My friend's girlfriend has an older integra that has just been sitting for quite awhile outside underneath a tarp. It has a pretty bad leak somewhere I guess, because the entire inside of the car is moldy, and I mean moldy. The stearing wheel and dash are covered, and the seats and carpet are damp and moldy also. It's a mess to say the least.

I was wondering what would do well to clean/kill the mold. I searched and didn't find much, one person suggested rubbing alcohol to kill the mold, besides that there wasn't much info.

Any help and input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

hot water extractor for the seats and carpet. but you really should take the dash and other interior panels out because there will be mold behind that as well. probably better off getting rid of the car. unless they have the time to completely gut it

 

I was thinking the same thing about needing to gut it to actually get all the mold. I know my friend doesn't want to clean it, and his girlfriend just wants to be able to drive it again. So I don't know what they'll end up doing.

Can you rent a water extractor? Is it just the same thing as a Rug Doctor? What about buying one, how much do they usually go for?

 

To you or anyone else who might have a mold problem, check this thread out. I remembered back in the day seeing this on Autopia, so I went and searched for it, here is the link

http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-det...abatement.html

 

Thanks for this info. Good write up too.

Unfortunately before I was able to talk to my friend, he had already finished cleaning up the majority of the mess, but not to the extent to kill the mold, I'm pretty sure its going to come back without any in-depth cleaning. I'm definitely going to mention this to him though, because it's just not safe to be breathing all those spores while you're driving.

 

BTW, you do very nice work Pandaman. I've read through a few of your write ups the past couple days. 99.9% of people don't have the patience to do what you do.

 

in combo with traditional cleaning techniques, maybe take a look at this stuff which is just coming onto the market for automotive. i have a sample i need to try but apparently it works wonders...

http://www.medscommercialproducts.co...uct_blast.html

and also http://www.medscommercialproducts.co...uct_fiber.html, which is now called "OMG"

the trick for mold or mildew is leaving the blast in the car for an extended period. OMG is ideal for upholstery.

 

first off i would gut the whole car. seats carpet, trim, head liner ect ect wash everything piece by piece with a bucket 1 cup bleach 30 cups 2 water. this will kill the mold. then shampoo to clean the surface. after everything is done, fix the leak(s). mold grows and lives off of moisture. if there is no moisture, mold can't grow nor live.

 

oh yeah and 1 cup bleach 30 cups water isn't enough bleach to change the color of black/darker interior