There was a changeup at my job, so I'm transfering to a coke producing steel mill. I am a computer support guy and my job will involve me driving through the facility in my Mini to get to computers and fix them or deliver computers. The mill heats coal and produces coke, so there are a lot of fumes in the air.

I was in the vehicles of the people I will be working with. All of their cars smell. They don't take care of them since they are beaters. I'm in the situation financially that I can not afford a beater car. I've made it clear to management that I do not want to use my car. They are trying to get a van for me to use, but until then, I'm stuck using my car.

I already have a couple plans. I'm getting seat covers for the front seats to protect them from me. I'm also getting the boot mat as an added layer of protection for dirty computer equipment. They are providing me with bags made of the material we use to transport finished steel coils, so I'm not worried about the bags ripping, just grime that gets on the outside of the bag.

My concern that I don't have any idea how to deal with is the odors. If my car starts smelling, can getting it professionally detailed remove the odor? I'm hoping for less expensive methods, since I can not detail my car before every weekend. Do you guys have any recommendations for preventing odors from developing and then treating them when they do develope?

I can't quit the job, it is the only reason I have the Mini. Quit the irony. No Mini or a smelly Mini.

 

The odor issue was covered within the past couple of weeks and you should be able to find good information although kindly NAM folks will probably offer ideas. I am more concerned that you yourself will be exposed to that atmosphere. Be cautious.

 

I think you are starting out right with some good ideas. Rubber mats for your feet and rubber mat for the trunk. Seat covers are good, too.

I would keep some dishes (plastic tupperware of something) of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda in the interior of the car at all times. It's very cheap and pretty effective. It soaks up moisture and odors when the car is closed up. Keep containers in the trunk, back seat area, even under the seats. You can even keep open boxes in the storage compartments in the side trunk areas..remember that this has flow through ventilation. Shake up the baking soda so fresh stuf is exposed to the air frequently. Replace it every few weeks. The more surface area of the baking soda exposed the better. This is how I get rid of odors. Try to avoid using smelly sprays to disguise the odor. It just compounds the problem. Cheap insurance.
You can also look into deodorizers like Meguiars. I haven't needed it yet myself because baking soda has always worked. (fingers crossed!)

Every month you can consider doing a good detail shampoo cleaning of your carpets with a cleaner such as 303.

Just vacuum weekly really well.

I bet this will do the trick.

 

One word: Vanillaroma

joking : I can't stand cars that smell like anything but a car.

Do you have leatherette, cloth or the real thing?
Maybe rubber mats?
Seat covers are a good a call, make sure to wash them often.

I believe your car has an interior carbon filter. This should take care of alot of the incoming fumes. I would keep the windows up and set the air to recirculate.

Good luck with it!

 

Boy, I am with you on that! I even use A&A Baking Soda when I bring home pizza or Chinese take-out for fear my car will smell like leftovers!

 

Yes, but what about your home? I can't stand it when people transport recently fried articles in the elevator (whether at work or at home). Many offices have fragrance rules (no strong perfume and no scented floral displays), but they forget about take-out lunches. Sorry to wander, but food odors are a no no for me.

 

First thing to do is keep the windows closed at all times and keep the ventilation system in recirculate mode while in and around the steelmill. That will minimize the intake of smelly air. Try not to keep the doors open any more than necessary around those areas also. Park as far away from the coke furnaces and such too. When you get out of the area, open up your windows to let in fresh air. If your clothes get smelly during your work, make sure to use plastic seatcovers like the coil wraps you talked about. This all should help your car interior from picking up too much of that nasty sulphury smell.

 

I've got one of those Ionic Breeze air purifiers. They make one that is sized to fit in a cigarette lighter, but I use the one made to do an entire room.

Just run an extension cord in the door sill and put the air cleaner inside and close it up tight. These things create O3 (Ozone), which will build up to a fairly significant level over a weekend. O3 is a HUGE odor fighter. One weekend got rid of all the funky smells in my daily driver (cloth seat '97 Altima) when nothing else did the trick.

 

Fabreeze works wonders, no joke!

 

That seems like a great idea. I'll have to check it out, especially if they have the cigarette lighter version. I'll finally have a use for the boot socket.

 

Fabreeze does a good job, but just wasn't getting to whatever was making my Altima smell funky.

I'm not sure if the cigarette lighter version is going to cut it... It may be too small and will only work when the car is running (I assume, or it would drain your battery). The home size has got to be at least 20 times larger. The sharp smell of Ozone was overwhelming when I opened my car door on Monday morning (I put the cleaner in there on Friday evening and didn't drive the car all weekend). I had to open the doors and let the air change out before climbing in.

 

Sorry to wander further, but the reason that many companies, especially hospitals, have rules against perfume and other fragrances is that some people are very sensitive to the volatile organic compounds that they are borne by, and can have severe allergic reactions in their respiratory system. That's not the case with food odors like pizza. It may be obnoxious to you, but it's not hazardous to anyone.

 

the A&A seems like a real good idea. My car still has that nice smell to it and I really hate air freshners, the smell is always to strong as to make me feel a bit quesy.

Would there be any ill effects of keeping some A&A in the car for those food pickups?