Mildew and Mould

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    • #10269
      Laurence Jones
        @laurence_admin

        Hi all,

        Does anyone have some suggestions for preventing mildew or mould forming inside your cars ?

        I’ve experienced this a couple of times across the summer and recently in this cold weather snap (UK). It appears to have happened where condensation has formed inside the car (outside temperature changes etc) and this has caused light surface mildew or mould to appear (which has easily wiped off with a damp cloth with a very mild bleach).

        Is there something I can place in the car to prevent mould forming – like folks years ago used to put formaldehyde in their wardrobes to prevent moths !

        The thing is, will I be able to prevent this happening if I have a dehumidifier running in the car ? If the answer is yes then I’ll have to work out some way of having it available all the time it’s parked up, even during the summer months.

        Thanks in advance,

        Laurence

      • #10271
        Anonymous

          Hi Laurence,
          Maybe try a moisture trap that can reduce condensation. Lakeland sell one at about £2.50. I used to have my car outside under a cover which caused loads of condensation, so it pushed me to sort out the junk that I had collected over the years to accommodate my car.
          Alan

        • #10275
          David Wardale
            @robertdavidwardale

            Hello Laurence, Greetings from across the Pond!
            The house in which I live has a basement. This can be reassuring when the weather forecast includes tornadoes. In the basement there is a de-humidifier which is on duty around the clock, keeping the relative humidity to a comfortable level. If you garage your car, you could control the humidity in the building, and your electricity supplier would be so pleased that they would probably start sending you an annual Birthday Card. Moving on to Plan “B”.
            Recently, at the insistence of my wife, I have been equipped with hearing aids. Apparently I have not been receiving my instructions “loud and clear”.
            The hearing aids came with a container containing dessicant beads which change colour as they absorb moisture. The container can then be microwaved to rejuvenate the action of the beads. Do some research on “Dessicant dehumidification”. This may work for you!
            As I am at the keyboard , I want to wish all the members a Very Merry Christmas, too! As the weather here continues to worsen, my own car now has been hibernating for the past six weeks- however, today I am going out to the garage. I want to make a heat-sink for the ignition coil which sits in the “Vee” of the engine.I have already moved the ignition amp to a cooler spot, with a ducted cool air supply, and a fan which comes on when the brakes are applied. (Traffic situation)
            Always something to do, and Winter has barely begun!
            Dave.

          • #10312
            Jon Scales
              @jonscales

              Laurence,

              I concur with both Alan and David, we store all the jags with moisture traps inside. Just need to be careful if you leave it for a while to empty them regularly.

              Jon

            • #10848
              Gerard Harings
                @gerard-haringstelenet-be

                vocht en schimmel….put a litle electric heathing  radiator inside your car leave the window open  1 cm ( don’t know what that is in micro inches) de dikte van je pink  (thicknes of your smallest finger) (plus minus) for circelation  . If the car is realy damp  put it on al nicht, after that ,ones a week for an hour. The only thing to pay atention to is to make shure the leather dry’s out….i am using baby lotion for the leather.( whats good for baby skin is good for my lady) don this to al my cars for 20 years…..

              • #10850
                Gerard Harings
                  @gerard-haringstelenet-be

                  Oh btw those radiators cost around 20 euro (16.58 pound sterling) ( environ)…

                • #10851
                  Gerard Harings
                    @gerard-haringstelenet-be

                    …..Davide Wardale sugestion is a good one in a moddest moist envirement….The cillocecel name of the product) is quit fast satturathed and it is not so easy to com by.  I mean the real one….

                  • #10853
                    Gerard Harings
                      @gerard-haringstelenet-be

                      …sorry for making a traffickjam on your airwaves….

                    • #11615

                      Hi

                      Since I have a low immune system after a transplant I have digged  in on the subject.

                      I recomend a cleaning of all car mats and seats you need to get the mouldspores out of the car. After that a ozone machine who kills the bacteria and Mould.

                      Furniture Clinic have a really good leather treatment with silver jones who stops bacteria and Mould to come back again.

                      cheers Mats

                    • #11617
                      Anonymous

                        Hi,

                        If you have a garage with a thin roof with no insulation, a concrete floor and generally a cold atmosphere, there are obvious a few areas you need to address.  Mine is in an insulated garage which has a loft above which is insulated + my gas boiler helps to keep the temperature up.  There are many sites that can help, but obviously the type of garage reflects how easy it is  to sort it out.  I personally would not want to spend loads on my car and then leave it in an atmosphere that undoes all the good work I have put into the car during the summer.  During the winter weather permitting, I take my car out and run it for a long period to dry out the exhaust.  At this time you can open all doors remove mats and check all surfaces for dampness. If you garage a car that is already damp I think you are helping the process of condensation.

                        Regards

                        Alan

                         

                      • #11647
                        Norman Thomas
                          @jnt78btinternet-com

                          I guess only applicable to the Brits on this site, a few years ago, I bought a couple of Rechargeable Mini Dehumidifier from Coopers of Stortford (www.coopersofstortford.co.uk). I alternate these each week – when “wet” (there is a small window where you can see the crystals – they change colour between wet & dry), you simply plug it into the mains overnight and the crystals inside are dried out. They seem to work very well and the inside of the car is kept dry – my car is in a garage so don’t know how effective it would be if the car is outside. I guess that you could recharge the unit every night if they get wet very quickly.

                          Regards,

                          Norman.

                        • #11655
                          Laurence Jones
                            @laurence_admin

                            Hi All,

                            One of my cars has been getting mouldy even while stored in a friends garage – I think this is suffering from being in a large cold garage causing condensation in the car. I followed the suggestions earlier in this thread and have put in a dehumidifier and that seems to be working 🙂

                            The other car that was suffering was parked on the drive under a fitted cover. This obviously was suffering from temp changes and the resutling condensation. I’ve also put a dehumidifer in this and its collecting water on a regualar basis. Norman I took a look at the Coopers of Stortfordwebsite you suggested yesterday – and got distracted looking at lots of things…. What I did spot was a little 400w heater that plugs directly into a socket and has a built in timer. I’ve bought one of these with a view of plugging it in alongside the dumidifer in the car to try and average out the temp and avoid condensation occurring. I’ll let you know how this works out.

                            Thanks everyone for thier continued input and suggestions.

                            Laurence

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