Whether we’re on a trip out with friends or in a rush on the way to work, coffee gets spilled.
Here you’ll discover how to remove the dreaded smell of coffee from your car after removing all the spill traces. Common ways to remove the coffee odor from your car are:
- Baking Soda
- White Vinegar
- An ozone generator
- Charcoal
- Shoe Polish
- Linseed Oil
As many people have experienced firsthand, the odor of coffee is quite pungent and lingers even in cups and mugs and doesn’t go away unless treated.
Natural Coffee Smell Odor Eaters
White Vinegar
White vinegar is a jack-of-all-trades eliminator of smells. This is because of its anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. This prevents the collection of micro-organisms which cause odors to develop and persist. Mix some of it with water and apply it (or spray it) on the coffee area where it was spilled. After having scrubbed it thoroughly, the smell should go away.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is especially effective if all other attempts have failed. Due to its chemical properties, it’s great in humid conditions – perhaps if the Aircon hasn’t been working.
Sprinkle some of it as powder on the area that gives off the smell (it helps if the powder is a bit moist), leave it for a few hours, and then vacuum it up. This works best for carpets but should work well for seats too.
Coffee Smell In Fabric Car Seats
If the seat still smells like stale coffee after you’ve cleaned up the stains, this means some has remained in it.
The best way is to soak the seat with a little water where the spill occurred by patting it with a soaked cloth or sponge. Then dry the same area with paper towels or a dry cloth.
Do not do this if you have heated seats because the water could cause a short circuit.
Another option could be to take your vehicle to a car wash, where the seat can be carefully shampooed and dried, although this will be more expensive and time-consuming.
An Ozone generator is a popular option that will get the job done well.
With an average cost of $100, this plugin machine works by creating Ozone gas in the car cabin. With all the doors shut, the Ozone reacts with the coffee smell and odor-producing particles, thereby nullifying them.
An added benefit is that this will work for the entire car, removing any lingering odors.
Charcoal is a good smell-absorbing agent, which is why it’s used frequently in purification processes. Leaving it overnight in your car will rid also do the job.
Coffee Smell In Leather Car Seats
Since leather won’t absorb liquids, the first step with leather seats is to wipe the spill quickly.
The vinegar and baking soda options listed above will also work for leather. A better option is to condition the leather using specialized products.
High-quality linseed oil and shoe polish effectively condition leather and naturally removes the smell. Within these, the best are products that contain more natural ingredients.
However, with leather, the best idea is to air the seats by leaving the car windows open – if you can – and exposing them to air and sunlight daily.
Coffee Smell On the Dashboard
Ridding the dashboard of smell is quite similar to the process for leather. How to clean the dashboard is different before treating it with the options we’ve already mentioned.
Use a soft micro-fiber cloth to wipe the dashboard. Additionally, use polish to make it shine, along with some soap and water to clean anything that has stuck to the surface. A soft toothbrush can be used to clean any crevices or hard to reach places.
Coffee Smell On Car Carpets
In addition to the above, a carpet can require some extra treatment before it lets up smells and stains.
A special detergent will do the trick. Scrubbing the fibers thoroughly and then drying them will easily remove all smells and stains.
Using a Car Steam Cleaner is one more effective, although expensive, option.
For a DIY option, you can purchase one or rent one. Alternatively, a car wash will have this available.
After the steam wets the carpet, the cleaner will suck any dirt and particles that have made their way into a fabric surface.
With a vacuum-like head that’s easy to operate, multiple passes over the carpet will suck out the particles that give off the odor.
How Much Damage Will Coffee Do To Car Paintwork?
Much of what has been discussed has been about the car’s interior:
The damage is almost always reversible and has no long-term side effects.
It’s a different story with the exterior of your car. Because coffee is slightly corrosive and acidic, it can damage the paint job.
Unless you wipe it off, it will slowly erode the paint.
A chip in the paint from an old accident or a scratch can allow it to make its way deeper into the metal underneath and cause further damage.
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