How do the mice get in?

Morads has a nice replacement carpet for $99.00. You would probably have to dye it, (its Ruby Red) but that should be no problem.

Bert

albertj wrote:

per XO label directions?!? or instead of them?

Albertj

It says "spray on surface," so that would be "instead of."

Hmmm... Based on my general knowledge of the subject, I think I understand the problem. First some background.

Deodorizers like Febreze Laundry Odor Eliminator (FLOE) work by chemically trapping odors. To make a long story blissfully short, lets just say there are six chemical families from which you can derive or compound just about every aroma - from apricots to zebra droppings. FLOE contains a chemical, cyclodextrin, that attracts and holds odor molecules so they can be washed away in water (hint hint that why it's for fabrics to be washed in water). Here is a technical article with more details:

http://www.scienceinthebox.com/en_UK/glossary/cyclodextrin_en.html

THE POINT IS that the stuff causing the odors is still there until the item is washed. Febreze just traps surface odors long enough for you to wash whatever it is.

Deodorizers like Lysol spray work using a combination of chemicals (including good old alcohol) to kill odor causing bacteria (e.Coli) on surfaces and denature the odor molecules as well. Result is much less malodors because the odor causing germs are killed, thus producing no more odorous chemicals.

Problem is, not every surface can be soaked in Lysol without inconvenience or damage.

Deodorizer "Oust" and Ozium (available at harware stores) have the active ingredient TEG - Triethylene glycol. They work in air (not on surfaces) by attracting aromatic molecules (most odors have some elements of aromatics) and dehydrating their nuclei - no moisture in the nucleus means the odor molecule is changed to something else almost always becoming non-odoriferous. So for those aromatic odors such as fish, dog, smoke, latrine, etc., if you use enough of it then it removes that smell from the air only. Problem is, if the odor source is not removed, the malodor definitely will return.

XO's active ingredients are "essential oils" (probably limonene and/or its cousins), a surfactant (to dissolve the oils in water and make them easily disperse in air) and a quaternary ammonium compound. Such ammonium compounds kill germs pretty readily. I don't know what oils are in the active ingredients, but there are a number of those oils, largely from citrus (grapefruit, lemon, bitter orange, and such) that should work. By work I mean that much as they can they chemically change the odor chemicals in the air. Super CD does this as well, but also works in a wash-water oil-soap soolutn - I am not sure why but probably has something to do with the surfacant action of the oil soap on the oils in the stuff.

I think the bottom line is at some point you need to shampoo that trunk liner, with an 'extractor' carpet shampooer that will wash away the odor causing bacteria and such. Sinmple washing with soap and water removes 90%-plus of such odorous microbes. If there is any good news here, it's that your 'instead of' approach got rid of much of the odor causing stuff. Now your problem probably is the quat ammonia - I bet that's what you're smelling. Ammonia is one of the chemicals typically in urine that causes its offensive smell...

Albertj

I don't know if it's because the temp has gone down or because it's finally dry, but the smell has dropped down to 5% of what it was before. It's not an ammonia smell. More like the fragrances of the XOspray.

I can live with it. It's way, way better than before. More than worth the $20 I spent on the XOspray. Maybe in spring I'll be able to get a wet dry vac and finish this job right.

OK. I suspect the XO SPray smell is to hide the quat ammonia. There are various fragrances that will work, they have to be floral or woodsy (pine) terpenes I think.

I told my local GM dealer about XO, they are trying it to deodorize a customer's car in which small animals had died (it is no surprise that nothing they have on shelf works for that). I hope they remember to have their detailer shampoo inside the car to denature and remove the death fluids, or else the smell will come back.

ANYWAY, on a personal note I'm really glad you successfully got rid of the mouse smell.

Albertj

I'm even more glad the hardware cloth screen is keeping the mice out.

Now I've got to get around to doing the Charger.

Hey, I wiped down the metal of the trunk with water and car wash soap. The temp's down today but that seems to have taken the smell out of the trunk that was so strong.

Now I'm inspired to look into this wet/dry vac thing - I found a couple that aren't too expensive -

Husky 2.5 gal, $30

Ridgid 12.5 gallon, $80

Several from Wal-Mart

What do you think?

Get the 12.5 gallon, they come in handy for all kinds of chores.

Bert

What do you use it for? I've never used one of these, or seen one used.

I used it quite a bit while cleaning the loose debris/sand out of the inside of the rocker panels on my 70GS455 during the reatoration. It gets used fairly often to vacum the interior and trunk compartment on the vehicles.

Cleaned the construction debris out of HVAC ductwork in the house . I have some water features in my patio area that require cleaning at least once a year, the shop vac is used to remove the water and sludge after I pump them dry. I use it about twice a year to clean the spider webs from the top of the walls and from the light fixtures on the ceiling in the garage. Cleaning out the spiderwebs and dirt that accumulates in the corners and near the walls at the floor of the garage...
The wife uses it sometimes for some of her projects inside the house as well.

Over the years I have accumulated three of the hard plastic hose extensions and two hoses along with various attachments, they come in handy.

Bert

It takes 12 gallons to do that? That's a little over a 100 lbs in water alone.

Just like a vehicle it depends on how much power you need or rather how much power you want.

5 peak HP motor provides powerful suction for heavy-duty cleanup tasks.
Blowing port offers over 160 mph of blowing capacity for blowing leaves from walkways and decks.
Accessory storage space at the top of each caster gives you quick access to needed attachments.
Includes 2 extension wands, standard utility nozzle, car nozzles and wet application attachment.
MFG Brand Name : RIDGID
MFG Model # : WD1250
MFG Part # : WD1250

Too much is usually better than not enough. A wet/dry vac is a tool, they are good to have around. Dont forget about Sears, they have a wide selection.

Or maybe this would work in your application:
http://www.dirtdevil.com/Products/productDetail.aspx?id=16287

Bert

"12 gallons" is volume. Dry debris won't weigh quite 100 lbs. I have one this size, it's older (3.5 HP but rated the old way. To convert take the current HP number and divide by the square root of 2). Most of the time, a small one like the Sears "Clean & Carry" 4 or 5 HP would have worked for me. However - for emergency cleanups like the time the washer hose slipped off and puddled out the laundry room in the basement, the big vac was *great* to have and cleaned things up very quickly, a Clean & Carry would not have been adequate.

I've used my wet/dry for vacuuming the garage (not as often as I should); with a scraper alongside for sucking peeling paint off buildings; for cleaning gutters; cleaning up large water spills, and of course cleaning out the cars. Because these vacs are powerful, there's nothing like them for getting, for instance, broken glass splinters out of fabric upholstery.

Knowing what I know now I'd buy one like that again (it would be a 5 HP model costing about $100 with accessories), but if I had storage space constraints then I'd look at one of the smaller Clean & Carry models.

If there is a problem here it's probably that there are a lot of choices and no universal decision rules.

The sears.com web site gives a good idea of the range of what's available - from small household wet/dry vacs to industrial (Milwaukee Tool) models with stainless canisters.

Again - if I had the room I'd get nicest one I could for under $80 or so and if not I'd get a powerful small one.

Albertj

How good is a wet/dry vac at sucking the moisture out of a carpet? Can I get the carpet dry as long as the temp is above freezing?

it won't get bone dry but you can get it mostly dry. Put it to you this way: in my experience my wet-dry vac with shampooer attachment will reliably get a carpet drier than my Bissell 'powersteamer' carpet shampooer during a shampooing.

I guess the fair thing to say is no matter how wet it is when you start the wet/dry vac will get the carpet drier unless humidity is condensing on that carpet or there is a source of water (soaked carpet padding) that re-saturates it--provided you use the appropriate nozzle and don't move too fast or too slow across the carpet.

Also bear in mind some chemicals attract moisture and will keep a piece of fabric damp until they are rinsed away somehow. For instance calcium chloride seems to stay wet, left in a container open to the air.

Albertj

That should help get rid of the smell.
You should be careful and wear protection while cleaning up the mess.
The Hantavirus is very nasty:
http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus

Bert

if you use a wetdry vac for cleanup of this, spray the filter until wet with Lysol spray or another disinfectant spray for surfaces just before you start.

If I was you I'd just replace those speakers though. It's new definition for "chewed."

Albertj

Just finished wiring up the replacement speakers - that's why I was in there. I wouldn't have thought of that location to look for a mouse nest. I should pull that shelf down to clean it . . . Looks like a fair bit of work and I'm not sure if there's a bottom that comes off, or if the whole package shelf comes out and that mousy area is an empty cavity within it that won't be much more accessible with the shelf out.

Jack, all you have to do to get the package shelf out is pull the back seat. Remove the rear seat cushion likel usual (it lifts out) then remove the anchor bolts at the base of the rear seat. Pay attention to how the seat belts are anchored so you can put 'em back.

While you are under there you might want to clean with some Pine-Sol or Lysol solution...

[Hey Rick, remember the thread where I talked about pulling the back seat and package shelf to replace the rear speakers - - I said it was desirable... you said it was not necessary and you were right but it looks like that's where Jack has to go to get things right in his car.]

Oh, well.

Albertj

Aw, man! All that crawlin' in and out of the trunk to install speakers, for nothing!

I'm going to end up tearing this whole car down just because of a few wittle mousies

albertj wrote:

[Hey Rick, remember the thread where I talked about pulling the back seat and package shelf to replace the rear speakers - - I said it was desirable... you said it was not necessary and you were right but it looks like that's where Jack has to go to get things right in his car.]

Oh, well.

Albertj

Sorry JR

No problem. I enjoy nearly anything that gets me away from the computer.

Quick question, does the back carpet piece go over or under the bottom carpet piece? It looks like it should go over it in the middle, and under it at the sides. Which appears to be impossible.

The back carpet piece goes over on the back and sides. The edges of the back piece tuck into the edges of the side pieces in teh crease. In you r picture the creas runs alongside the r in 'rear' and forms a backwards "L" that ends just before your squiggle.

You may have to wiggle the back carpet a little side to side to get it to fit right - so don't push the plastic trim rivets in all the way until the carpet is set back in place. DO put them in one or 2 ribs - that way you have to line the carpet up pretty much right but you have some wiggle room because everything is not buttoned down all the way. And the lower part may not fit right in the short leg of the "L" but don't sweat it, just use a tool (flatblade screwdriver, tongue depressor, trim tool, what have you) to get it in as best you can while pushing the side trim piece toward front of the car and it will pop in place pretty much.

Albertj