# Left Raw chicken in Trunk  - HELP



## JGDean (Apr 16, 2011)

Several weeks ago a package of chicken escaped my grocery bag and was in the trunk of my car for 5 days. There was a bad odor in the garage and we thought something had died. After searching, we found nothing. On day 6 I went to put charity stuff in the trunk and nearly barfed on opening the trunk. We have tried many things to eliminate the odor throughout the car to no avail. Please... any suggestions???


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## Saphellae (Apr 16, 2011)

Have you gotten it detailed?

I haven't smelled 6 day old chicken in a hot car.. I don't think I'd want to.. I have no idea


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## Andy M. (Apr 16, 2011)

Remove everything from the trunk - the spare tire and carpeting etc.  then wash the interior with a strong detergent solution.  Do the same for the trunk liner whether it's rubber or carpet.  You may need an industrial size bottle of Febreze or other deodorizer.  Check with auto or hardware stores.  Then just keep airing it out.

You will probably find the smell is in the passenger compartment.  Then you need some auto upholstery cleaner for the carpeting and seats.

Paying a professional to do all this for you may be a good idea.


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## LAJ (Apr 16, 2011)

Have you thought of a car cleaning/detailing company? they can do wonders


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## Alix (Apr 16, 2011)

Holy cow, GROSS!!! 

Everything needs to be cleaned. The cleaning ladies on TV (How Clean is your House) always suggest adding a cut up lemon to your cleaning water to help deodorize stuff. They use a lot of vinegar and baking soda too. I had great success with the lemon water when I burnt garlic in the microwave. Good luck!


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## taxlady (Apr 16, 2011)

As others have suggested, it may be worth it to have a professional auto detailer do it for you. A detailer likely has the products on hand or needs to buy them anyway. But, be sure to tell the detailer what happened before asking for a quote.

If any of your friends do detailing or have a good auto detailer, that's who I would suggest you use. The hand car wash places are of very random quality and might damage the finish of your car in the process.


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## roadfix (Apr 16, 2011)

Good thing the police weren't involved.


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## pacanis (Apr 16, 2011)

Several weeks is too long for chicken to be sitting in a trunk unrefrigerated.
Throw the car out.




I'd try one of those ozone electric air cleaners on it. Run an extension cord out to the car and close it in the window. Leave the air cleaner run for several hours and see if it does its thing.


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## Aunt Bea (Apr 16, 2011)

A bucket of lime might do it.


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## Kayelle (Apr 16, 2011)

Pac, I just snorted my tea again.  



> Several weeks is too long for chicken to be sitting in a trunk unrefrigerated.
> Throw the car out.



At first I thought for sure the question was gonna be "can I cook it".


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## Zhizara (Apr 16, 2011)

Kayelle said:


> At first I thought for sure the question was gonna be "can I cook it".



Me too!


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## medtran49 (Apr 16, 2011)

We left a bunch of asaparagus in the car for several days once. Had gone to a farmer's market and had bought a bunch of veges. It rolled out of the bag and under the seat. We were both putting stuff away so didn't realize it wasn't there.  I don't drive a lot so until I went to cook it one night for dinner later in the week we didn't find it.  It had literally liquified in the S Fla sun/temps and was in a paper bag so we would have had to take the seat out and rip the carpet out. I ended up blotting up as much as I could out of the carpet, dumped some baking soda on it to soak up rest of liquid. After a day, cleaned up the baking soda, added some more and kept doing that for a while. We also left the windows open a crack nearly all the time and wide open when we could. The smell eventually went away. I don't even want to imagine what chicken smelled like after finding out what veges can smell like when they rot. Good luck!


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## Barbara L (Apr 16, 2011)

pacanis said:


> Several weeks is too long for chicken to be sitting in a trunk unrefrigerated.
> Throw the car out.
> 
> 
> ...




When I first saw the title of this thread, I thought, "Surely this person isn't asking if it is ok to eat chicken that has been in the car a couple weeks?!!"  Whew!

I agree with a few of the others that you should just go ahead and try a professional at this point. We had a freezer die while we were on vacation years ago, and we never got the smell of the two turkeys and everything else that spoiled out of it.  

Good luck!


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## Chef Munky (Apr 16, 2011)

JGDean said:


> Several weeks ago a package of chicken escaped my grocery bag and was in the trunk of my car for 5 days. There was a bad odor in the garage and we thought something had died. After searching, we found nothing. On day 6 I went to put charity stuff in the trunk and nearly barfed on opening the trunk. We have tried many things to eliminate the odor throughout the car to no avail. Please... any suggestions???



Boric Acid works wonders as a carpet cleaning solution.
It's a much cheaper and better alternative cleaner then any commercial carpet cleaning solutions you can buy.

If you can rent or borrow a steam cleaner. If you car has air filters, I'd just buy new ones.

For the trunk remove the carpet. Spray the Boric Acid solution on it and let it soak in and dry. When dry repeat and use the carpet cleaner. You could even sprinkle it on the carpet and leave it.

A friend of mine had a cat that loved to spray in her house. Especially her couch and bedroom carpet. I made her a Boric Acid solution. It completely removed the odor.The cat never marked that territory again.

Boric Acid Treatments | LIVESTRONG.COM

How to Make a Boric Acid Liquid Spray From Powder | eHow.com

Good luck!


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## joesfolk (Apr 16, 2011)

Kayelle said:


> At first I thought for sure the question was gonna be "can I cook it".


 

If it spent that long in a car trunk in Florida it was probably already cooked!!


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## Somebunny (Apr 16, 2011)

Try coffee grounds.  When DH (a truck driver by trade) used to haul fish, even though they were refrigerated, the trailers would smell pretty bad and to avoid the smells being transferred to the next load which was likely vegetables. They would wash out the trailer and then sprinkle  a pound of coffee on the floor.  He thinks you would only need about a quarter pound for a car.  Maybe let it sit for a day or two then vacuum.  Couldn't hurt, relatively inexpensive fix.  Otherwise off to the professionals.


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## Sprout (May 3, 2011)

Pour gasoline or another accelerant in the trunk, throw in a match, and run! JK. Please don't do that, and please don't track me down and sue me (if you're still alive) if you do.

We had the same exact thing happen when I was a kid. We used the basics, baking soda, carpet cleaners, etc, and it still took the entire summer for the stink to fully fade. I hope some of the suggestions here are more effective! Let us know what you try and how it works! Hopefully I'll never need it, but jic, it could be good to know!


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## BronnieBakes (May 11, 2011)

This happened to me as well - and the smell is revolting!! We just gave it a huge spray using toilet spray and then placed a few of those hanging smelly things and it eventually went away. Another suggestion could be some lemons.


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## Bolas De Fraile (May 11, 2011)

Sprout said:


> Pour gasoline or another accelerant in the trunk, throw in a match, and run! JK. Please don't do that, and please don't track me down and sue me (if you're still alive) if you do.


I't might do it on its own if its an American Car


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## buckytom (May 11, 2011)

i'm sorry princess, but this is patriotism

ye, bolas, of american muscle car envy. cast out thy demons.

it's not a petrol pedal, is it?

throttle is another word for envy. 

it's a *gas* pedal or hammer, of which to be put down with an all american predjna nroga.


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## Bolas De Fraile (May 11, 2011)

I am well aware of that BucolicTom we had the Dukes of Hazard on TV over here.I have only one response Delorean. I do fantasise a lot and I am getting a fragrant picture in my foetid mind of Fi wearing those Daisy Duke shorts.
To return to the topic of the chicken smell in the boot may I suggest vinegar


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## buckytom (May 11, 2011)

Aunt Bea said:


> A bucket of lime might do it.


 
i think they_ bought_ the chicken so there's no need to get rid of the evidence...


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## Bolas De Fraile (May 11, 2011)

buckytom said:


> i think they_ bought_ the chicken so there's no need to get rid of the evidence...


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## kleenex (May 11, 2011)

How far away can someone smell it????

Take it to a place with loads of people so they can smell the stink as well


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## Timothy (Jul 25, 2011)

Holy rotten chicken, Batman!

I left some shrimp bait in a hot car for an entire workday once. When I came out to get in the car at the end of my shift, people were looking around the lot while holding thier noses. I opened the car and got totally gagged out. That was only ONE day...

I can't imagine 6 days... 

Maybe take the car to a bad part of town and leave the keys in it? Then report it stolen a few days later...

(Two car thieves jump in it....one looks at the other and says; "Jeeeez man, you gotta cut back on all that chili you've been eating, that's nasty!....")


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## Sir_Loin_of_Beef (Jul 25, 2011)

Seriously, I'd contact a local crime scene cleanup company and ask them if they can get rid of the smell or can recommend someone who can.


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## buckytom (Jul 25, 2011)

i had a glass container of kimchee break and leak out in my car overnight once. and it was a hit summer night, with all of the windows closed.
 talk about a stinky ride!

i used several bottles of febreeze, along with a gallon of industrial carpet deoderizer, cleaning it over and over. the smell eventually faded, but it took almost a year.


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## Dawgluver (Jul 26, 2011)

Sir_Loin_of_Beef said:
			
		

> Seriously, I'd contact a local crime scene cleanup company and ask them if they can get rid of the smell or can recommend someone who can.



Great idea.  We have a local carpet cleaning company who also does smoke damage and odor cleaning.


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