Help getting smell of cocrete out of truck

[ninemmeter]

I recently had a friend of mine bring me a 1996 Chevy 4 door 1 ton truck which was used to transport concrete workers and some concrete equipment.I pulled the seats out as they were wasted and am having them redone.My problem now is getting the rest of the interior clean and to get the smell out of it.I have found oven cleaner to clean the door panels,the rubber floor mat and the dash pad fairly well but not as good as I would like.And the smell of concrete is horribly strong.Short of replacing the whole interior,I was wandering if someone might have some suggestions on how to get it clean and get the smell out.The rest of the truck is in great shape and it runs like a new one.Am trying to get it ready to resell and would like to make it as nice inside as it is on the outside.Thnx for any help.

[gw84]

Have you shampooed the whole interior??? If not, try Oxy Magic. I recently purchased a new vehicle and used it with decent results. My carpeting looked very clean but I used Oxy Magic anyway and my towels went from white to brown. I'm sure your application is a little more "heavy duty" than mine though. You might go to an auto parts store and just ask them for the most heavy duty upholstry cleaner they've got. If shampoos/cleaners don't do good enough for your liking, try using an "odor eliminator" such as febreze. Aside from that I don't know what to tell you. If you're just trying to eliminate the smell to sell it, you could probably just cover up the smell with an air freshener: several of those little pine trees or a whole can of glade

[ninemmeter]

Hey gw84,
Thanx for the ideas.I will try them as everything else I've tried has done no good.

[gw84]

I've been thinking about this thread and come up with a new thought. Concrete dust has probably gotten through all the carpeting and is trapped below it. Therefore I would suggest pulling up the carpet and vacuuming below it (you said you removed the seats already) ...before reinstalling them, it would be pretty easy to remove the carpet. If you can't get the carpet all the way out, try just pulling it back as much as possible. Also the truck has probably been in some rather harsh environments in its life, the dust has probably gotten in the ventilation system and throughout the entire truck. Pulling carpet and door panels would be a good start. Don't forget the headliner. Then maybe get a high powered air hose and spray the vents. All of this cleaning might take a weekend but it'd probably be worth it if you're trying to sell it. My first car had some odors that took some deep cleaning to eliminate, but with enough elbow grease and time it can be done. That is really all I can think of for now. Good Luck