Spilled Gas in Car...How do I get rid of the odor? (1 Viewer)

[Michael*K]

Went to fill the gas can for my snowblower and on the way home the bungee securing it in the trunk of the car came loose. The can tipped over and spilled an undetermined amount of gas onto the carpeting in the trunk. Any way to get rid of the gas odor? Don't need any Christmas gifts I purchase smelling like they came from Exxon.

 

[Jesse Leonard]

I have done that before and this is how I got rid of the smell:

Go to a car wash. Open up your trunk and spray some soapy water into the carpet where the gas spilled. Then go vacuum the water out with those big vacuum cleaners they have. Then go spray again, but this time use just plain water. Then vacuum out the water again.

You may want to leave your trunk open for awhile when you get home to ensure that it dries completely.

 

[Dean DeMass]

A match.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Put a cardboard box in the trunk. Put baking soda in the cardboard box. If spillage might be a problem, put some mesh or panty hose or something over the top of the box.

 

[Michael*K]

A match.

Weak.

Anyhow, I've tried scrubbing and washing and using degreasers, but the smell remains. Maybe I'll try the baking soda, though at this point the odor is still so strong I'm just leaning toward taking it to a detailing shop and telling them to scrub and steam the shit out of it.

 

[Anthony Hom]

You could try one of those steam carpet cleaners like Bissell, or rent one from the supermarket. Gas is an oil based product, using some spirit that breaks down oil should help, like a laquer thinner or turpentine, but then your car trades one smell for another.

One thing I noticed is everytime I get gas on my hands, using Neutrogena unscented soap always removes the gas smell and without a fragrance to boot.

 

[Ted Robinson]

Try Fabreeze. Its a fabric spray that eliminates odors. When i bought my car is smelled of smoke from the person who owned it prior to me. I had to do it two days in a row, but now the smell is gone.

Hope this helps,

Ted

 

[Kendal Kirk]

I second lighting a match! It always helps eleminate bad odors in other situations.

 

[Derek Miner]

I'm just leaning toward taking it to a detailing shop and telling them to scrub and steam the shit out of it.

Now that's a different bad smell alltogether.
I just had to say that because someone got into my car over the weekend without realizing he had stepped in fecal matter of some sort.
Thankfully, the smell went away after 24 hours, but damn, if a few small remains of shit won't stink up a car something awful.