In our most recent blog post, we shared How to Remove Pet Hair from Your Car and this week, we’re diving in deeper to help keep your car feeling (and smelling!) fresh and new! There are many odors that can take over the interior of your vehicle—from pets (driving with a wet dog, anyone?) to food and even gasoline or coolant—but the real question is can you remove them easily and keep them from lingering? Since it is our mission to clean your vehicle here in Eagle River AK, we thought we’d give you a few tips on the interior as well.

Keep reading below to find the most common car smells and how you can remove them from your Alaskan vehicle.

The Most Common Car Smells

• Pets
• Food
• Gasoline
• Coolant
• Cigarettes
• Mildew

How to Remove Them

• Identify the Source

The first step when attempting to remove odors from your vehicle is identifying them. Catching hints of food you had days ago? Make sure you don’t have any napkins, fast food bags, wrappers, crumbs or larger food remnants left on the floor mats, in the door pockets, the console, or in the seats. Toss any and all garbage that you find in your car to rid the cabin of any lingering food odors.

• Head to the Mechanic

If you feel that the odors in your car are mechanical (IE. gasoline, coolant, oil), it may be best to go straight to the mechanic as these could be caused by a malfunction. Oftentimes, it could be as simple as changing your air filter or in the worst case scenario, it could be more expensive repair.

• Clean the Carpets

Carpets in your Alaskan vehicle can hold many scents— no matter if they were caused three days or three years ago! Take a Shop Vac to your carpets to give them a good vacuuming before moving on to shampooing them. Make sure you get all of the carpets, under the seats, and even under the floor mats.

• Use Baking Soda

Baking soda has been used for ages when eliminating odors— you might even use it in your refrigerator for this same purpose! If you’re still smelling odors in your car after the previous step, sprinkle baking soda on your carpets and let it sit for a few minutes. You can then brush or vacuum it out. If cigarette smell is the culprit, you can even sprinkle baking soda in the ashtrays of your car and then rinse and dry them.

• Try Charcoal

Did you know that charcoal can also help to eliminate odors? If your car needs more extensive odor-eliminating work, try opening a bag of charcoal and leaving it in your car overnight. Just avoid the self-lighting variety as it’s already been infused with lighter fluid!

We’re happy to help keep your Alaskan vehicle clean and fresh, so don’t forget to take car of your car’s exterior too with a regular trip to the Sudzy!

See you at the wash!

Sudzy Salmon Car Wash
13120 Old Glenn Highway
Eagle River, Alaska
Ph: 907-622-SUDZ (7839)
[email protected]

First Class Experience with an Alaskan Touch