Rotten melon smell stuck in car foam insulation
Hi everyone, I’m honestly exhausted and hoping someone here has gone through something similar and can help.
A melon was accidentally left under the passenger seat of our car for about a week. It rotted and leaked juice into the floor. The smell is absolutely horrible (like very strong feet/rot).
We’ve been trying to fix it for several days now and have done ALL of this:
• Removed the source and cleaned everything
• Used upholstery cleaner on seats, carpet, and doors
• Applied an enzymatic cleaner multiple times (like Nature’s Miracle)
• Left the car in the sun for hours with windows open
• Washed mats and vacuumed thoroughly
• Found an opening under the carpet and manually extracted liquid from the foam using towels (they came out brown and smelled like the melon)
• Applied enzyme directly to the foam and dried it again
At one point the smell improved a lot (down to maybe a 3/10), but now it keeps coming back, especially when the car sits overnight in a closed garage and it smells terrible again (like 6–7/10).
Important detail:
We believe the smell is coming from the foam/insulation under the carpet, not just the surface.
We’re at the point where we don’t know if we should keep trying or just go to a professional
Has anyone dealt with something like this (food/liquid rotting inside car foam)?
• Did it ever go away completely?
• Did you need professional extraction?
• Is it possible to fix without removing seats or replacing materials?
Any real experiences or advice would help a lot. Thank you 🙏