How to get mildew smell out of car?

[evermaxx]

Had a lot of water come into my car.. both floor boards and both cloth seats.. car smells horrible. Any techniques to get the smell out?

[inferno1985]

If you smell mildew. chances are there is still moisture in the car. Use DampRid to suck up any moisture and it will also remove some of the odor. You can buy DampRid just about anywhere, like Walmart in the house cleaning products isle. Bleach is the most effective way to remove mildew but I dont think you want to use that on your interior carpet. Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet then spray it with vinegar and water and watch it fizz and eat the mildew away.The vinegar smell will disapate after it dries. These two combined work miracles on everything!!

Remember, if you smell mildew, there is probably mold in the car as well. The spores can get into your lungs and cause upper respiratory problems like stuffy nose, congestion mucus build-up, headache, and a general ill feeling. The safest way is to have the interior carpet replaced.

after that if you have some sort of smell go get some deep cleaning concentrated carpet cleaner from home depot lowes and use it in a carpet cleaning machine. i washed y car and it smelled like fresh laundry for a month

if you want i could run down to my car and check to see what brand it is if your interested.

[evermaxx]

yeah please do

[inferno1985]

yeah please do

i think it was like $20 but it did the job and my car looked and smelled awsome

[mbdblue]

I would strip the car out, (mats, carpet, insulation) and do a thorough job cleaning. The problem is once it stays wet for a period of time, it'll start growing mold. After it does, your best bet might be to just replace the carpet/insulation...that smell is difficult to get rid of entirely once it's been there a while...But it has everything to do with how long it's been

[Tarball]

You'll want to pull the carpet and shampoo it well and hang it out to dry in the sun. As mentioned earlier the best thing to do is change the carpet if you smell mildew.

Use Ozium for smell control.

I have to ask, how did the water get in ?

[inferno1985]

I would strip the car out, (mats, carpet, insulation) and do a thorough job cleaning. The problem is once it stays wet for a period of time, it'll start growing mold. After it does, your best bet might be to just replace the carpet/insulation...that smell is difficult to get rid of entirely once it's been there a while...But it has everything to do with how long it's been

i think mold starts growing 72 hours after being soaked. so i would drop everything and get that taken care of or your ride will be stenchy for a long while.

[evermaxx]

I think the drains in my sunroof are clogged up

[inferno1985]

I think the drains in my sunroof are clogged up

had that happen to me. depending on how they ran the drains for the sunroof they might drain through the pillars on each side of your windshield. mine was clogged or busted and it rained and i got water all over the floor , could always pull the pillars off and check,

[evermaxx]

ywah thats what happen.. all down the a pillar.. ruined my a pillars and everything