DH received a gift of frozen steaks and seafood. He forgot about them and left them in his car for a couple of days. The smell is indiscribable. We managed to get the area where it leaked cleaned up and just about odor free, but the smell seems to have permeated the rest of the car. Any suggestions on how to get it out? We have tried all kinds of air freshners of courses and they just cover it up…the vehicle is only 3 months old btw 
If Seinfeld can be considered an accurate source of information, the only cure is to leave the car parked in a really bad neighborhood with the keys in the ignition.
More seriously, there’s not much you can do short of an extremely thorough cleaning and airing-out. As you say, air fresheners merely cover the odor. What you need to do is get rid of the substances which cause the odor. I’d say rent a steam cleaner and go to town on the upholstery, the carpeting and the roof liner. Then, liberally sprinkle baking soda over everything and let it sit for a day or so before vacuuming it up and then going at it with the steam cleaner once again. Repeat as necessary.
My car had a terrible body odor funk after I stupidly decided to give a ride to my sweaty teammates right after a game during which we also got soaked by the rain (the car has cloth seats).
It was awful. I got a full professional detailing, which masked the smell for several weeks, but after that the smell came back somewhat. From that point what worked best was using Febreze every few days (went through two bottles). Eventually the smell went away permanently on its own.
I didn’t try baking soda though, that sounds like a good idea too.
I bought a car from someone who had had dogs transported in it, regularly.
Optimism kicked in early and I thought a good valeting, Febreeze and driving with the windows open would take care of it in no time.
It didn’t.
Thanks for the suggestions. We’ve tried febreeze. It just made it smell like rotten meat and flowers, ha! I put a huge box of baking soda on the original spot and an open can of coffee in the passenger seat. The coffee grounds are suppose to obsorb odor. We’ll see…
Perhaps an enzymatic cleaner like Nature’s Miracle, which is supposed to work on pet urine smells by breaking down the proteins, would be useful here.
Professional detailers and car dealers have a device that sits in a car and plugs in that kills odors. I believe it is an ozone generator. I have seen them but never investigated how they worked. I know they do work, a co-worker bought a used Honda that the first owner had died in. It was several days before they were found. He got a smoking hot deal due to the smell. After a few days treatment the smell was gone for good.
Anyway there also used to be a product sold in drug stores that advertised that two drops would deodorize a skunk. I know when I moved into my house, my cats both used the carpet in the master bedroom as a litter box. The smell was so bad you could not walk into the room. I went and bought a bottle and as advertised, the smell was gone. I have not seen this exact product for many a year now, but my Google-fu did turn up some others.
This one claims to have the results of a gas chromatograph showing the odor is gone
Here is a granular product, where you place the bag in the car.
About.com says that household vinegar works wonders
Good luck
Thanks Rick I will try your suggestions too. It can’t hurt. The ozone machine sounds especially promising.
Although not a detailer, I work at a detail shop and second the ozone recommendation. You need to get the source of the smell out first though. At our shop we would steam clean the carpet with an enzyme based shampoo to remove the source, and then ozone the car overnight to kill any smell that has gotten into the vents, headliner, etc. At our shop it would be around $100 - $120 and your interior would look and smell like new.
Vinegar has always worked for me.
Try pouring either white vinegar or bottled lemon juice into the spots where the steak and seafood seeped in.
It’s The Presence!
:eek:
That’s a dedicated bargain hunter!
Works like a charm, somewhat pricey, but neutralizes the odor molecules. I remember reading an article about how it works, but can’t seem to locate it.
Go to a pet store or natural foods store and ask for something with zeolite. We once used it in a similar dead body situation. It works.
I’m assuming this is in the car trunk. If so, you could buy a bag of charcoal briquets and place them in a shallow pan, in the trunk, for a few days. You might have to use half a bag and then change it after a few days. Afterward, you can always use the charcoal in a BBQ if you have one The more surface area, the better. I think you’ll find it more effective than baking soda.
Of course there’s always the professional detailer, but that’s a bit spendy.
Divorce?
No doubt, he ruined good seafood & steaks!
I bet he left the beer in the sun too! 
Ozone generators work for me. The source must be completely removed. Any drips behind things must be located and cleaned of solids and dried.
Rental ozone generators can be had at most tool and equipment rental stores.
I had to use that very product when a skunk let loose immediately under my 1st floor apartment. The stuff worked very well.