How do you clean up puke?

I’m curious, what’s your favorite way to clean up car puke?

I considered a fire hose, but it might take the finish off the outside. Torching the thing would be ideal, but we kind of need some mode of transportation so I figured I’d better not.

So today I went to pick up the babysitter so I could run to Wal Mart and buy pull-ups with my mom (not that it takes two people to buy a pack of pull-ups, but I’ve got some major cabin fever right now and will take any low maintenance field trip I can get).

The directions to the sitter were a little foggy, and I ended up spending fifteen minutes on a very stretch of curvy road, with June in the backseat. I kept turning around and retracing my steps, trying to find an address that didn’t exist, and my driving got more eratic and more frustrated.

Unfortunately, so did June’s stomach.

Let’s just say there’s nothing more earth shattering than the awful sound of breakfast, reintroducing itself all over the backseat. It just. Kept. Coming.

We cancelled the sitter and I spent the better part of the morning, with my mother’s help, disinfecting my backseat. June felt great, once she’d gotten it out of her system and found her way to a straighter road.

Personally, I decided that her outfit wasn’t really that cute, so instead of tediously scrubbing the bananas out of it, I guiltlessly tossed it in the trash, along with her top, my floor mats, the backseat, and my sanity. (Okay, so maybe I kept the floor mats and the car, but it was tempting.)

Let me tell you, there’s nothing like a little vinegar water to take the smell out of something. I scrubbed that car seat down, disinfected it, then power washed the whole thing and left it out to dry.

Too bad I couldn’t power wash June.


Comments

  1. Having a dog before kids taught me a lot about parenting. At pet stores there’s a product called NATURE’S MIRACLE. It is a miracle! Whether all matter of bodily functions come from a furry-four-legged or a why-won’t-he-pee-IN-the-toilet toddler (vomit included) the stuff is amazing. I buy it by the gallon.

  2. Oh, poor little June Bug! I think you probably could have power washed June.

  3. {taking note of Mistie’s parenting miracle. I need that right about now.}

  4. I have no idea. My husband is in charge of all things regurgitated.

  5. I? Don’t clean up vomit. I close the door and leave it for my lovely husband to clean up when he arrives home. Maybe even days later.

    So, yeah, just like DeNae. So unoriginal.

    (This is the only job my husband has left. It’s really evidence of my charitable nature that I allow him to still feel useful around here. I’ve farmed out lawn mowing to the neighbor kid, my harmless affair with the garbage man takes care of the trash, and I can shop vac my own car, darn it! Puke is all he has left, and I am so gracious, that I will let him keep it.)

  6. So happy to report that I’ve never cleaned up puke out of a car, but we are leaving in 3 days for our first road trip that extends past the length of 1 Disney movie so I’ll probably have some info for you after that.

    I guess I’d better run out to PetCo and buy that Nature’s Miracle stuff.

  7. Having dealt with throw up in the car yet. But I have dealt with it all down my face, in my pockets and all over my wife!

  8. aww poor kiddo! I use vinegar as well but I will also buy a bottle of purell, the hand sanitizer and just douse whatever they puked on with it. Really helps!

  9. My middle daughter puked in my car a lot. My mom got me a little green machine that works wonders!

  10. I usually clean it up with my tears. My steamy, hot abundance of throw up tears. I weep a lot when kids barf.

  11. And cleaning that stuff up is so much worse when you’re pregnant.

    Our kids have all been prone to carsickness. I would use preventative measures such as sitting a towel inside the car seat (we later discovered that sitting the kid on an open diaper,placed sideways in the carseat was a much better option because it was not only absorbent, but disposable)
    We had one kid that threw up every 3 hours or 200 miles, whichever came first.
    We finally just bought a car with leather seats.
    To this day, we don’t go anywhere without a bucket, a roll of paper towels and a can of lysol.

  12. Car puke is THE WORST. Yikes… especially on a sensitive preggo nose. ((hugs))

  13. OK so here is the most brilliant thing I have ever learned about, you have to keep gallon zip lock bags on hand. It is genius I tell you if you can train your child to throw up in them. That way you zip them up and the smell and mess are contained. Then you throw them away when you get home. Your welcome.

  14. Ok I know I’m late to the game, here but I just had to comment on this one because I experienced it TODAY!! Harley’s been sick for two days but was feeling better this afternoon so I took him with me to Salt Lake & he barfed all over. I had to pull over in a Wal Mart parking lot & undress him & attempt to make his car seat inhabitable again.

    I’ve done enough puke laundry in the past two days to choke a donkey! Including my bed sheets and comforter and pillows. Twice.

  15. my girlfriend actually likes satin Bed sheets instead of cotton bed sheets which i prefer much.*.