Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board help, my car smells like pie.

Long story short: my car smells like food. Any hints about how to get the food smell out. I work in a bakery so we're talking industrial yumminess. I'm planning on some trips in the Whitney area and I really don't want to have my little Toyota peeled like an orange. I fear bears might think there's food in there even if there isn't. Anyone have any tips about cleaning products that will strip the food smell without leaving me with a chemical burn smell?
Thanks - I read the board all the time, very informative!

Get a giant bear cannister.

Another possibility is have your car professionally detailed including cleaning the upholstery, carpets and headliner. Also the trunk.

Or you can rent a steam carpet cleaner that has an upholstery attachment from Home Depot. There's a cleaning solution that you buy when you rent it. You might kill two birds with one stone and clean your house carpets on the same rental.

And if you put your car in the garage at night when you are at home, leave all the windows and trunk open to air it out. Maybe using a fan too would increase the effectiveness of this. (Unscrew the trunk light so you don't run down your battery.)

Not clear from your post but is the pie odor from spilled ingredients or absorption from your uniform?

I think I might try to mask the odor with something that a bear would turn away from. Anyone tried dropping a few mothballs into their car while left at a trialhead? As sensitive as a bear's olfactory nerves are, I would think that some irritant might work.

Last time I slept in my car at the Portal, before going to bed, I placed several mothballs at spaced intervals along the perimeter of the top of the car itself, for which I give full credit to Snowy for the idea. Had no bear problems (although my car didn't have any smells in it to begin with).

CaT

well, what about you?

if your cars smells that much like food, then that odor also permeats you and your clothing. Is it like someone you meet from from India who has curry fragrance?

The bears are gonna go sniffing around ....not just your car... but also you in your tent!

Long story short. In May, a friend left a banana in his Chevy Avalanche side cooler. The bear who wanted in caused ~$500 damage.

If your car has absorbed that much odor into its fabric, I think you should go in someone else's vehicle or rent a car for this occasion.

I would certainly use the moth ball technique. Just open the container inside the car when you leave and close all the windows. When you return, the car will reek, but I would just throw the mothballs in the trash. The smell should evaporate pretty quickly after you open all the windows.

And as for you smelling like a bakery, the bears in California have never been known to bother a human unless there is some real food involved.

Thanks all.

I'll try both the rental vac from Home Depot and the mothballs.

I fortunately (or maybe not) do not smell like baked goods. My car gets used to haul product around (pies, cookies, etc.) so that's why it smells.

Most of my wilderness time in the last decade has been spent in Alaska, so I'm used to keeping a clean camp. But I've never had to leave my car anywhere where human food savy bears were an issue. I have read all the advice about making sure my car looks empty (no coolers or boxes or bags), now I just need to get the smell out.

Again, thanks...I was thinking about a REALLLLY big ursack...

Coffee grounds on a paper plate placed on the car's floorboard. Leave them in overnight. Your rig will smell like Starbucks sure but it will remove the odor!

Ozium.

Febreze.

Leaving the windows cracked open at night while at home.

Using Coleman coolers or styrofoam containers exclusively for baked goods (when not transporting the goods leave them at home).

Bring baked goods to Whitney Portal for sample tasting. Maybe Doug Sr. will watch your car for you.

If all else fails, paint car black and disguise it as an over-sized bear canister.

I'm told that sardines and peanut butter mask pie odor very well. Mix approx. 4 tins of sardines (in mustard sauce works real good!), with 1 lrg. jar of peanut butter (smooth or chunky), in a food processor set to puree. Work the mixture thoroughly into the carpet and upholstery, let sit for approx. 3 days in the sun and presto, no more pie odor!

I've used a product that you can find at hardware stores that has enzymes in it that actually eats odors instead of masking them. It works for mold, skunk, food, wet dog... you name it. You just spray it on any surface that is emitting odor and a few hours later, it's dry and odor free. Sorry, I can't remember the name of it but it's common enough.

Oh, I forgot about the most commonly used product to remove odors. Open a box of baking soda and keep in your car. Works great for refrigerators.

eka, Good luck and enjoy your Whitney trip!

P.S. I don't think there is any truth to the rumor that there is a big and vicious bear at the Portal that has earned the nickname "Marie Callender" for some reason.

My car smells like cookies ...

I've had a chance to spend time with the bear biologists from Yosemite the last two springs. One of the "myths" that they mention persists, is that there is something that effectively masks food odor. Every year, they have people who try mothballs, ammonia, etc, etc.....every year, they have their cars ripped open.

Bears have an ASTONISHING ability to smell the odor of foods. If you clean a car, when do you stop? When YOU cannot smell anything anymore. Absolutely not sufficient.

If you, sitting in your car, can detect an odor, I doubt that you can easily eradicate it sufficiently.

I'd advise carpooling or renting a car.

I thought the theory behind using mothballs on the exterior of the car isn't so much to mask smells as it is to present an offensive odor to the bear which would discourage further investigation. This of course assumes that you've already cleaned out your car as thoroughly as possible to begin with.

CaT

Just toss a roadkill skunk in the back seat; that should do it. (put a plastic bag under him so it doesn't ruin the upholstery).
8^)

Just park next to someone else's car and slather their car in honey....then your car should be fine...

Edit: As a matter of fact..park next to either a big orange Honda element or a little white Toyota and do it to them... :snicker:

Heeeyyyyy... that's NOT NICE! :-P

The Truck of Fun does not desire to be ripped open like a sardine can!

Bitter, pah-tee of one, your table is ready...