Defeating the smell of dog in the Xantia estate

[Napoleon]

Not a big dog fan, they're ok in small doses... but the lingering pong of a former passenger in this estate is a bit much. Not only that, but the rear n/s passenger seat (the lower part that hinges up when you want to turn the back into a Tardis) is all torn. I guess a fair amount of odeur de chienne is in the fabric and foam of the seating.

So, can I replace this seat, or even the whole lot , with the seats from another Xantia, AND, does it have to be an estate to fit? Afterall, in the SX, the seats fold down in the same way, I think.

One drawback I can see is that the replacement seats may not match the door linings. I don't really want to use seats covers, and besides, there will still be that hum in the air I could do without.

Cheers dears...

[davetherave]

Good luck is all I can say! I changed all seats and doorcards in mine, and when the sunroof leaks a bit It still smells like wet dog!

[Napoleon]

Would it be a straight swop, though?

Is changing the door cards a bit of a pain?

[addo]

If you buy some hog ring pliers and the rings, "skinning" the seat and reassembling after a wash (warm water in the machine, ordinary detergent) is easy. A good motor trimmer can take your donor seat fabric and stitch it into the damaged unit.

I'm not sure whether the rear seats have the wire moulded into the foam or under it as a frame component. If the former, then you will have to ensure the foam retains no residue once treated. If the latter, soak/stew as you please and squeeze dry between towels. As an extra treatment, I've had good results with a poultice of bicarb and water.

[DickieG]

Speak to a decent local car cleaning company as they use a steam cleaner followed by dehumidifier to draw smells such as dog/fags out of the upholstery, without cleaning the headlining and carpets you'll always be fighting a losing battle with smells.

[Xaccers]

Hatch and estate rear seats are not a straight swap

[Napoleon]

Need to have a big shampoo day then, by the sound of it. Shame about the damaged lower bit. It's not very obvious, however.

I might go so far as to take out the front seats and scrub like heck and put them back in. Good idea to do the ceiling too.

First things first, though - the clutch is top of the list.

[Peter.N.]

I know not everone can do this, but I recently cut down a eucalyptus tree for a friend and left about half a ton of logs in my white XM estate which has smelt of dogs ever since I bought it, having now unloaded the logs the car smells lovely and even several weeks later still smells fresh inside.

I still have the logs if anyone would like to borrow some

Peter

[Timmo]

Basically with the Dog small you'll need to Strip out almost the whole car, door cards, boot covers, centre consol, Any plastic trim you can, then you'll need a Good Antibacterial shampoo and Hot water, scrub the daylights out the carpets, seats and trim panels and wipe down the inside of all the plastic covers as you'll find Dog smell and hair getting to All the places! Even up inside the dash!
Its a Nasty job to do as the hair gets Everywhere and the smell is Awful! But does make a Big difference when done,

Smoke smell is much the same full strip out, Deep clean and an Antibacterial shampoo'ing, you'll never intirely remove the smell and to a non dog/smoker the smell will always be present,but you can reduce it a lot!

Its important if you get offered a internal Fogging machine option at a cleaners that they use the Proper machine with the anti bac cartridge, we had a cheepo fogger that Overpowered the car with the smell of cherry, lemon, mint or what ever fragranve we had, would last about 3 weeks and wear off! The proper use of the correct machine in this case an Autosmart aromatek with the anti bac cartridge would emiliminate 85% of the smell!

We had a very memorable car at the garage many years back, maroon nissan primera estate with Beige leather and capets, down side being that the owners had an Irish Wolf hound in the boot, from the back seats backwards the trim and carpets were greyey black! Took 2 days alone to get the hair out the roof lining! 2 hoover fulls of dog hair out the car! Disgusting, but no one else would takle it! Wish I never did now! Hahaha!

[Napoleon]

[Dippy]

Let a Tomcat in the car , it'll soon overcome the doggy smell ............

[Citroenmad]

Its not a smell you want is it!

Don't change your VSXs seats though, they are too nice!

I bought a VAX carpet cleaner fo clean the seats in a Fiat we bought a while back, it seemed to be a mixture of dog and smoke smells - bought from an auction, I would have left it had I of smelt it It did help a great deal and I spent a long time using the vax on the seats, the water coming out was pretty dirty! In fact when it was sold the new owner commented on how nicely it smelt

I can't have smelly car interiors, its just nasty. It might be worth getting a full valet done (they should vax the seats) and that should help.

[Napoleon]

Cheers Chris,

I have a 3600w industrial vacuum that i use for clearing gutters on houses, and tried on the wretched parcel shelf and was amazed at how much SAND! came out of it.

I want to get the clutch done, spheres transferred from SX (poor thing) and then clean the crap out from this vsx good and proper, or as best I can. I don't mind what it takes (within reason).

[Timmo]

Ooooh! Sand! Get a lot of that down here, on decent high spec's older vehicles its fine, not a problem as it comes out, modern cheaper Nasty carpet like substance they put in just Holds onto it! A good smack on the carpet with a solid bit of wood often helps lift it out!

A Good deep wet vac'ing will Certainly help and the colour of the water after is plain Fowl! Is easier to do the seats out the car and also, if you've a greenhouse, Aids drying out a lot quicker! Having the seats out also eliminates the gently scrubbing away at the carpet with a bruch and Punching the end of the seat rails! Having done that Too many times to remember, I can say with confidence, It Hurts!
A diy steam cleaner is very good for using on the plastic trims as helps lift any Really ingrained filth out, especially on the backs of the trims! You don't realise how much gets on the insides!

[Citroenmad]

Tim, I think this youtube video has the answer for your dog smell Just jetwash the interior

I bet she got shouted at for going through the automated one with the windows down