Hey All,

When I picked up my IROC-Z, the mold smell was thicker than chunky peanut butter, and I ain't kiddin ya. After having a look at my bank account situation, I was in need of a low cost solution to decrease the hostile breathing environment in the car. This is what I used:

-approx 3 cups of Distilled White Vinegar
-Wet/Dry Vacuum
-Permission from the wife to repurpose a spray bottle
-Breathing protection (I went for covid mask underneath extra t-shirt with the collar above the nose combo)

Get the vinegar into the spray bottle and we're ready to go.

Step 1: Vacuum as much mold as you can out of the car first.
Step 2: Mist the vinegar onto all the moldy surfaces. Don't soak it, just enough to get it damp. Try to keep the spray bottle at arm's length while you're on the trigger.
Step 3: Wait exactly the amount of time it takes to drink 1 beer.
Step 4: Vacuum all the surfaces again.

That's it! It's been about three weeks now, and the mold is completely gone. The vinegar smell did hang around for about 10 days, but I can't smell it anymore so don't worry, it doesn't last forever.

 

Did the exact same thing not long ago.

Bought a spray bottle, and some gloves.

The only mold might have been on the steering wheel. But sprayed everything else that wasn't a material.

A few days later, sprinkled a pack of baking soda on the floor and seats, left it overnight, vacuumed it all up.

The vehicle smells great.

Used the leftover vinegar to spray parts of the driveway where grass, weeds, plants were trying to grow through the cracks.

 

Glad I found this thread! I need to do some mold removal on my steering wheel, shifter,etc.

Did you guys dilute the vinegar? I want to make sure it doesn't bleach the grey leather lighter or spot it. Is the vinegar safe to spray everywhere on anything? I ask because there are certainly nooks and crannies that I can't get into well enough to totally wipe and dry it.

My car is in long-term indoor storage under a cover and I need to come up with a way to mitigate the mold growth. I only have access to the car every year or so. It took about 4 years for it to just all of a sudden get crazy this past year that I was gone.

Thanks!

Alex

 

The vinegar I used was 5% acid strength, which I think is the normal stuff you get at the grocery store, and I did not dilute it. I didn't notice any bleaching action on the cloth, and I did not notice any damage to other materials / surfaces with casual overspray.

Google says vinegar is safe for leather, but if it's too strong it could dry it out. I'd go for the vinegar treatment, and then follow up with a leather cleaner. After the leather cleaner is dry, follow that up with a leather conditioner. But, go very light / not at all on the steering wheel with the conditioner because the oils can penetrate through the leather and delaminate the glue.

 

Have you ever considered using a Ozone generator? 1 1/2 hours of very little work and the smell will be completely gone.

 

This isn't "low buck" but its the only thing I've found to work fully.

Get a Ozone generator run it for 1 hr. This should help kill off any spores in the air.
Steam clean all leather/plastic,fabric.
Spray down all fabrics/leathers with https://www.homedepot.com/p/Concrobi...5001/100654369
Get some moisture absorbing packs or a dehumidifier and dry it as dry as possible.
Run the ozone generator again for about an hour.

Just be warned... your car will smell like a swimming pool that was just treated for about 6 months, and the above will rust exposed metal if you get the chemicals on it.

One issue is the carpet is not very breathable so you may want to consider that if its ever leaked or gotten wet from a heater core.

Unless you rip the interior out and get inside all the vents, pipes, jute padding, panels, and inside the door, it you will continue to have some "musk" -- so how deep you go is how well it works. You can use bleach on anything not visible or hard plastic. Just be aware all this process is an oxidizer so it will shorten the life of already old plastic. This is a little less caustic than bleach https://www.homedepot.com/p/Storm-Sy...XX-1/205672448 and can often be used as a carpet cleaner.

The key is to then keep the inside as dry as possible by either keeping something like this in the car https://www.homedepot.com/p/Concrobi...1353/206137913 or by running a dehumidifier. If you can keep it dry enough the mold can't come back. Also certain protectants residue is mold food...

 

FYI, I found my ozone generator brand new for $60 on FB Market place, In my case my interior is dry no mold but the car has been sitting for 15+ years and it’s been a major thorough fare for mice, Just using the ozone generator alone completely removed the smell from my interior.