Mould On Inside Of Car

pinkfloydian

I hope I'm in the right forum here.

My daughter's Renault Clio has been in our driveway and has not been used for 6-8 weeks. I noticed the other day that there was some mould on the seats. On closer inspection it is also on seat belts and some of the plastic surfaces e.g. inside the door handle grips. It's not horribly bad, but sufficient to need urgent attention. I'm working on the understanding (correct me if I'm wrong), and given the virulent nature of mould, that the entire interior will need treatment i.e. seats, carpets, boot carpets, parcel shelf, internal roof cover, all plastic surfaces, door panels and all glass surfaces etc. I have a couple of questions:-

1) Is there somewhere in North Dublin where I can get this sorted? I'm not looking for someone who simply provides a valet service, unless they have experience of this kind of problem.

2) How do I stop this in the future?

T

ianobrien

If you are willing to try it yourself with elbow grease see this

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=98348904&postcount=1400

I have used this very successfully in the past and it will be a lot cheaper than a valet.

I don't know anywhere in Dublin to do it if you cant do it yourself.

Edit - yes I was too lazy to rewrite the post, or do a copy and paste job

Curran

Ian's post is spot on!

Its not totally avoidable, but certainly if you limit moisture in the car, it helps - so pick up a few dehumidifier bags and leave them in the car - can be got in the likes of Home Store and More, or cat litter in a sock will also help.

But if you are looking for somewhere to get it done professionally - speak to Ian in Elite Auto Clean, Blanchardstown

pinkfloydian

Thanks Guys,

Regarding Ian's reply can I ask:-

1) What is APC?
2) Are you saying that if I use Dettol antibac, that I don't need to worry about testing first on a piece of cloth?

T

ianobrien

APC is all purpose cleaner, often called multi purpose cleaner. Think of Flash/Gif/etc from the cleaning isle of Dunnes/Tesco/Lidl. You probably have it under the sink in the kitchen already. After washing, dry the Plastics to prevent reoccurance.

Always test the antibacterial on an innocuous piece of material first. I mentioned Dettol as that's one I use but I test first. Always test first, even on one you have used in the past. Formulation could have changed!

pinkfloydian

Thanks Ian

I just want to be sure that I follow what you are saying.

You initially refer to cleaning the "panel" with APC and hot water. I assume you mean any plastic surfaces, e.g. dashboard, door panels etc.

It soulds like you are saying to clean the fabrics FIRST and then apply anti-bacterial spray. I would have thought that it would be the other way around??

Finally, have you any idea how I should treat the carpets (incl parcel shelf and boot), as spray will not penetrate this sufficiently to remove any remaining mould?

This is going to be elbow grease, as I don't have wet vac.

T

ianobrien

Sorry, the panels are just the plastic trim panels, anything not fabric. You clean the panel/carpet/fabric and get it dry. Then apply the anti-bacterial, lightly. For carpets and parcel shelf, once you have cleaned properly and worked in the cleaner (a nail brush helps), rinsed and its dry, I just spray lightly and leave.

Two tips. If the mould is dry, use a hoover first to remove the spore dust, and second is when you've cleaned the seat belts, don't leave them retract until they are dry (a clothes peg on the belt stops them from going back)

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Is it a clio with a sunroof? The drains are a bit dodgey on those models if I remember rightly, I went to have a look at one second hand and the think was a wetter than the titanics engine room inside cause if the leaking sun roof.might stop the problem coming back if you unblock the drains.

pinkfloydian

Thanks Ian

No donkeyoaty0099, it does not have a sunroof, although I have not checked if there is a water leak anywhere. Something I must do now.

T

Ferris

My (good) experience of mould removal:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057502279