Removing a decade of grime

So my neighbor just bought a 2003 Honda Element. In addition to the first owner being a heavy smoker it looks like the car was never cleaned or vacuumed the entire time it was owned

The entire interior has a coating of grossness

Any thoughts for removal, we will be working on it this weekend

I was considering a bucket of hot soapy water and a soft scrub brush to start then use some more standard automotive products

 

Good luck with the smoke smell. A lot of elbow grease will clean the cosmetics but that smoke saturates into the carpet and upholstery.

 

Don't use dish soap or anything that creates a lot of suds. You will never get the soapyness out of the carpets and it will start to mould. Use a carpet/upholstery cleaner instead.

 

Theres this product call tuff stuff it removes any stain there is even the grease from working on car that black stuff its great they usually sell it at the family dollar. I use a bristle carpet cleaner vacuum for my interior carpet/seats it works pretty good and removes any smells.

 

I would take it to somewhere to have it detailed.
I just had my Ford detailed for my birthday this year and I think it was $140 well spent. They not only shampooed every inch of my carpets but they cleaned every nook and cranny, blew out my air vents, and got off 13 years worth of stains on my leather seats. The grime covering my volume and seek knobs were all cleaned as well. The truck came out looking and smelling brand new.
I would likely have to spend 4-5 hours myself to do what they did. I also didn't have the equipment either so it would have cost me probably just as much to do it myself.

 

x2 on the tuff stuff. awesome product for carpet/fabric stains. Id look into a professional shampoo for the smoke smell. not sure anything else would come close. but if you wanna do it all yourself, I would think you could hit the carpet with tuff stuff.

 

Definitely some type of strong deodorizing automotive shampoo, then rent a carpet cleaning machine for a day that has a handheld attachment.

You'll be surprised at how disgusting the water tank looks afterwards, ugh.

 

Gp rent an Ozone machine and put it in the car fora few hrs should help a lot....

Some places have these for rent at cleaning supply wholesalers....

http://www.odorfreemachines.com

 

Never thought about the ozone machine

We got started with elbow grease and some scrubbing today starting to look a little better but still rough

I have never owned a car that didnt get cleaned regularly. Holy crap can they get nasty

 

I use one in my Truck about every other month for about 1.5 hrs with the last 25 minutes with the AC running on high....

 

What are you doing in your truck brah?

 

I hauled a 100 lb German Shepard around....

 

I haul a 120lb red head and thank god she doesn't make my truck stink

She does get pissed when I leave the toilet seat up though

 

lmfao

 

luger does not make the truck stink he just gets stuff everywhere and I have to use cleaners that have a residual smell some times....

 

You are a nicer pet parent than I. IMO dogs go in the bed.

 

Lol well he is my child and he rides shotgun most of the time or his ass lays across the back seat.....

 

X3 it's great stuff. Also you could use a portable steam cleaner for the carpets