Suggestions for handling interior smells?

Picked up a new to me XJ a couple.months ago and the interior smells a bit...tired. I've tried febreeze but it hasn't done much. Other than replacing carpeting/headliner, any suggestions?


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Have you used the Febreze Auto fabric spray or just regular febreze? The Auto spray always seemed to work for me. You can also try the meguiars car spray bomb.

Really the source of the smell has to be eliminated. Anything else is a temporary solution.

Criver12 said:

Have you used the Febreze Auto fabric spray or just regular febreze? The Auto spray always seemed to work for me. You can also try the meguiars car spray bomb.

Really the source of the smell has to be eliminated. Anything else is a temporary solution.

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I have not but I'll look for it. Didn't know they made an "auto" version


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I bought my xj from a very dirty person... I pulled the carpet, hung it up on the front porch, hosed it down with Dawn, then blasted it with a 3500 psi pressure washer. It looked brand new in ten minutes with absolutely no smells. That might be something to try.

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I have removed and pressure washed both the carpet, and the seats.

Depends on where the smell is coming from. I've seen many where it's in the ducting specially if it was around mice/rodents.

Plate with fresh coffee grounds and a few orange peels.
Shut the doors and windows and wait.

Worked on a Subaru I had in my tow yard that a 350 pound guy swallowed a 12 gauge shotgun in and sat in the woods for 3 days during the summer.

CLEAN the car:
1. Remove seats, soak in cleaner of choice (simple green works well) ,pressure wash, squeeze dry, place in front of a fan in the sun for a couple of days.

2. Remove carpet, see above. Alternatively, clean the carpet in the car. Hot water, carpet cleaner (simple green again) a scrub brush and a shop vac.

3. clean out the HVAC. This can be tricky. Removing it is a SOB of a project, so get some lysol and spray sparingly into the intakes with it running, switching back and forth heat/ac.

3. Clean the hard plastics. Should be self explanatory, but don't be afraid to use water. leaving undried cleaner can be almost as bad as the original filth.

4. Headliner. This is difficult to do. LIGHTLY clean spots with something non aggressive. No rubbing, just blot. Is a new headliner in the budget?

Bought one with the PO was a smoker. Put Bounce sheets under seats in the back seat area and cargo area. Cleared up in a few days. Never came back

Leave a bag of fresh French fries under the seat for a wee!


Yeah that'll do it ,





Seriously, they sell a Ozium odor cleaner. Works great.
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Baking soda sprinkled liberally throughout let it sit for a few hours or overnight then vacuum out.

You can take a small can or tupperware container and fill it woth some baking soda punch holes in the lid and itll help absorb odors as well.

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Use a steam cleaner on the interior. Then cut up some cardboard and put some essential oil on them and leave them in. Should be good to go

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