Ooooh, that smell. Can't you smell that smell?

So, those of you with active kids can relate to what I'm talking about here. I have three of them, two of which are boys, both of whom play football. I drive a wagon (Chevy HHR), and am in the process of potentially replacing it with a more fancy wagon of some type...requisite what car thread to come later. Can you see where this is headed?

Yeah... We live in Georgia, it's hot and/or humid here. They sweat like a mofo. No matter how much we try to wash their gear, it gets to smelling. Given that there is no separation between my cargo and my passengers, my car takes on the odor of whatever it's carrying. It ain't pretty. What have you found to remove locker room smell from a car? And I don't want my car to smell like fresh flowers or any of that other crap, I hate those stupid hanging tree air fresheners. Before I go shell out money on a nicer car, I'd like to test out ways to remove said offending odors.

DampRid?

Febreeze.

Get a roof rack. Teach kids how to hang on.

I've had good luck with dumping boxes of baking soda all over, leaving the windows down and the car in the sun all day, and then vacuuming up the powder. Febreeze is also a product that works really well.

open the windows and let the car breathe

coffee grounds will cover anything... buy a tin of coffee and leave it in there

wae wrote: Get a roof rack. Teach kids how to hang on.

Then where would my wife ride?

Get a retired Prisoner van

Odoban

Whatever they use on the Megabus...industrial strength stuff. I've taken seats and carpet out of cars and pressure washed it with great success. Once it's good and wet, work in some Tide diluted to ~5% in hot water, then blast it off with the low pressure / wide nozzle. Leave it in the sun all day and reassemble.

This probably doesn't work for seats with any electronics or airbags - YMMV. The HHR has commercial trimlines. You can probably get vinyl flooring for it.

Edit: Kids are gross. Leather interior was a must-have for my wife's car.

Hose the kids down before they get in?

Looks like you're candidate for a brand new Homer.

Leather interior is a big help with kids. Seat covers you can remove and wash.

Little vent jobbies you can put over the windows so you can leave them all cracked an inch (this makes a big difference in my old Ranger) so the car can constantly air out. Lots of Febreeze.

Go to a sporting goods store like Dick's go to hunting section you'll find a soap there that neutralizes odor with very little amount like 2 teaspoons per clothes washer load. It might even claim to renew water repellants. Mix a spray bottle with a tinny amount the rest water spray the car seats lightly let it a minute or two rub with dry cloth repeat and finish with a good vacuuming. NOTE: they sell similar stuff in the sports wear alley with Under Armor it is not as good as the stuff in the hunting section. My niese played goalie on a collage hockey team this is the only stuff that worked on the gear and the car. it kills the stink in the clothes and car.

like this stuff!

jstein77 wrote: Febreeze.

I put that E36 M3 on everything.

Get a trunk..... Hatchbacks are fun but suck for hiding or isolating away your gear.

Buy a bare-bones minivan for sports hauling duty? I sometimes regret buying the limited options van I have instead of the fancy leather trimmed version that was parked next to it at CarSense... until I have it stuffed with building materials or a muddy mountain bike. Then I'm glad that whatever I do to the van won't really hurt the value any more than the stupid amount of miles I put on it.

jstein77 wrote: Febreeze.

My $500 Probe had a very gross smelling interior. I used a ton of Febreeze plus throwing a couple industrial sized silica desiccant bags in the hatch area (they were being thrown out at work and I figured they'd help).

Leather is in the plan for my next car, just from personal preference anyway. My wife's DD is a basic cloth minivan, which we do beat the snot out of.

It's actually not the kids themselves that are always the issue...though they contribute for sure. It's their gear.

Isn't Fabrezee flowery smelling?

You can buy a nuetral febreeze. Has a bit of a citrus smell but not near as bad as the scented ones.

Freshwave, Vinegar (either applied directly on and allowed to dry, or else just open jars in the car), or Odoban, or some combo thereof.

The vinegar smell will go away after about 2 weeks.

Easy mode: Get a couple of roof rack bars and a basket.

Option 2: Hit it with a steam carpet cleaner, use a stiff brush, then hit it again. Then, get a dog grate for the back and zip tie plexiglass to it to keep the funk in the back where it belongs. The dog grate will also allow you to pile crap up past the headrests in the back without the danger that a sudden stop will decapitate somebody.

Ozium little spray can they sell in the automotive section at Walmart or the air freshener section at auto parts stores. It removes the funk smell from anything, works great for cigarette smoke if it can clear that I know it can clear out the wet dog/stanky kid smell