How to Clean Barf From the Interior of an Auto
Vomit smells terrible and will stain your car's interior if you let it remain for long. Cleaning this up is not pleasant, but the sooner you do it, the easier it will be to clean. You will need a combination of regular car interior cleaners and some household products that will help neutralize the odor.
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Things You'll Need
- Rubber gloves
- Bucket
- Spatula
- Paper towels
- Plastic bags
- Car upholstery shampoo (or dish washing detergent)
- Sponges
- Upholstery brush
- Vacuum
- Vinyl and leather car interior cleaner
- Towel
- Baking soda
- Car air freshener
Instructions
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Put on rubber gloves to protect your hands from the vomit and the cleaners. Open all the car doors so air will circulate freely--this will help a little with the vomit odor as you are cleaning. Fill a bucket with clean water and place it within easy reach.
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Use a spatula to remove as much solid material of the vomit as you can. Place this in plastic bags for easy, sanitary disposal. Next, use dry paper towels to blot liquids and to pick up any solid matter you may have not been able to remove with the spatula. Next, use wet paper towels to remove more of the vomit from the car's interior.
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3
Apply car upholstery shampoo over carpeting and seat upholstery (unless the seats are vinyl or leather). If you do not have car shampoo, you can instead use dish washing detergent mixed with water (1 tbsp. per qt.) or even laundry detergent and water (also 1 tbsp. per qt. of water). Work the shampoo or detergent into the affected areas of carpeting and upholstery using a wet sponge and/or an upholstery brush.
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Rinse the carpet and upholstery with a wet sponge if you used detergent. If you used upholstery cleaner, follow directions on the bottle as some do not require rinsing--rather, these you let dry and then vacuum the area.
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Clean any affected leather or vinyl with a leather and vinyl cleaner, applied with a clean sponge. Wipe off excess with a clean towel.
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Sprinkle baking soda on affected carpet and upholstery to deal with any remaining odors--use enough baking soda to completely cover the areas. Scrub the baking soda into the areas with a damp sponge or upholstery brush. Leave it until dry and then vacuum it up. If odor is severe, leave the baking soda on carpet and upholstery overnight. According to roadandtravel.com, baking soda will neutralize vomit odor.
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Spray air freshener inside the car the following day, when all surfaces are dry. For best results, use an air freshener designed to neutralize, rather than simply mask, odors.
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Tips & Warnings
Instead of baking soda, roadandtravel.com advises you may also use club soda to neutralize vomit smell.
