Spilled Milk

[Larry A]

On my wifes van there is a shelf between the front seats. 4 days ago the wife went shopping and bought a gallon of milk among other things. The gallon of milk slid under the shelf and nobory notice, and it leaked 2 qt. on the carpet and sat there for 4 days. I used the van yesterday and because of the smell found the half empty milk jug . Today me and a buddy pulled out the seats and tried to clean the carpet with a carpet steam cleaner. We mixed up a solution and added oxyclean. we extracted , scrubed and extracted again , sprayed Fabrese, and other deo. The smell is still there. Im letting it dry over nite , and maybe a miracle will happen. Do you guys have any idea on how to get rid of sour milk smell.

[Flash Gordon]

Originally Posted by Larry A

On my wifes van there is a shelf between the front seats. 4 days ago the wife went shopping and bought a gallon of milk among other things. The gallon of milk slid under the shelf and nobory notice, and it leaked 2 qt. on the carpet and sat there for 4 days. I used the van yesterday and because of the smell found the half empty milk jug . Today me and a buddy pulled out the seats and tried to clean the carpet with a carpet steam cleaner. We mixed up a solution and added oxyclean. we extracted , scrubed and extracted again , sprayed Fabrese, and other deo. The smell is still there. Im letting it dry over nite , and maybe a miracle will happen. Do you guys have any idea on how to get rid of sour milk smell.

Hate to tell you this Larry, but you'll need to remove the carpets and pad, clean them both, hang to dry and then reinstall if you want it done right

On hot summer days it's going to put out a rancid smell if you don't fix it right

[1oldsalt]

Something similar happened to me a few cars ago except it was combination of milk and orange juice. The car was closed and parked for a few days in the sun. Needless to say it was pretty ripe in there.

The solution-- Go to the pet store and get a product called "Natures Miracle". Pour it on and let it do it's thing. It may take a few treatments depending on how bad the smell is. Don't be afraid to use this stuff. Soak the area good. (test a hidden area first for colorfastness if you like). It works by breaking down the enzymes in the milk, something that shampoos and detergents don't do. After the smell is gone wash and shampoo as normal.
Hope this helps.

[VP Mark]

Flash Gordon is right, your only workable solution is to remove the carpets and pad completely, shampoo thoroughly, and let them dry completely.

[carpetcleaning]

Originally Posted by Larry A

On my wifes van there is a shelf between the front seats. 4 days ago the wife went shopping and bought a gallon of milk among other things. The gallon of milk slid under the shelf and nobory notice, and it leaked 2 qt. on the carpet and sat there for 4 days. I used the van yesterday and because of the smell found the half empty milk jug . Today me and a buddy pulled out the seats and tried to clean the carpet with a carpet steam cleaner. We mixed up a solution and added oxyclean. we extracted , scrubed and extracted again , sprayed Fabrese, and other deo. The smell is still there. Im letting it dry over nite , and maybe a miracle will happen. Do you guys have any idea on how to get rid of sour milk smell.

You need to repeat this process two or three times.

[carpetcleaning]

Originally Posted by 1oldsalt

Something similar happened to me a few cars ago except it was combination of milk and orange juice carpet cleaners gold coast. The car was closed and parked for a few days in the sun. Needless to say it was pretty ripe in there.

The solution-- Go to the pet store and get a product called "Natures Miracle". Pour it on and let it do it's thing. It may take a few treatments depending on how bad the smell is. Don't be afraid to use this stuff. Soak the area good. (test a hidden area first for colorfastness if you like). It works by breaking down the enzymes in the milk, something that shampoos and detergents don't do. After the smell is gone wash and shampoo as normal.
Hope this helps.

If you can opt for professional cleaning it will be surely be a good idea.

[Larry A]

Ive talked to the detail shop that were I work we do busness with and they said that they will pull up the carpet , clean it and replace the foam backing for 120.00. They said that they do this from time to time , and that the oder is in the padding . That seems the only way.

[Flash Gordon]

Originally Posted by Larry A

Ive talked to the detail shop that were I work we do busness with and they said that they will pull up the carpet , clean it and replace the foam backing for 120.00. They said that they do this from time to time , and that the oder is in the padding . That seems the only way.

And they are right. I was going to respond again telling you to get new padding but I got lazy. When you get that stuff wet it falls to pieces

[DocV]

1oldsalt is correct. There is no need to remove the carpeting and padding and instead use an enzyme (and bacteria for amped up cleaning) based cleaning solution found at pet stores to digest the milk proteins. A few treatments of this will remove the smell.

[Hoytman]

The only thing worse than spilled, soured milk, is regurgitated milk with stomach acid...whewwwwweeeee it's rank. Never tried to clean it out of a car and I hope I never have to.

What are the names of some of these enzyme products? Still, I think I'd use a product like that and go ahead and pull out the carpet and pad, then let the sun rays do their thing to it as well. What about an ozone generator?