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Ok so field mice made a house out of my car and I had to rip everything out. I finally got all the mice out (or at least there are no more signs that they are in there), now time to clean up all the carpet and seats, etc... I have been thinking about getting a little green clean machine for some time to keep my carpet clean in the cars, but never really pulled the plug to do so. Well this is a good time to get one, but after some research it would appear that a hoover steamvac is much better than the bissel. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

here is the hoover that i'm currently looking at:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hoover-Ste...#ProductDetail

 

if anyone has info on a better cleaner that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars, please do tell http://d-series.org/forums/images/smilie/yes.gif

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Why on earth don't you want to waste all your money? Don't you like working all day?

 

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/STP-Stuff-Multi-Purpose-Cleaner-aerosol/dp/B0002KL7KK]http://www.amazon.com/STP-Stuff-Multi-Purpose-Cleaner-aerosol/dp/B0002KL7KK[/ame]

 

Tuff Stuff. Let it sit for 45 seconds or a minute. Vacuum out with a wet vac. Done :) No fancy machines designed for house floors. No scrubbing... etc.

[CENTER][B][I] Front Limited Slip Racing Differentials for the 5EAT now available for $1895 shipped, please inquire for details! [/I][/B][/CENTER]
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i know, right now there are six car freshners in the car itself to help overpower and hopefully replace the mouse smell while pushing the mice out of the car, the seats, carpet, and headliner are another story at this point. i have used a spot bot on all the above at the carpet three times, each time the water comes out pretty filthy, lol. i'm borrowing the spot bot, but would like to get my own considering the situation, and i guess its not necessarily a bad thing to have since I do have a dog...but if this tuff stuff can work as well as you are saying, in the short time this would be best
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The smell is in more places than you can clean. You need to clean every surface of the vehicle thoroughly. Something like Tuff Stuff is good for that. Just bathe the interior with it and don't forget the surfaces under the dash and everywhere else. Pull the seats out and clean the frames and rails. Replace the cabin air filter. Spray air freshener in the vents and run the AC on recirculate for 45 minutes with all the windows up. There are air freshener foggers you can buy which work really well too. Throw your floor mats in the washing machine. Scrub the steering wheel (smells love to soak into steering wheels) Definitely scrub the glass clean. A vinegar/water solution is a really good way to neutralize smells on the glass, and then clean them again with some normal glass cleaner like Invisible Glass.

 

I've got an article on OCDetails.com which deals with smoke smell removal. The process is very similar for what you have to deal with. It is going to be a lot of work, but you are dealing with more than just a smelly passenger who left his stink behind. You need to do a 'restoration' on the interior and that will cause a little bit of work for you.

_________________________________________

“Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.”

O C D E T A I L S . C O M

OCDETAILS BLOG

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Everything has already been pulled out of the car...the car is a honda civic, so no cabin filter to deal with at this time...the carpet has been soaked and cleaned with a spotbot 3 times at this point...i have rubbed in some baking soda in hopes to help neutralize the smell, have yet to vacuum it out, that is for tonight (that goes ditto for all the seats and headliner)...i also get to put together the passenger door tonight (just one more final cleaning of that stuff). as for under the dash, without pulling it out, how would you go about cleaning it out? as far as I see there are no sign of the mice up in there, but I am doing a double take on it tonight to make sure before I go forward with the carpet reinstall, which should be later this week (crosses fingers).
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Unfortunately I can't look through your article about smoke smell removal until I get home, military networks :rolleyes:. and it probably won't be for a few days...

 

OCDetails, what are your opinions about using a hoover steamvac? as stated before, i've been thinking about getting one for use in my cars, and the house (we have a dog)...but it is not a necesety, just a convenience if it would work well, but would like a professionals point of view before spending 150 bucks on something like that

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yes that has been done for about two weeks now...a friend of mine and myself took 3 hours and ripped everything out, the only things left are the rear deck lid, and dashboard...niether apeared to need to be removed, but before i put things back in, i'm going to do a double check to ensure that mice have not migratted due to lack of cloth and carpet within the vehicle. the rear deck needs to be removed reardless due to some shifting of panels and now the rear deck speakers are making an awful racket of the rear deck...civics where never meant to have bass producing speakers in the rear deck lol
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yes that has been done for about two weeks now...a friend of mine and myself took 3 hours and ripped everything out, the only things left are the rear deck lid, and dashboard...niether apeared to need to be removed, but before i put things back in, i'm going to do a double check to ensure that mice have not migratted due to lack of cloth and carpet within the vehicle. the rear deck needs to be removed reardless due to some shifting of panels and now the rear deck speakers are making an awful racket of the rear deck...civics where never meant to have bass producing speakers in the rear deck lol

 

Civics weren't meant to do ANYTHING people do with them, except drive reliably and inexpensively.

Once you can sit in the car and you have no more smell, your work is done. Then add back in pieces as they pass the smell test. I know that's obvious, but what else can you do aside from hit every possible surface until it's done.

 

If you search around, there are some great chemicals that are somehow still legal that will help kill smells generally, but thorough surface cleaning is your best bet for sure. You don't want to lose brain cells over this.

 

Good luck!

[CENTER][B][I] Front Limited Slip Racing Differentials for the 5EAT now available for $1895 shipped, please inquire for details! [/I][/B][/CENTER]
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Civics weren't meant to do ANYTHING people do with them, except drive reliably and inexpensively.

lol...funny you should mention that, cause i'm purpose bulding it for SCCA SoloII competition. not sure how far up into the classes i'll get before the classes outgrow the car itself, but civics are cheap as hell to build, especially with a d-series motor

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lol...funny you should mention that, cause i'm purpose bulding it for SCCA SoloII competition. not sure how far up into the classes i'll get before the classes outgrow the car itself, but civics are cheap as hell to build, especially with a d-series motor

 

Good, you don't need carpets or a headliner or any paneling or a sub. Half your problem solved right there. Might as well just get a race seat and trash the others. Save time and WEIGHT. Well if you're like me or everyone else and value full interior, more power to you!

[CENTER][B][I] Front Limited Slip Racing Differentials for the 5EAT now available for $1895 shipped, please inquire for details! [/I][/B][/CENTER]
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I wish, but for the class street touring the entire interior must in place which includes the rear seat :(, PLUS if you replace your front seat(s) they must weigh at least a certain amount (haven't looked up the rules in a while so don't remember the exact weight)...also I can't really modify the engine all that much either, no cams, no pistons/rods/crank changing (in fact you can't even switch around between trim levels from what I can tell, i'll dive deeper as the time comes for that)...the only real thing you can modify is the suspension and the physics of it, but some of the camber and toe adjusts are limited...gotta start somewhere though right?

 

i don't have a sub, just using infiniti kappa's

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Unfortunately I can't look through your article about smoke smell removal until I get home, military networks :rolleyes:. and it probably won't be for a few days...

 

OCDetails, what are your opinions about using a hoover steamvac? as stated before, i've been thinking about getting one for use in my cars, and the house (we have a dog)...but it is not a necesety, just a convenience if it would work well, but would like a professionals point of view before spending 150 bucks on something like that

 

Steam cleaning works, but if everything else has already been tried, then I'm not sure if it would work for your situation. Sometimes things are just borked. Not everything can be cleaned or repaired and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and buy a new carpet kit and headliner. If steam cleaning doesn't work, then I'd say it is toast. The smell has been absorbed into the fibers of the carpet and they have become one with each other. Fortunately it is a Civic, so getting a new carpet kit shouldn't be too spendy.

_________________________________________

“Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.”

O C D E T A I L S . C O M

OCDETAILS BLOG

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haven't done any "steam" cleaning, just using a spot bot, which i'm using again tonight cause i haven't bought anything yet...i have a few tricks up my sleeve for removing smell still, to include this tuff stuff everone here has talked about (which i'm picking up tonight on my way to the car tonight)...if the tricks don't work, i'm not 100% possitive that a professional grade steam cleaner would work, much less the hoover steamvac...i guess the real question is, would a hoover steamvac work better than a bissel spot bot would?
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haven't done any "steam" cleaning, just using a spot bot, which i'm using again tonight cause i haven't bought anything yet...i have a few tricks up my sleeve for removing smell still, to include this tuff stuff everone here has talked about (which i'm picking up tonight on my way to the car tonight)...if the tricks don't work, i'm not 100% possitive that a professional grade steam cleaner would work, much less the hoover steamvac...i guess the real question is, would a hoover steamvac work better than a bissel spot bot would?

 

Part of my current job is managing rental properties...

 

The difference between a regular steam cleaner and a professional truck-mounted setup is night and day. I don't know about smell, but the guy I use can turn a destroyed carpet into new again. Something to be said for an experienced pro and a POWERFUL machine :)

[CENTER][B][I] Front Limited Slip Racing Differentials for the 5EAT now available for $1895 shipped, please inquire for details! [/I][/B][/CENTER]
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A professional steam cleaner will definitely work better than a little hand held. The water is boiling hot in a larger industrial type steam cleaner verses barely warm in the hand held. You want industrial power, so I wouldn't expect stellar results from anything less.

_________________________________________

“Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.”

O C D E T A I L S . C O M

OCDETAILS BLOG

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I used resolve carpet cleaner...works great and neutralizes the odors leaving a nice fresh and clean scent...it really cleans great with a little scrub brush...my interior is tan cloth...car color is seacrest metallic green...

Follow me on IG @chefodiycarguy

and @chefo.soriano

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good news, the smell has gone from the carpet and what is currently inside the car. I have to finish a few things and then i need to attack the seats... which i'm not looking forward too, but once that is all done I'll be able to finally start work on the car for the races next year, thanks to all for the help and suggestions!
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