Redneck Computer Geek

We own two vehicles…a Dodge Caravan and a Honda Pilot.  I know, shutup.  Anyway, the Pilot is good for me because it’s big enough to tow the boat, yet civilized enough that when I take co-workers out to lunch it’s a nice ride.

That changed last weekend.

I took my buddy and my 5-year-old son fishing.  We left nice and early for the ride down to the river, and ate breakfast in the truck on the way down.  So my son is back there throwin’ down some donut holes and drinkin’ his milk.

Well, he’s only 5, and the top didn’t quite make it back on the bottle.  So as the bottle laid there on its side all day while we were out fishing, it supplied a nice steady drip of milk which oozed down into the carpet.

…which went unnoticed until I cleaned out the truck the next day.  Technically, when I cleaned the truck the next day I didn’t notice it, because when I picked up the milk bottle, the lid was on.  I DEFINITELY noticed it the next day.

Very few things smell as bad as sour milk in an automobile.  Seriously.

I checked with Google on ways to clean it.  Apparently very few people actually know.  Everyone tries things like vinegar, baking soda, alcohol…nothing seemed to work.

It was so bad, that I parked with all four windows down every day just so I could get back in the vehicle while I looked for a solution.  And I could smell my truck 20 feet before I got to it.

NOBODY rode with me to lunch that week, I assure you.

Eventually I found a combo that works:

First, I sprinkled fresh coffee grounds onto the carpet and rubbed them in good.  Man that made the truck smell good!  I’m not sure if it absorbed the odor, or just masked it, but it made me hungry every morning.

Later, I vacuumed it out and used something called PetZyme, which is made for kitty pee and other pet messes.  I saturated the carpet with that stuff.  Best $7 I ever spent!  Seriously, like the next day there was no more smell.

The PetZyme stuff smelled pretty good, and the milk smell was GONE!

A few days later I threw some bags of mulch in the back…and that replaced the ‘too clean’ smell from the PetZyme with a more realistic smell of suburbia.

I know I sound like a commercial, but the smell was seriously bad, and it’s totally gone.  Might come in handy for some of you RNCGs out there that have ‘rustic’ odors in your corporate vehicles!