Spores can spread through the air, so these microorganisms sometimes appear in the most unexpected places. The main condition for the development of mold is high humidity, as well as lack of exposure to the sun and the flow of fresh air.
The car is also susceptible to mold infestation, and areas with favorable conditions for mold development are especially susceptible to it. The fungus greatly spoils the materials of construction and finishing, maintaining a persistent musty odor that fills the entire space.
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The main danger of mold is the negative impact on the health of the person exposed to the spores.
Mold in a car: how to clean it...
One of the bad and unpleasant things that can happen to your car is the appearance of mold in the trunk, interior, etc. places of the car. In order to cope with it, you must specifically understand for yourself what mold is.
Mold refers to certain types of fungi that can grow almost anywhere and spread very easily and quickly across any surface.
See also: 5 common spots on your car that people usually forget to clean
Not only that, but mold has a disgusting smell and can cause permanent damage to a certain surface and can even be dangerous to your health.
If there is mold in your car, you must remove it immediately.
There are different types of mold. It all depends specifically on what kind of fungi the surface is affected by. The most dangerous types of fungi are Stachybotrys chartarum and Chlorohalonata known as “black mold”.
“Black mold is a toxic fungus that can negatively affect anyone, resulting in dangerous symptoms such as fatigue and weakness, headaches, poor memory, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, and bloating. and can even cause some dangerous allergic reactions.”
In the worst case, it (mold) can even kill a person. So remember, friends, if in your car on the seats, on the floor carpets, etc. mold has formed and appeared in places, you should remove it from there as soon as possible.
Prevention measures
To prevent moisture from collecting and an unpleasant odor from appearing, follow these simple recommendations:
- Ventilate your car and garage regularly.
- Use air fresheners in the car interior.
- Carefully inspect the interior for moisture, especially after traveling in rainy, snowy or foggy weather, and dry such areas.
- Make sure that food is not left in the machine for long periods of time.
Such simple but effective tips will help protect your car from such unpleasant phenomena as the smell of dampness and mold. These recommendations must be followed systematically, then every trip will become comfortable. It won't take much time, but it will help save your nerves and money.
Why does mold form in a car?
The main cause of mold formation is humid air and a warm environment. Accordingly, the appearance of this mold in a car is not so uncommon, since moisture and heat always haunt any vehicle. For example, moisture can easily get into any car during rain through an open window, through a door or through an open hatch.
Mold can even form from a small amount of liquid (drinks) spilled on the seat or floor of the car.
As a result, it turns out that only a small amount of moisture is enough for mold to form in the car interior. Therefore, within a few days, as a result of fungal colonization, mold may appear in your car, which, unfortunately, is not so easy to remove.
But if you don’t do this, then you further risk that mold will damage your interior and also risk your health. By the way, remember, even a small amount of drink spilled in a car can cause mold to form, which can only be removed with expensive chemicals and then in a professional car wash. Moreover, it costs a lot of money and you will have to pay several thousand rubles for cleaning the car interior.
Also pay your attention to the following, namely, if you do not remove mold for a long time, then perhaps even expensive dry cleaning of the interior will not help you in the future, since these same mushrooms will significantly damage the upholstery of the car.
In this case, you will have to completely redo the interior or purchase new upholstery and the seats themselves.
So, friends, do not delay cleaning your interior from mold under any circumstances.
What cleaning and disinfection products are best for removing unpleasant odors?
If you want to vacuum the interior of the car, then before doing this, be sure to wipe the corroding dirt of the car seat with a brush, treating it with a special product. Remember that dirt and odor strongly eat into the fabric and velor seats of the car.
Before turning on the vacuum cleaner, make sure that all surfaces are dry from water and from the special products you used for pre-cleaning.
If the source of unpleasant odors is the car mats, then it is advisable to take them outside for cleaning, so that during cleaning it will be more convenient for you to thoroughly vacuum and rinse everything.
Don't forget to vacuum the trunk of your car as well.
After you have vacuumed the car, if dirt has accumulated inside the folds and seams of the seats, you need to use a brush and a special shampoo (fabric conditioner for car interior) to remove dirt, which is also a common cause of unpleasant odors in the car.
When using water to clean the seats, be careful because if you over-wet them, it will take several days for them to dry completely. Water can also leave a musty odor in the seats.
Check the car interior for stains, which are a source of pollution and almost always carry a foreign odor.
To remove excess water from the surface of the materials being cleaned, use appropriate rags or sponges that absorb moisture.
If after thorough cleaning there is a residual unpleasant odor, it can be removed not only by ozonation. There are many adsorbents that you can find at hand. Let's talk about the most effective of them in more detail.
Baking soda
Our grandmothers knew that sodium bicarbonate (the chemical name for baking soda) absorbs odors well. An open pack of soda left in the refrigerator niche deodorized the space for several months.
We can also use the miraculous abilities of this substance for our purposes. It is enough to generously sprinkle soda on the area where liquid with a bad odor has been spilled so that it absorbs it. After this, vacuum the problem area.
Charcoal
Being an excellent adsorbent, charcoal is used both by industry and pharmacology - there is no such person who has not been treated with activated carbon tablets. The absorbent properties of burnt wood are also useful for removing unpleasant odors from the interior. Leave an open package of barbecue fuel in the cabin for a few days, and not a trace of the heavy spirit will remain.
By reacting with other substances, acetic acid can neutralize their odor. As for the strong, recognizable aroma of the seasoning itself, it is short-lived and, with good ventilation, disappears within a few hours.
Using vinegar you can quickly get rid of the smell of cigarettes. To do this, 50-100 ml of liquid is poured into a glass jar and left in a closed cabin overnight. The procedure is repeated for a week, after which you can enjoy a healthy atmosphere inside. It is only important to replace the vinegar with a fresh portion each time - after 15-20 hours, the adsorbing properties of this substance decrease.
We invite you to read: Sewer smell in the bathroom: what to do and how to eliminate it?
Ammonia
The most powerful of the non-specialized adsorbents, which is used to remove odors in the car interior, is ammonia. It is used in the same way as vinegar, however, the single dose of liquid should be reduced to 10-15 ml. In addition, this strong-smelling substance should be used carefully, otherwise prolonged ventilation of the interior will be required.
Even a strong tobacco spirit can be removed in 5-6 hours. After this, the interior must be ventilated - driving while smelling ammonia is strictly prohibited.
Everyone is familiar with the usual “stinkers” hanging on the mirror or sticking out of the ventilation grilles. Today we won’t talk about them, because natural flavors give a much more pleasant effect.
Place a couple of vanilla pods on the bottom of a canvas bag, sprinkle with ground coffee or chopped citrus zest, and the atmosphere in the salon will be filled with your favorite aroma. Any woman will appreciate it, because it is harmless for the smallest passengers.
In conclusion, I would like to say that accuracy, compliance with hygiene standards and timely cleaning of the interior will allow you to never think about how to get rid of the smell in your car. No one is immune from “force majeure” circumstances, but in this case you can use our advice and restore the balance of freshness and cleanliness in the interior of your favorite car.
How can you remove mold from the inside of your car?
Depending on the area and the size of the lesion and in certain cases, you may still be able to try to remove this mold yourself.
Firstly, if you find mold, you must dry the interior, since the appearance of these fungi indicates that the car is very humid. Therefore, if your car is parked in the shade, then be sure to move it into the sun by opening all the doors and windows in the car. This will help you ventilate the car interior and dry out the accumulated moist air. This will help stop the formation of mold, since fungi cannot grow in dry conditions.
After opening the car doors and windows to dry the interior, leave them open for at least 20 minutes. If you visually detect mold, do not sit in the car under any circumstances, since the fumes released by the fungi can be dangerous.
Next, before you begin cleaning the interior from mold, you should first put on a medical mask to protect yourself from the dangerous pores of fungi and their evaporation, and then assess the full extent of the damage. To do this, inspect the entire interior of the car for mold and remember all the places where mushrooms will be found.
Be sure to check all accessible places in the cabin where there is a porous surface. Also, do not forget to do such an inspection under the seats and under the foot mats in the car.
Check thoroughly the entire floor, and at the same time all corners of the cabin. It is also necessary to inspect the seat belts. If you have the opportunity to remove the seat covers, then also inspect the seats themselves, which are the main candidates for the formation of mushrooms in them.
Mold can be of various colors: from white to grayish-brown. Mold can also be green or even black. Typically, mold is a clustered circular formation of microscopic fungi.
Having discovered mold in the interior of your car, it’s time for you to assess the extent of the damage. If the affected area is not large, then you can try to clean the surface of the mushrooms yourself.
Take a look and see if you can remove the growths with a stiff brush. Be very careful not to spread spores throughout the car. Otherwise, by cleaning one area, you run a high risk that after some time mold will appear in the interior again due to a new colony of fungi.
Once you have removed the surface fungal growth, use a stiff carpet brush to remove spores from the surface.
Then take a Ph neutral shampoo and water and thoroughly rinse the area affected by the mold.
Your task is to completely wash the surface of mold.
Then take a hairdryer or turn on the heater in the car at full power, thus setting the maximum airflow to thoroughly dry the interior.
Now it's time to make the previously mold-damaged surface even cleaner.
But under no circumstances, friends, do not use bleach or ammonia to treat surfaces damaged by mold, as many online resources advise. This is especially true for ammonia, which is not able to properly kill the formed mushrooms. Remember that ammonia kills fungi only superficially and is not able to neutralize mold at the microscopic level.
In addition, we must not forget that in some cases ammonia can even promote the formation of such fungi. Ultimately, by treating the surface in the car interior with ammonia, you can make it even worse.
Instead of using some untested products to remove mold from your car, purchase a specific mold and rust remover from any home improvement store. The average cost of such funds is approximately 350 rubles.
Due to their chemical properties, these mold removers are able to remove fungi at a microscopic level.
True, as a rule, in each car this mold is unique in its properties. Therefore, it is quite possible that you will need to buy other chemicals that can better clean surfaces from various fungi.
Effective ways to eliminate odors
We have already said above that you can temporarily overcome the unpleasant smell in the car interior with a stronger and more pleasant aroma. To make the air in the cabin clean and fresh again, we find, localize and eliminate the root cause of the problems. After this, we begin cleaning, ventilating and deodorizing the interior.
At the first stage, try to detect the source of the stench and perform a number of simple operations:
- remove foreign objects from the interior and trunk, remove and wash the floor mats, wash the covers;
- clean and maintain HVAC systems;
- vacuum the surfaces (it is better to use a washing unit);
- Clean upholstery and flooring. In case of severe contamination, use special chemicals;
- wash plastic, polymer and synthetic elements with warm water and soap or clean with automotive plastic cleaner;
- Leave the car completely open for several hours to thoroughly dry and ventilate the interior;
- replace the cabin filter.
Even these simple steps can remove the unpleasant odor in the cabin. If it remains, then we will resort to “heavy artillery” - treating surfaces with steam, antibacterial drugs and ozonizing the interior. Ozone is a powerful disinfectant. This neutralizer will get rid of the smell in the car and clean the farthest places of the cabin from bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms.
Today, ozonation services are provided by every company that cleans and washes cars. Buy an ozonizer for personal use - this useful device will come in handy in the garage and at home. It is only important to remember that the effect of the oxidizer on the body has not been fully studied, so after the procedure you should ventilate the salon. Ozone very quickly breaks down into ordinary oxygen, so with the right approach, using a neutralizer will only be beneficial.
Why is there no universal means for removing mold from the inside of a car?
But the point is this: each case of mold formation in a car is inherently unique and depends specifically on the type of upholstery.
Therefore, methods for cleaning mold from a car can also be different. For example, in some cases, mold can be removed simply by using steam. And in some cases, even shampoo may not help. In this case, you will need to use professional mushroom removal products.
It is also worth noting that cars with fabric interiors are most susceptible to mold, since, unlike leather seats, mold penetrates fabric upholstery much more easily. Also, cleaning fabric upholstery from fungi will be much more difficult compared to a leather interior due to the fact that mold penetrates very deeply into the fabric.
What to do first
Before you begin to combat odors, it is necessary to identify and eliminate their cause. If you cannot find it, perform a full vehicle inspection. After fixing the problem, remove excess moisture from inside the car:
- Ventilation. If the problem occurs in the summer, you can ventilate the car. To do this, just leave all the doors open for 5-7 hours.
- Turning on the air conditioner. When the air conditioner is running, the ventilation system will remove excess moisture from the car. In case of severe dampness, the procedure is performed within 20-30 minutes.
- Warming up with a stove. To prevent the formation of condensation on the glass, the interior is heated at an outside air temperature of 6-7°C. In cars equipped with climate control, it is enough to turn on the window defrost mode for 15-20 minutes.
If dampness comes from the rugs, they are washed in soapy water. All surfaces in the car are wiped with a damp cloth soaked in antiseptic. It will destroy fungal flora and prevent mold from reappearing.
