I realize you cannot take a sponge and soap to things that have been exposed to radiation. But does anyone have any recommendations that may help? My mother left my car windows down last night and it rained. My seats and carpet are soaked. I have been watching the netc maps, and the Denver area has been green for the last couple days, but I still feel the need to clean it in whatever way I can. Does anyone have any recommendations for what I should use? Thank you

If you have a radiation detector that will test for Alpha and Beta particles, then you can do a survey and look for above normal readings or hot spots. In the unlikely event that you find that the gross radiation readings inside your car and on your upholstery are significantly higher than outside readings (I say significantly higher because some materials used in the vehicles construction may emit radiation), then you will probably never be able to remove all of the contamination. If you find a hot spot on carpet, vinyl or upholstery then you can try using the sticky side of duct tape to pull up the particle, or if that doesn't work try vacuuming the offensive particle (make sure that you wear a filtering mask). If the particle is resting on a hard surface you can probably remove it with a damp cloth and soapy water. If it is too ingrained for this to remove it then you will have to use an abrasiveness device like sand paper or a file, again wear a mask. Unless I knew, or suspected, that I was in an area of dangerous fallout I would just let my car dry out and then give it a good, normal cleaning.

From most of my InspectorEXP geiger counter readings I have taken in the past, I do not believe you will have enough fallout to cause much of a detectable energy source after 24 hours for external exposure. The important thing is that you were not in the rain, because those hot particles can easily get in to our body. Our biggest concern from Fukushima is really internal exposure (breathing & eating) which is why we try to not eat from the West Coast and when our outside early detection (Raspberry Pi & GMC-200 on outside air purifier) geiger counter unit detect a rise, the kids stay inside the house. This helps to avoid breathing any alpha & beta fallout but clearly in the house the gamma and x-ray will come through.

We do not eat mushrooms anymore either. Although mushrooms are well known to help rid your body of radiation because radiation is drawn to fungus... you would have to know the mushrooms are clean (no radiation) before you eat them, which I can't be sure of.

You guys are awesome, I feel a lot better now. I will let it dry out and see if I can use my friends Geiger. We are about to spend a huge chunk of time in that car for our move, and I was worrying big time!