[Drakenator]

I went to the store the other night to buy some groceries. At the end opf the trip I loaded the groceries into the back. I sat a gallon of milk in the back on my husky liner tray next to a few sacks of groceries.

I get home and started unloading the groceries only to find the gallon of milk had rubbed up against an ice scraper ( i know it is summer) and had ruptured. I quickly cleaned up the mess thinking the majority of it had been caught up in the husky liner and soaked up by a jacket and some other misc items.

The next morning I get up and head to the car wash to wash the husky liner and my mays and to spot clean the carpet in the back. I had already removed my third row seating so it was clearly out of the way. I get to the car wash and spot clean the rear carpet areas and vacuum out the Jeep. Cleaned off the mats. Evrything smells fine.

Fast forward to the next day Saturday....It stinks....in fact, it wreaks!. I hosed the rear area down with febreeze thinking I just missed a spot or something. I crack the window and go on about my weekend with my family...in the family van of course.

Fast forward to today I check it and it still wreaks even worse. Now I see little gnatty flying bugs in and around the rear.

So I peel up the rear carpet to find a few cheesed up areas that I didn't see. I clean those and I am still looking and it had made its way all the way to the front passenger floor board. OMG! Cheesy milk and bugs everywhere!

So at this point I tore out the pad from the cargo area and I have torn out most of the pad from the front floorboard on the passenger side. At this point I may have to remove the passenger seat and tear up the carpet on that side.

So where can I get new carpet and padding? Anyone recommend a way to get rid of the smell?

At this point it appears to be only on the passenger side. Not sure where to go from here except to burn this b#tch. Not sure when I will be able to drink Milk again either.

Oh yeah I am using bleach wipes and paper towels to mop up what I can.

UPDATE 3/30/2014
I never was able to get the nasty smell out of my carpet. So I saved my change and after 2+ years I was able to buy new carpet from the dealer and install it myself.
I still don't drink milk. But I am able to eat ice cream and cheese without thinking about it so much.

 

[Smitty1970]

Dude, I feel for you. We had a car at work that had hit a deer. By the time that we got it in the shop to start working on it , it had been close to two weeks. The accident had caused a bottle of breast milk to spill in the floor. Needless to say we replaced the entire carpet.

 

[atljar]

Pull the carpeting out, rip off the pad and toss it. Take the carpeting to the car wash, hose it down. Throw it on your roof of the house to dry, or over a ladder (sun and slope to drain). Go to home depot and buy new padding, glue in place with some spray glue, replace carpeting once dry.

 

[rwmorrisonjr]

Get a case of Oreos and start dunking!

 

[Drakenator]

Pull the carpeting out, rip off the pad and toss it. Take the carpeting to the car wash, hose it down. Throw it on your roof of the house to dry, or over a ladder (sun and slope to drain). Go to home depot and buy new padding, glue in place with some spray glue, replace carpeting once dry.

I am liking this idea!


Here is what I am thinking so far.

I think I still have some of that milk in areas I can't see or reach. The vehicle still smells sour. The Natures Miracle stuff did wonders but it didn't finish the job. The worst of it is over though. I no longer feel like wretching when I am in the vehicle.

This is what I am thinking of doing.
* Put the passenger seat back in place so I can use the vehicle properly for the rest of the week.
* Wait until Friday night and see if smell is still present or not.
* If the smell is still strong and present then Saturday morning unbolt the middle row of seats. So far I can see 8 easy to access bolts. Not sure if there are others. I am still trying to figure that piece out. Once those seats are unbolted I can finish removing the carpet.
* Cut the passenger side piece of carpet On the hump so it detaches from the drivers side. This will prevent me from having to damage/throw away the padding on the drivers side. As far as I can tell it didn't receive any of the spilled milk.
* Take the passenger side carpet and cargo area carpet to the car wash, power wash the hell out if it. Shop vac excess water from it Then hang up in yard to dry.
* Finish cleaning interior and a spray down with the natures miracle on last time.
* When carpet is dry reinstall it with seats. Worry about fixing the lost padding later.

I was thinking of a professional detail and steam cleaning but...that may cost me $100 or more that I do not have. And there is the possibility they will not get the smell out of it.

 

[crazy tarzan]

replace all of the padding--you'd be amazed at how much of it will have soaked up some milk. Also you should avoid cutting the carpet if possible, many times it's 'formed' and cutting it will ruin it, and give you more edges to peel up all the time.

 

[Drakenator]

Anyone have a how to thread on removing the second row? I only found 2 threads involving the 2nd row seats and none mentioned how many bolts etc there were. I can only locate 8 bolts and a few trim screws.

Unfortunately much of the padding is also formed to the floorboards and some contours.I can probably make it work. But it will not look factory when completed.

But you are also right I should remove the entire piece and not cut it.

I called the dealership this morning inquiring about new carpet and I was quoted $519. That did NOT cover install. I was so sticker shocked that I failed to ask if that also covered padding or if the padding could be ordered separately. That price only covered the front rows. it did not cover the cargo area carpet. I guess that comes out separately. it appears that both pieces of carpet are bolted in under the second row.

 

[Drakenator]

 

[Drakenator]

 

[jeep5253]

Your insurance might cover this.

 

[Drakenator]

Your insurance might cover this.

Yeah. I had thought about that but I am still looking at a $1000 deductible. So I'm kind of left to my own methods for now.

I have a buddy who will come out on Saturday and help me tear the rest of the seats out and pull the carpet.

Thanks for all of the suggestions guys. If anyone has any better ideas I'm all ears.

 

[mkoser]

Been there... Kinda done that....

I loaned my gas powered pressure washer to my inlaws. I had to fold the handle down to put it in the back of the jeep. Fast forward a week later. My wife went to my inlaws, and my mother in law told my wife that they were finished using the pressure washer, and my wife could take it home. The attempted to load it into the back of the jeep together, but it wouldn't fit because the handle was up.

They did the most logical thing they could think of. Put it on its side.

Three days I got in the jeep to run an errand (I have a company car and don't ever drive our personal vehicles.) When I opened the door, the gas fumes literally knocked me over. It was unbearable. I thought there was some type of gas leak, I had no idea my wife put the pressure washer back there.

I quickly discovered the source of the fumes, and realized that a full tank (two gallons) of gasoline and a couple quarts of oil had leaked out of the unit and soaked into the third row seat and floor.

I had taken a dramatic pay cut at work (22,000 per year) due to the economy and it simply wasn't in the budget for new seats or carpet.

I took the carpet and seats out and washed and washed and washed a million times.

I was not able to get the smell out.

I ended up trading in our 2009 Commander Sport 6 cylinder with 41,000 miles in for a 2007 Commander Limited 4.7 with 17,000.

I was honest and explained to the dealer what had happened. They were confident they would be able to get the smell out and only deducted $500 for the work.

I was happy with the trade, and have a better (albeit older) vehicle.

Good Luck.

 

[Mongo]

This is after the fact, so its little help, BUT, you can get a wet/dry vac for $65, even cheaper if you want to go with an undersized unit. Good to have on hand.

The moment you spill the milk, you could have vacuumed the milk out of the carpet and pad. Poured fresh water into the spot and vacuumed that out, then repeat several times, to flush any remaining milk out of the carpet and pad. Then finish off with a typical cleaner and antiseptic agent that is color carpet safe to prevent the mold and cultures from growing.

Heck, after the spill, if you ran to the hardware store and bought the wet/dry vac and did this within a few hours it probably would have worked and it would have easily been worth the cost, and you've have a wet/dry vac in your garage as well.

Unfortunately, now that the spoiled milk has seeded the growth of cultures and fungus, the other posters may be right, all you can do is replace the pad and carpet.

I fixed up an old XJ, that the previous owner I guess never heard of a vacuum cleaner or cleaning a vehicles interior. The carpet was disgusting, and a whole different color after cleaning.

I removed the carpet and pad, cleaned it in the driveway with the hose w/ hi-pressure attachment, a scrub brush and pouring in lots of simple green and laudry detergeant, plus some clolor safe bleach (unfortunately doesn't kill fungus like colorine bleach). I put the carpet, pad side up, spread out on the rear patio in the sun to dry for several days (brining it in in the evening). The UV rays from the sun is the best germ killer. I sprayed in lots of Lysol to kill germs and smells into the pad as well. (since sunlight could penetrate the entire pad below the surface).

Since the carpet had so much dirt and mud in it, I did have to run that hose and srub for 4 hours before the water ran out of the carpet clear, I don't think your carpet and pad would be that bad.

It came out great, carpet was back to original color and no more smells.

BUT, it didn't have milk growing cultures soaked into the pad, so if your up to it, try it, no garuantees it can overcome the sour milk mold and smells.

 

[cico7]

Get a case of Oreos and start dunking!

I like this one!!

My son dumped gas in the backseat of my wifes 300 a couple years ago...maybe it was last year....i don't know.
I took the entire interior out...seats carpet, padding...took the covers off the rear seat...I washed and fabreezed and
washed and put in charcoal and deoderizer and more.....

Finally got it out ok but I had to wash the foam in the seat with soap and water and just kept at it.....soaked the foam with
water and suds until it was gone and then strangled the foam for a couple weeks.....she had no back seat.....

 

[UK Commander]

Advice from the UK....buy smaller cartons of milk = smaller spillage & less stench!

Not great advice from a country that created BP and the biggest spillage of all time!

I hope you get it resolved.

 

[Drakenator]

Well I gave up drinking milk and what do you know. With a few other diet changes I lost 23 lbs and my dog allergies and summer allergies have subsided. Weird how that worked out.

I would have taken immediate action had I thought it had spilled outside of my cargo liner (Husky Liner). I felt around the edges and only found a single damp spot. Because of that limited investigation it really became a huge issue. I have my carpet out and has been sitting on the front porch "breathing" since removal and power washing. I need to give it the good old sniff test and see how it is doing now. I plan to reinstall it with some home carpet padding when the weather cools downa a little. I got a quote from jeep and they quoted me $1200 bucks for carpet and padding ( they are molded together). That was for the front and rear cargo area. That also didn't include labor. Since I took it out I know I can put it back in myself. I'll go with my DIY method and see how that turns out. If that fails, I'll replace it with the factory stuff next spring.....maybe.

Oh yeah, I ended up unbolting all of the seats in order to remove the carpet. I was able to rinse the interior floor and shop vac it all up at once. That was a super hot day!

So, if we ever buy any more liquid items from the store it is going to be double bagged and sit in a tall padded waterproof cargo box. Not going through this again.

 

[Drakenator]

Update although a much later one: I never was able to get the nasty smell out of my carpet. So I saved my change after 2+ years I was able to buy new carpet from the dealer and install it myself.
I still don't drink milk. But I am able to eat ice cream and cheese without thinking about it so much.
Here are a few picks of the carpet. I put this in around Sept last year (2013)

 

[jeep5253]

Updating a 2 1/2 year old thread ! You get the update award !

 

[Drakenator]

Well I was just so excited I just couldn't hide it! }