[undertaker1995]

I have a 1965 Plymouth Sport Fury and recently I discovered that my car had a leak and that my car cover was not waterproof and my carpet got wet. I fixed the leak and bought a waterproof car cover. I dried the carpet out by using fans blowing directly on the wet carpet. The carpet is now dry. And now my car has a mildew odor and when you open the car, you can smell the mildew. How do I get rid of the mildew smell? Please and thank you for your help.

[speede5]

There is most likely moisture trapped below the carpet, not sure if that car would have extra material underneath it like newer cars, or if the carpet sits right on the floor, but it acts like a sponge. You may need to lift the carpet. Try removing the door sills and kick panels and seeing how much you can lift it and if there is moisture under there. Nothing is worse than that smell. You may need to remove the carpet to ensure everthing is dried out properly and you may need to replace the insulation below it (if any) Febreeze may help in the short term, but it is only going to mask the smell.

[DanTwoLakes]

The bad news is that in order to completely remove the smell, you need to completely replace the carpet. By the time you have it professionally cleaned after trying all the home remedies (and finding out that everything just masks the odor and doesn't eliminate it) and spending money and time on those, you can have brand new carpet that's an exact match for your car. The good news is that replacing your carpet is not that expensive.

Check out these guys, and there are lots more on the internet:CLICK HERE Good luck.

[rusty 87]

I knew a fellow that spilled crawfish boil in the back off a rental van. It was carpeted. He could not get rid of the smell after he tried everything. Someone suggusted to him to get charcoal bricketts (the ones you grill with) and lay them over the area where the oder was. and cover them with a towel or some kind of cloth. He tried it overnight, maybe longer and it completely got rid of the smell. I have not tried it on anything myself. But if the situation arose. This is what I would try. And, It makes sence. Good luck.

[JeffB]

You might Google "The Queen of Clean" website She has tons of remedies for things like that.

[Irelands child]

You can clean a carpet all day - but what you aren't getting clean is the padding (usually jute or a cotton waste product) underneath. The carpet will just reabsorb that smell. While the carpet MIGHT be saved with some sort of cleaning agent (and probably fading some), the padding or underlayment can't be cleaned and saved successfully. A similar situation - when we bought our home, the previous owner evidently had had a dog with a "problem". The odor was masked about long enough for them to move out - then the stink appeared. We cleaned the carpet - smelled good - for about a week, then stink. Replaced the padding and the smell disappeared

[speede5]

Originally Posted by Irelands child

...the padding (usually jute or a cotton waste product) underneath....

I knew it had a name. All I could think to describe it was the stuff mice love to make nests of.