Spilt Milk

[chrisedge]

We have a new shape Rav 3door & due to the lack of storage space for odds & ends put a plastic milk bottle in the "boot/trunk" area.It leaked!!!!!!!! We now have a horrible smell. Anyone help with stripping the plastic side trim down & removal of carpet to clean the carpet & get at the undeneath. I can't see an easy way of doing it. Help help please.It really pongs.

[Mike JD]

We have a new shape Rav 3door & due to the lack of storage space for odds & ends put a plastic milk bottle in the "boot/trunk" area.It leaked!!!!!!!! We now have a horrible smell. Anyone help with stripping the plastic side trim down & removal of carpet to clean the carpet & get at the undeneath. I can't see an easy way of doing it. Help help please.It really pongs.

I know where you are with this as it can be very unpleasant indeed. The conventional answer for household carpets is to sprinkle liberally with bicarb of soda, my wife tells me.

But I also found online: "Good old vinegar. Stand a bowl of vinegar in the affected area overnight and the smell will have gone the next day. I know it worked when I spilled milk in my car". Might save you dismantling the innards.

Let us know how you get on cos we might all have to deal with that one day.

Mike D

[Manxrav]

Good advice bicarbsoda should do the trick, and white vinegar is a godsend

Regards Clare

[bluevortex]

We have a new shape Rav 3door & due to the lack of storage space for odds & ends put a plastic milk bottle in the "boot/trunk" area.It leaked!!!!!!!! We now have a horrible smell. Anyone help with stripping the plastic side trim down & removal of carpet to clean the carpet & get at the undeneath. I can't see an easy way of doing it. Help help please.It really pongs.

You need to wet vac the carpet with a decnet carpet cleaner or APC/warm water. See if you can borrow one from somewhere. I use a george wet vac for seats and carpets and it is brilliant. It has a small hand tool ideal for the job. This is the only way to fully get rid of it imo

cheers

Blue

[redlew]

Any valeter will tell you that milk is the worst spill. If I were you. I'd pay a valeter who can handle this.

[bluevortex]

Any valeter will tell you that milk is the worst spill. If I were you. I'd pay a valeter who can handle this.

A valeter would only wet vac the car with using an strong APC mix/water on stubborn areas. I would save yourself £60+ for a professional valet and hire/buy/borrow a unit to use/keep instead. It'll be a great investment for the car & house. I regularly use mine on my carpets, mats & seats and they bring the interior out really well and leave a nice frangrance in the car.

Blue

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Don't do anything that leaves the milk there, just getting rid of the smell isn't going to do any good in the long run because the smell is because it's mouldy. You need to get a valet to do it for you or you will have to take the trim out yourself.

It shouldn't be too difficult to remove trim, although I cannot say because I don't have a RAV.

Take the time to get it cleaned up properly. :)

[Plutus]

I did this and eventually it goes (but eventually is quite a long time)

Afterwards I was advised best method is wash it with water containing biological washing powder.

You can safely tip some down the side trim and it saves you taking it out.

worth a try before you go to lots of expense.

[reece]

New carpet

[anchorman]

bluevortex knows as much about valeting as anyone so take his advice (and KPJ) have the carpet wet vacced for a proper job.

[bothwell_buyer]

I do 'outside' catering and sometimes use my cars instead of the van if its a small function. Despite precautions I've spilt things like chicken curry; soup and so on - all stuff which will begins to smell. The solution depends on what it is and how much. With my oldest RAV, I ended up ripping out the carpet and underfelt, and replaced the lot.

Theres various sprays that neutralise the odour. You can use ozone fans to supposedly kill off smells (remove yer goldfish tank and all yer pot plants from the car first though).

The light spillage can be sorted as the guys have stated above... the plastic panelling comes off easily in the 4.1 but dunno about later versions.