Get rid of "New Car Smell"

[MikeS]

I know some people like that smell, but it's a lot of toxic plastic out-gassing.

 

1. On a new 2011 with leather interior, how long will it take for that to vanish?

 

2. I don't feel comfortable leaving the car windows open in my garage (or even the moon roof cracked in the unlikely event of an overhead pipe leak). So, if I leave the windows closed, will the out-gassing still occur and if I open all windows when entering the vehicle, is that just as good as leaving the windows open overnight?

 

Of course, when I'm driving, I'll crack the moon roof & windows.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Mike

[Kaleb]

Why don't you just leave the car windows open when you are home? If you're really paranoid, just do it when you are inside your home and can easily hear if anybody happens to slip into your garage, in broad daylight, hotwire your car, open the garage, and drive away. I kind of understand not wanting to leave the windows open at night but why not in your garage? And do you have a history of leaky pipes in your garage? I really don't think this is much of a question. Yes, if you drive with the windows down all the time the new car smell will go away.

[MikeS]

Sorry, I didn't mention. I live in a high-rise. The garage is a shared 350 car garage. And yes, there has been an issue with pipes leaking. Not over my spot in a few years, but it does make me nervous.

 

My basic question is if the "new car smell" outgases at the same rate, whether or not the windows are open or closed.

 

Mike

[11FusionSEL]

I know what you mean about the new car smell. I know most people like the smell, but the truth is, the "outgassing" that occurs in the first few months can be harmful. My wife has MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivty). I've removed the front leather seats and installed Recaro aftermarket cloth seats (for another reason other than the smell ) in our 2011 Fusion SEL. But even with only the back leather seats, a month after purchase the smell is still very strong. We're going to get the backseat leather removed tomorro at a local upholstery shop. We bought matching Recaro material, so I think it should look pretty nice.

 

But, these are extreme measures ... according to this Wikipedia link ... most outgassing is reduced to tolerable levels after the first few months.

 

Link to Wikipedia New Car Smell

[Kaleb]

Sorry, I didn't mention. I live in a high-rise. The garage is a shared 350 car garage. And yes, there has been an issue with pipes leaking. Not over my spot in a few years, but it does make me nervous.

 

My basic question is if the "new car smell" outgases at the same rate, whether or not the windows are open or closed.

 

Mike

Ah, I understand now. If you keep the windows rolled up, especially in the sun, it seems to exacerbate the smell. So I would say just drive with windows down wherever you go. Really, if you eat in your car it'll get rid of that smell pretty fast. Me and my sister both got new Fords around the same time (mine actually before hers), and I still have yet to eat anything in it. I'm really OCD about stuff like that. She, however, eats quite a bit in her car, and the smell is already gone. I'm not saying to drop food all over the place and ruin the interior, but just eat in it for a couple weeks and it'll be gone.

[MikeS]

I think what you'd get is an out-gassed scented big-mac or out-gassed french fries :-)

 

-Mike

[FFHdriver]

I know what you mean about the new car smell. I know most people like the smell, but the truth is, the "outgassing" that occurs in the first few months can be harmful. My wife has MCS (Multiple Chemical Sensitivty). I've removed the front leather seats and installed Recaro aftermarket cloth seats (for another reason other than the smell ) in our 2011 Fusion SEL. But even with only the back leather seats, a month after purchase the smell is still very strong. We're going to get the backseat leather removed tomorro at a local upholstery shop. We bought matching Recaro material, so I think it should look pretty nice.

 

But, these are extreme measures ... according to this Wikipedia link ... most outgassing is reduced to tolerable levels after the first few months.

 

Link to Wikipedia New Car Smell

Data in the Wikipedia article are 10-15 years old.

[Kaleb]

I think what you'd get is an out-gassed scented big-mac or out-gassed french fries :-)

 

-Mike

 

I know, thats what you'd think. Buts its really the best way Ive found to reduce the new car smell. And it actually doesnt leave a food smell.

[Fuze-ion]

I would also give my opinion, that the new car smell lasts about 3 months. The leather smell may last longer, I don't usually get leather seats.

[hondaconvert]

I know some people like that smell, but it's a lot of toxic plastic out-gassing.

 

1. On a new 2011 with leather interior, how long will it take for that to vanish?

 

2. I don't feel comfortable leaving the car windows open in my garage (or even the moon roof cracked in the unlikely event of an overhead pipe leak). So, if I leave the windows closed, will the out-gassing still occur and if I open all windows when entering the vehicle, is that just as good as leaving the windows open overnight?

 

Of course, when I'm driving, I'll crack the moon roof & windows.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Mike

 

If you can't leave the windows open when the car is parked, the best you can do is open all the windows and run the A/C or a few minutes BEFORE you get into the car. And if the weather is good, drive with the windows and/or sunroof open. It will takke longer than if you could leave the windows down when parked, but the smell still should be gone in a month or two.

[mort]

Hi Mike,

Open the window - ha ha :doh: .

 

From what I've been able to learn, a large portion of the smell is coming from the carpet. Cars use moldable carpet which needs different adhesives than the stuff you'd use at home. To a lesser extent the vinyl seat parts, door lining and harder dash plastics also release volatiles. The funny electronics smell is coming from the funny electronics and there is nothiing you can do about that. The carpet can be shampooed and that will reduce the smell a lot. It is really difficult to get the carpet under the seats washed, so good luck with that.

 

You can wash off all the plastic with mild soap, like you use to wash your hands. Then coat all the plastic with your favorite plastic-protector. Armor-All has too much of it's own nasty smell for me, and it is too shiny. I use something I got at Pep Boys, it has a mild smell. You can go to a big auto parts store and sniff to find one that is OK. Spray furniture wax is the same stuff, but almost always smells lemony. These protectors are mixtures of siloxane, a kind of silicon based wax, dissolved in alcohol and water. The siloxane is practically inert and odorless. It should help slow down the evaporation of the plasticizers. There isn't much you can do about the leather. Leather soap will help, but leather smells like leather for years.

 

Some of the trunk padding and liner will smell up your car too so you may need to wash all that stuff.

 

Sometimes enough of the gunk comes out of the plastic and coats the windows. That can contribute to the smell in a hot car, so you might want to wash all the interior glass too.

 

If you prefer a more natural route, take a weekend out to Palm Springs, park the car in the sun with just the moon roof cracked open in the day, and open the windows after sunset. A couple days of baking can do wonders.

 

-mort

[MikeS]

Thanks Mort,

 

That's very interesting and some good ideas.

 

Luckily, I don't have chemical sensitivities as the previous person did, so I won't do any of that stuff.

 

Although you said what is intuitive: that it will air out faster if windows open, I was really wondering about that point in particular.

 

For example: if the windows are closed, is the air soo saturated with the outgassed fumes that it stops outgassing?

 

Or, even if the air contained in the car contains the outgassed fumes, that it has no effect on the rate of outgassing.

 

I'm sure there's no studies on this.

 

Mike

[mort]

 

I'm sure there's no studies on this.

 

Hi Mike,

It is a big deal, but the car companies keep it all secret. But see Forbs and The Philadelphia Bulletin

Which covers the same ground at Ford.

 

-mort

[MikeS]

BTW, here's the picture of the pipes: