How do you get rid of the rat smell?

I just picked up a wagon, that had been sitting in a garage since 1969... I thought I had scored, that is until I realized that the wagon has had multiple generations of rats living inside the car. It is so bad that the floors are acutally rotted from the inside out from rat piss. I cleaned and cleaned, tore out the interior, got all of the remenents out, and then pressure washed the whole inside...! It still smells like rats!

How do you get rid of the smell of rats and rat piss?
thanks,
Chris

 

Probably inside the heater ducts and case as well. Also the trunk, up in the seats and under dash.
Bleach is good. Just keep at it

 

You prolly want to use a an industrial deodorizer. You might want to check with Grainger. I believe they sell it

 

Let something bigger die in it. Small white tail deer perhaps?

 

Just a thought, baking soda, it may neutralize the acid in the piss, just don't use pine-sol, you remember that old joke about somebody shit a Christmas tree don't ya?

 

All the animal care labs we work in use Chlorox to cleanup. Just mix a real strong solution and get it everywhere. Even in the ductwork. Then you can pressure wash it.

 

My 48 ford was that way except the floor was not rotted. it had sat in a barn for 46 years wit rats living in it. I counted 20 something nests in it. The best thing to do is tear all the interior out . then hunt all nests under dash in doors etc. they can be anywhere and you will find some when you are sure you got them all. wash it out with clorox and water then with something like 409 and water several times to disolve alll the accumilation. get rough on it, scurb it with a brush/broom and wash it out with a hose usually the seats and door panels after washing will air out in a few months. The one i have has no piss smell now just a smell like an old car. all i kept of the fabric covered interior was the seats and door panels which i will re cover.
good luck

 

vinegar.

 

If you go to the pet store there is a product called Nature's Miracle. It's used to clean up urine,feces, blood, vomit, whatever. Buy one of the big gallons, and splash it wherever your little furry friends were laying. The enzymes and bacteria will break down the organic material left behind.

There are a few other brand names, but any pet store, Walmart, or Petsmart/Petco will have it.

 

I hope you were careful, those bastards and the sutff they leave behind can give you hantavirus.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/FAQ.htm


All this time I thought R*t Rods were named such becuase they looked like sh*t, I didn't know they smelled like rats too!

 

This one had so many rats that you couldnt tell where one nest started and the other began! Apparently the old lady liked to "collect" newpapers on the car, and all that did was give the rats nesting materials, I pulled out 7 full trash bags of torn up old newpapers, and misc stuff the rats had pulled in. They were in the headliner, the seats everything... They mainly lived in the rear seat backrest... all of the other seats were cherry with the black paint on the springs, but the rear seat springs and surrounds were completely gone! rusted through! Gdam rats!

 

COMPLETE DIASSSEMBLY. Because? Inside all of the ductwork to and from the heater, the little radiator area in the heater, the kick panel areas, the radio speakers, the headliner, the seat springs, the corners and crevices in the areas under the carpet/mat, all will all be seperate communities or travel routes of the little guys. They eat, fuck, sleep, shit, and socialize, raise their families, cannablize their dead, etc, in all of those places.

 

The weid part about the whole thing is I only found two dead rats. No bodies, or bones of any others... Kind of strange

 

Dang.... someone beat me to the RAT ROD joke....

 

when you think you have it clened up seal it with lizardskin,this should help....me I hang those little green and blue tree air freshners in it

 

Where are the pics of the Wagon???

Make sure you "gear up" when cleaning it out!
Thick rubber gloves,a GOOD mask(cartridge style,NOT the cheap one that is held on by a thin band) Long sleeves and pants(NO shorts).
If you can get a Tyvek suit,even better.
Get a spray bottle with a strong Bleach/water mix and soak it good.

 

Sorry - - - I CAN'T RESIST... TRYING to HOLD hands AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD....

a) To get rid of the RAT smell, put in a MOUSE motor!!! (rim shot)

b) Dryer sheets.

I'll be here all week. Don't foget to tip your waiters and waitresses. Try the veal!

 

+2 on the vinegar. Worked on getting gasoline and cat piss odor out of my garage clothes. Yeah, more than once.

Get rid of the upholstery.

BTW, bleach is salt-based, so if you use it, make sure you clean it off really well

 

two bags of oranges and apples. let that stuff rot in there. Back in the 70's my Mexican lot guy got the DEAD GUY smell out of a 68 GS I bought. Story was guy had been shot, then found four days later. summertime Vegas.

 

Contact: www.odorcide.com Thornell Corp. in Smithville Mo.

They will send you a free sample of Odorcide 210

You can mix it 8 oz. per gallon of water

 

Don't forget the headliner.

 

rats piss carries weils deseise,it can kill,,clean it good

 

Find another project.

 

Stop Mickey-Mousing around and clean it already!

 

I love this place !

 

1 treatment will not be enough of anything you try, repeat till oder is gone and leave the doors open to air out. Rusted metal should be replaced as it has absorbed the wizz also. Check your wiring also as they think the insulation is delicious.

 

Dryer sheets duh!

 

Residues that emit odors can reside on any nonporous material and IN any porous material.
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With that said, you need to clean (with bleach/water or other odor killing chemical) every metal surface that came in contact with the odor causer (the rats) but also the odor its self. Since it was in an enclosed space and you can look at the odor as a gas, you will need to touch every inch of the car. The outside of the car, engine bay, in the door cavities, trunk, sils etc. EVERYWHERE. Pay special attention to where metal overlaps, there is a crack there. <O></O>
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Now, for the porous material, for this conversation, it would be all other materials accept metal. This will all have to be soaked in the chemical of your choice so make a pile of what you absolutely need to save and throw the rest away. In sealed plastic bags.<O></O>
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I would suggest cleaning hard surfaces with a spray bottle, letting it sit and power wash it off.<O></O>
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I would throw away ANYTHING made of cloth, foam or paper.<O></O>
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Pay special attention to rubber, wood, grease and dirt (grease and dirt will hold the odor)<O></O>
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Oh, while you are doing this, do not store the car or any part of it in your garage until you are sure it’s clean. You don't want other areas smelling like the car. Get one of those tarp canopies. And get some of those cheap white suits and latex gloves while you do the work. You don't want your cloths to smell like it either.<O></O>
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hope it helps, I've been down your path....<O></O>
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My friend had a rat problem in his 57 chevy..... everytime he hit the gas it left a little brown stain on the driver seat...... and sometimes the passenger seat to ! He fixed the problem by going back to a mouse l.o.l.

 

hey P AND N...spray that bad boy down with vinegar, and i mean lot's of it!...POP.