Crap, looks like i had some water seeping into my car over the last few weeks.

Removed the cover this morning to get my toolbox and the whole interior is covered with mold.



Anyone here have any experience with cleaning this mess?

If you want professional help, boats regularly have this problem. See a marine shop. Otherwise I used a 50% bleach solution mixed with water and scrubbed on my boat...

Your car is ruined, I'll give you 100 bucks for it.

If it's on carpet & upholstery, you can use Folex - sold in quart spray bottles & 1 gal at Home Depot, etc. - or order it from Waxie in Santa Ana CA. It's great for cleaning anything else off of carpet/upholstery/fabric.

The bleach solution is the only mold killer, but then it also eats &/or bleaches stuff - so use caution with that on body parts, & I wouldn't advise it on any carpet/fabrics.

If you dry it & keep it dry after the Folex, then you shouldn't have a problem.

I used Folex to detail the fabric upholstery in our 88 Westy after 25+ years with kids & camping spills, some of which had some mold resulting, & it's stayed gone for 3_ years now.

Good Luck!
Tom
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Bathroom wipes with bleach, and 914 Umbrella Cover

What's the difference between mold and mildew?

...I think mold you have to quarantine the car...

Find someone with an ozone generator. Kills the mold and the smell.
clean everything off with a 10% bleach solution and set all the upholstery out in the sun. Put the seat belts in the dish washer -it works. Spray fabrize in the car when your done.

White vinegar solution is way better than bleach. Safer on the material and more long term effective at killing the spores (which is obviously key!). Plus the odor dissipates better. Bleach is nasty. Lots of air flow!

Don't just take my word for it, Google bleach vs vinegar for mold

https://www.google.com/#q=bleach+vs+vinegar+for+mold

We have a lot of experience with that in the midwest. Almost every parts car has it. Definitely need to clean it well with something that will kill most of it. After that it needs to be set in the sun on a few warm sunny days. I had an interior that REEKED of mildew/mold and after a week or so worth of sunshine the smell went away. Carpets may take longer, I don't remember if you even have carpet in the red car .

Buy moisture absorbent and leave it in the car after you clean it!

Moisture Absorbent

On a more serious note, +1 with the ozone generator. After the treatment, I would replace your carpets. Your immune system is not the same as it was when you were younger. Why take a chance over a 200 dollar carpet kit?

Ok.....been there. Steamclean company came and cleaned the car inside and out. Yes, that worked.
In my introductionpost you see some pics of that treatment.
That anti-mold spray is dangerous for your carpets since most of them contain bleach.

Not sure how to get the mold out, but I had an old house and the closets were musty. We used little tubs of DAMP-RID. You have to go pour them out every once in a while, but they soak up the moisture in the air. Put a couple in your car.

I might only use that if the windows were up tho. You don't want to be dehumidifying your whole garage with a tiny little bucket of Calcium Chloride.

If you have carpet, I would put it in your clothes washer. Not all at once. A couple pieces at a time. Then out in the sun to dry. I did it to mine when I bought it and it turned out good. Or go to the do it your self car wash and hit it with the soap and rinse.

Definately if you have your car under a tarp you need some type of dessicant or dehumidifier in the car.

We are supposed to get another 6 inches of rain down here this weekend.

Good luck Andy.

For cars that will set for awhile and especially if covered, I use the same product I had winterized my sailboats with years ago. It's called DRI-Z-AIR and consists of a small tub, ventilated grill cover, and supplied granulated calcium chloride as a desiccant. Available at any marine store but you can probably find it on eBay or through Amazon.

You might consider the coin-op wishy-washy. Some of those places sell beer.

My wife does not like stuff from the garage going in her washing machine. Plus they have some higher capacity machines. maybe you can add vinegar to the rinse water.

Boats, Water, Mildew ...


I use this. Find it at any Marine Supply and some hardware stores.

Click to view attachment

Bag of kitty litter in a mesh bag under the seat works

1) Rub down the surfaces with 100% alcohol

2) Vacuum everywhere there is any sign of mold

3) Spray a fine mist of the aforementioned 100% alcohol

4) Rub it down again

5) Lots and Lots of sunlight

6) Desiccant of you choice.

Don't fall for that Andy ~ I'll give you $200!

PS: The water/bleach solution should clean it up - I would finally do a good wipe down with hydrogen peroxide (kills it dead too)!

Tony

I use those damprid buckets in all my cars they work great. Sometimes still get random spots of light mold but just wipe them down and generally stay pretty clean

Go to nearest west marine they have it covered, i like the 3m product best.

Mold holds hands with rust

Stay away from the bleach. You're not cleaning tiles here. It'll wreck havoc on any upholstery/ seat belt /vinyl.

Sunlight and fresh air, and a wipedown with a mild vinegar solution. IIRC, California has some sunshine.