I have a client whom recently had a ziploc bag of fish get caught up under his gas pedal while driving. It fell from the center console and onto the floor and then popped open once it got smashed underneath his foot and the gas pedal. I've thoroughly cleaned the carpets and treated all areas with an enzyme cleaner and even injected cleaners into all the crevices I could find. I think the rubber parts may have absorbed the fish juice as the vehicle still smells a little fishy. How can I draw out the fishy residue from the rubber areas? I detail boats occassionally and was thinking about using the rubber rail cleaner for boats if I have any on hand. What would yall recommend I do to eliminate this fishy smell that lingers? I only have a steam cleaner and not an ozone machine and am looking around for a local supplier of Dakota odor bombs as I need to find a solution by Tues morning or else I will just have to turn over this project to a shop with an ozone machine and lose out on a lot of potential future jobs from this clients network. Thanks for your assistance!
Fish bag exploded & soaked into rubber. How to remove?
- Thread starter sahrcar
- Start date
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
I'd keep using the enzyme. Let it dwell. It's designed to go after odor causing bacteria.
The fish smell itself is not caused by protein so I don't think enzymes are going to help you much with the smell. The smell itself is caused by the reduction of trimethylamine oxide into trimethylamine and dimethylamine. The breakdown of these nitrogen compounds is why fresh fish don't stink but ones that have been sitting around for a few hours do...
To fix the smell I would try oxidizing these smelly amines with some acid. Perhaps some lemon juice or vinegar could work. You could try hydrogen peroxide, too, but I'm not sure what that might do to the rubber - I would test in a small area first, and rinse thoroughly after treatment. Skunk odor has a similar type of chemistry (except it's a sulfur compound instead of nitrogen) and peroxide works really great to neutralize it. Good luck.
To fix the smell I would try oxidizing these smelly amines with some acid. Perhaps some lemon juice or vinegar could work. You could try hydrogen peroxide, too, but I'm not sure what that might do to the rubber - I would test in a small area first, and rinse thoroughly after treatment. Skunk odor has a similar type of chemistry (except it's a sulfur compound instead of nitrogen) and peroxide works really great to neutralize it. Good luck.
07Titan:
Thanks for the chemistry lesson. Not sure if I could diagram the chemical equation of what is happening or why certain natural acids work to "change" (bad, at least to humans) odiferous animal smells.
I've often wondered why tomato juice was an old country remedy for skunk spray; now I know some of the story.
I have found an odor neutralizing chemical product from information posted on this forum called ORDORCIDE 210 made by Thornell Corporation in Smithville, MO. You can check it out at www.odorcide.com. The product is not cheap, but it does work on a variety of odors. If a cleaning company that cleans up after human homicides/suicides uses it, it must be good.
Just be aware that its effectiveness is greatly diminished when used after chlorine bleach. It may take up to three applications to clean up strong urine smells imbedded in wood.
They do send out samples and now have difference fragrances, but I still prefer the original fragrance that is like eucalyptus/cinnamon. It is very pleasing, as long as it's not overdone with the dilution ratio.
Thanks for the chemistry lesson. Not sure if I could diagram the chemical equation of what is happening or why certain natural acids work to "change" (bad, at least to humans) odiferous animal smells.
I've often wondered why tomato juice was an old country remedy for skunk spray; now I know some of the story.
I have found an odor neutralizing chemical product from information posted on this forum called ORDORCIDE 210 made by Thornell Corporation in Smithville, MO. You can check it out at www.odorcide.com. The product is not cheap, but it does work on a variety of odors. If a cleaning company that cleans up after human homicides/suicides uses it, it must be good.
Just be aware that its effectiveness is greatly diminished when used after chlorine bleach. It may take up to three applications to clean up strong urine smells imbedded in wood.
They do send out samples and now have difference fragrances, but I still prefer the original fragrance that is like eucalyptus/cinnamon. It is very pleasing, as long as it's not overdone with the dilution ratio.
Lonnie said:
Yes, learned about this stuff the hard way - my kid was pet sitting for some neighbors and one of the dogs got sprayed by a skunk. My son didn't realize it until after he let the dog back in the house. As you can imagine it was kind of a disaster.
We (carefully!) bathed the dog with hydrogen peroxide, keeping it away from his head - can't get that stuff in the eyes! Then we boiled a pot of vinegar on the stove and set bowls of hot steaming vinegar around the house to neutralize the smell in the air and on the surfaces of carpet, furniture, etc. It worked great.
Thank you for the valuable chemistry lesson and advice. I used the enzyme again and still smelled a bit so I then went and wiped down everything with vinegar. This did greatly reduce the smell and only a faint trace remains now. I gave the client a dakota odor bomb and since I had just used the vinegar I gave him the news that his car now no longer smelled like fish instead it now has a mild fish and chips flavor to it! He laughed and was happy with my efforts and will now just let time air it out. Steam, enzymes, vinegar, and odor enzyme bombs still leave a faint trace behind and I did highly recommend changing the cabin filter but his vehicle a BMW suv has 2 at $80 per filter!