More useful tips on our Accident Clean-up page, or ask us a question on Ask the Experts , or read through Odour Questions that have already been answered such as this one.

You may be able to recover the costs.

Odours are very tricky to remove because although we might kill the bacteria, unless we completely remove the source of the smell, they are likely to return. It is more difficult if you have just bought the can and don't know where the spillage was.

We can never quite tell how long it will take to find and remove the source of odours until we have tried. So what we do is work on the car for half an hour or an hour, we can then phone you with a more accurate estimate of how long the rest of the car will take, although sometimes we can remove it within this period.

If the source of the odour is removed but the smell lingers because it has contaminated the rest of the car, you may need to Thermo-fog.

You may be able to recover the costs.

Setting up the Odour-GO fogging machine using a citrus thermal fogging agent for using on smoke and tobacco.

*This service may be dependent on the source of odour being removed.

Pairing Thermal fog - For treating airborne odours and hard to reach surfaces (such as inside air vents and behind the dashboard) we can use Thermal fogging.

Thermal fogging machines turn special pairing fragrances and deodorants into steam which can get into even the most hard-to-reach places when sealed into a car.

Thermo fogging is normally recommended when the source of the smell has been removed but odours linger. For example, somebody may have smoked in the car for a few days, or you took rubbish to the dump.

You may be able to recover the costs.

*This service may be dependent on the source of odour being removed.

Pairing Thermal fog - For treating airborne odours and hard to reach surfaces (such as inside air vents and behind the dashboard) we can use Thermal fogging.

Thermal fogging machines turn special pairing fragrances and deodorants into steam which can get into even the most hard-to-reach places when sealed into a car.

This is followed by either of these services depending on the type of odour.

Bio-active Enzymes - Sprint Enzymes break down fats, proteins and organic matter. These substances which are food for smelly bacteria will eventually break down anyway, but by adding enzymes it can speed up the process many millions of times.

Antimicrobial - We use Chemspec Formula 429 PLUS, an award winning (HCIA) product often used in hospitals to prevent the spread of infections. It is completely safe and amazingly effective at destroying the bacteria that causes odour.

You may be able to recover the costs.

*This service may be dependent on the source of odour being removed.

Double Thermal fogging for more powerful odours - For treating airborne odours and hard to reach surfaces (such as inside air vents and behind the dashboard) we can use Thermal fogging.

Thermal fogging machines turn special pairing fragrances and deodorants into steam which can get into even the most hard-to-reach places when sealed into a car.

This is followed by either of these services depending on the type of odour.

Bio-active Enzymes - Sprint Enzymes break down fats, proteins and organic matter. These substances which are food for smelly bacteria will eventually break down anyway, but by adding enzymes it can speed up the process many millions of times.

Targeted Injections - We inject enzymes directly into your upholstery using a compressed air gun.

Antimicrobial - We use Chemspec Formula 429 PLUS, an award winning (HCIA) product often used in hospitals to prevent the spread of infections. It is completely safe and amazingly effective at destroying the bacteria that causes odour.

You may be able to recover the costs.

*This service may be dependent on the source of odour being removed.

Thermal fogging - For treating airborne odours and hard to reach surfaces (such as inside air vents and behind the dashboard) we can use Thermal fogging.

Thermal fogging machines turn special pairing fragrances and deodorants into steam which can get into even the most hard-to-reach places when sealed into a car.

Last Resort - This is followed by either of these services depending on the type of odour. Either of which will be blended with Last Resort, the world's most powerful deodorant.

Bio-active Enzymes - Sprint Enzymes break down fats, proteins and organic matter. These substances which are food for smelly bacteria will eventually break down anyway, but by adding enzymes it can speed up the process many millions of times.

Antimicrobial - We use Chemspec Formula 429 PLUS, an award winning (HCIA) product often used in hospitals to prevent the spread of infections. It is completely safe and amazingly effective at destroying the bacteria that causes odour.

Doing it again - This is followed up by treating the car again with either Bio-active Enzymes or Antimicrobial disinfectant once again to help remove the odour of Last Resort. Followed by fogging again.

Ozone Treatment - to further reduce all odours the car is treated with ozone.

You may be able to recover the costs.