How can I get the musty smell out of my car?

Question

The car got some water in it doing Hurricane Katrina. I vacumed the water out and cleaned the car but some mold still grew on the seats. I got that cleaned up and the car looks good but the musty smell is still there. I have tried Febreeze, air freshners, letting the car air out, new floor mats, baking soda and nothing seems to work. ANYONE HAVE THIS PROBLEM BEFORE AND KNOW A SUREFIRE WAY TO GET RID OF IT ?

Answer 1

try vinegar. or an 0Zone air cleaner. There are also these things called damp-rite that absorb humidity and moisture some have fragrances. they have different styles. If that wont work. You might have to replace the seats, the foam might have mold where you cant get to it.

Answer 2

You will probably need to remove the seats and take the carpet out so the noise insulating mat can dry out properly. This will also ensure that there is no water trapped in the floor pan which will rot the floor right out from under you. Mold will continue to grow where there is moisture present so the only real cure is to remove all sources of moisture. This will also help prevent mysterious future electrical problems. Once you get the carpet out use Lysol cleaner and then let it sit carpet side down in the sun on cardboard on pavement until it's good and dry. Using something like Simple Green will leave it smelling fresh if the Lysol is too strong for you.

Answer 3

A Katrina car's got mildew etc in it. That means that moisture and who knows what else got up inside the dash panel, the door panels, the seats need to be replaced, they may have to take the dash apart, bleach will kill mold but it'll also whiten everything, I don't think they should sell Katrina cars except for the working parts like steering/trans/engine etc...the interior of your car is basically in need of a re-do... It's not going to be as bad as the dead pigs on the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters show, but it's going to take a long time to really get rid of the odor...see your local auto detailer for some smell-nice, maybe the auto-body people can put the car in the bake shop for you to REALLY dry it out 100%...or you're just going to have to drive with the window open. If you replaced the carpet, the headliner, the dash, the door panels, the seats, and the trunk liner, and had the body bleached out before all that went back in, you'd maybe have something...drive it 'til you can afford to use it as a trade-in...buy one of those pine tree things for the rear-view mirror LOL

Answer 4

Go to a local detail shop and ask for an "ionization treatment". They will just keep your car and place a machine in it for at least 12 hours if not up to 24 hours. Do not let them just do a 3 hour session and ensure car is shut up tight during this process.

If you want to do it yourself or have access to a Sharper Image Ionic Breeze like you see on TV this will work just as well. Same machine just different size. The detailer's is just more powerful.

Either process will result in leaving an indoor swimming pool smell for the first day or so, basic airing of the vehicle will remove this. The pool smell is just pure clean air, sterilized.

In all my years of automotive cosmetics I have removed the smell of 2 dead people, over 50 flooded cars, over 100 cigar/tobacco smelling cars, you name the smell, ionization will remove it..

EVERYTHING else you try, fabreeze, dry sheets, vinegar, etc. will ONLY mask the smell. ONLY ionization will remove the actual smell for good.

Ionization actually creates a charge that attracts the negative ions in the air aka dirt/smell/pollen/etc. Over hours of this cleaning action it removes the negative ions even from plastics, material, leather.

Answer 5

Go to a auto parts store and buy the cleaner called Tough Stuff.. it comes in a yellow can and it will take out about anything and smells great. Then put an airfreshener in there and call it a day if that does not work. try to get some heavy duty cleaner along the lines of mean green. clean the spots with the mildew and then redo it with the tough stuff to get the clean smell not a chemical smell

Answer 6

Sure-fire way is to make sure it's completely dry. Then go to an industrial-type rental store or a big janitorial supply store and rent an ozone generator...around $25 - 50.00 for a day.

Ozone generators are used by professional fire and water restoration companies to eliminate smoke (and other) odors. I know...I own a fire and water restoration company.

Run the generator in the closed car per its instructions...usually an hour or so...it depends on the amount of ozone the thing puts out.

When done, air out the car and it'll have no...zero...odor.

(Don't leave the ozone generator in for too long because eventually the car's interior plastic and rubber parts will begin to deteriorate from the high concentration of ozone.)

http://www.cleanfax.com/howto.asp?H_ID=856

Answer 7

when you're smelling exhaust, there should be a leak. this can be an exhaust manifold gasket, EGR issue or pin hollow leaks someplace in the engine compartment. Have the mechanic plug the tail pipe even as the vehicle is operating, to develop lower back rigidity, and any leaks will develop into very glaring.

Answer 8

BOUNCE DRYER SHEETS UNDER THE SEAT AND A FEW HOT DAYS IN THE SUN/ WE DO IT ALL THE TIME AT THE DEALER/IT ALSO WORKS GREAT FOR CIG. ODOR. JUST MAKE SUE THE INTERIOR IS FULLY DRY. THE PADDING UNDER THE CARPET NORMALLY TAKES SEVERAL DAYS TO DRY. IF YOUI PULL THE CARPET BACK AND IT IS STILL WET PUT A FAN IN IT, OTHERWISE IT WILL SMELL UNTIL ITS IS FULLY DRIED ( NOTHING YOU CAN DO UNTIL IT IS).

Answer 9

either replace the carpeting and seat covers and clean the hell out of the inside, or remove the covers seats, center console, and interior carpeting and pressure wash them with hot water and soap and let them air dry

Answer 10

Wash the inside with a mixture of vinegar and water.