How to Get Mold Out of Car

3 Natural Ways To Remove Mold From Car Seats and Interior

Mold is not only unsightly and smelly, but can also be dangerous to breathe in the spores due to allergies or other reactions, so knowing how to remove mold from car seats, carpets, and the interior as soon as possible is a must-do on your priorities list, but which way is the best to remove it? To understand what is happening when there is mold starts to grow in your car seats, steering wheel, or other parts of the inside of your car, it is important to understand exactly what mold is and what is required to remove it properly.

What is Mold on Car Seats and Interior

Mold, or Mould as it is called in Australia and the UK, is a type of fungus that can grow very quickly and quite easily, given the right environment. As a fungus, it is similar to the fungus that grows in athletes’ foot and even mushrooms.

Some Mold Is Dangerous

There are different types of mold, and some of them are less concerning, however, some, like black mold, are dangerous to people and just breathing in the spores that float in the air can cause severe allergic reactions and even death in some cases!

Mold only needs a few simple environmental elements to grow, they include warmth, and moisture, and especially they like organic matter to feed on. This is the reason you will often find mold starting and growing quickly on everything from books, belts, shoes, clothes, and even the ceiling in your home.

It only takes a small amount of moisture to start the growth process of mold on your car seats or carpets and they provide the perfect breeding ground for mold to grow, especially if your car has been closed up for an extended period of time or after being wet from damp clothes or even a leak during rain.

Mold can damage car seat material and affect the health of passengers, not to mention the bad odor it creates. This along with the fact that it spread very quickly, cleaning and disinfecting the mold on car seats, carpets, and interior is important.

Preparing To Remove Mold From Car Seats and Interior

Before you get to the removing mold from your car steps, it is important to prepare your car first, to do this, follow these steps:

1. If possible, move your car somewhere into direct sunlight.
2. Open all the doors and windows to allow the car to fully air out, do this for at least 15 minutes to allow the mold spores to blow out and the bad odor that the mold is creating.
3. Get and wear a particle mask to protect you from breathing in the spores that are floating around.
4. Inspect all the seats of the car, underneath the seats, on the carpet, on the steering wheel, and on the seatbelts to understand the full extent of the mold. Make sure you check under the seat lining and side seams.
5. When looking for mold in your car, make sure you look for all types of mold, which can range in colors from brown, grey, white, green or black. It will usually be in small circular patches.
6. Using an old toothbrush, try to break up large clusters of mold, using gentle strokes to avoid spreading the spores around further. Remember to brush into all cracks and crevices, under and over the seats and surfaces.
7. If you have access to a wet-dry vacuum cleaner, use it now to vacuum up all the loose mold from the car seats and carpet that you have freed up.

Once you have completed those steps, move on to the following steps to remove the mold from your car.

How To Remove Mold From Car Seats, Carpets or Interior

There are a number of chemical ways to remove mold from car seats and most people would jump for bleach or ammonia-based products to kill it and clean the area, however, this will not work!

First of all, those types of products will stain or bleach your car seats, carpet, and interior. They also do not work well on hard or porous surfaces and will damage the color of your car’s interior.

Second, they will not kill the mold! They will change their color and may kill some of the surface molds initially, however, mold spores will still survive and even worse, mold will actually thrive and grow on ammonia, so it will get worse than when you started!

So what to do to remove mold from car seats and carpets? Luckily, mother nature has provided us with some natural, powerful, and effective tools to kill mold on car seats, carpets, and all interiors, plus you can use the same anywhere in your home.

The following are three ways to remove mold from car seats, carpets, and interior.

Remove Mold From Car Seats with White Vinegar

One of the best ways to get rid of mold on car seats, car carpets, interior, or anywhere that mold grows in your home, is to use white vinegar or alcohol. White vinegar is an acid, so it will burn the mold and its spores to kill it and stop it from coming back.

What you will need to remove mold with vinegar:

1. White Vinegar, distilled if possible as it is stronger.
2. Tap Water.
3. A Clean spray bottle or clean cloth.

To use vinegar to remove mold from your car seats, mix eight parts of white vinegar with two parts of water and use either a clean cloth to dab it on, or put the mixture in a spray bottle and spray over the surface until it is soaked

Don’t worry about the strong vinegar smell, it will disappear as it dries out with air.

You can use undiluted vinegar if the infestation is bad. White vinegar works well on any type of car seat including leather, vinyl, and cloth-type seats, and will not damage the materials.

* It is a good idea to test a small inconspicuous area to ensure there is no reaction on the surface or material you are using it on.

If there are only a few clusters of mold, just spray or dab over the area plus up to about one or two feet surrounding the area, the aim is to kill the underlying spores as well.

If the infestation is quite severe, spray over the whole car seat from top to bottom and underneath.

Once you have applied the vinegar to your car seats or carpet, let it soak in for a good 15 minutes or more, this is the time it will kill the mold and spores.

Then if you have access to a wet-dry vacuum, use it to vacuum up the still-wet vinegar and make sure to remove it from all seams and joint areas. If you do not have a wet-dry vacuum, wait for the areas to fully dry, then vacuum over the seats or carpet again. Let the whole area air dry for another 15 minutes.

You can then sprinkle some Borax powder over the seat or carpet and let that sit for 10 minutes and then vacuum that up as well. Borax is also a natural mold killer and you can use it on car seats, carpets, and any interior hard or soft surfaces to remove mold. You can repeat this cleaning method as often as required.

Get the moisture out of your car. Mold grows on moisture, so it’s very important to get all moisture out of your car. You can do this with a dehumidifier or even kitty litter inside a sock and left in your car. The important thing to remember is that if your car is completely dry, the mold will literally be killed.

Remove Mold from Cloth Car Seats with Salt

If you are wanting to remove mold from soft items, like cloth car seats, carpets, or other household items that won’t fit into the washing machine, then the salt method might be for you.

What you will need to remove mold from car seats with salt:

1. A packet of non-iodized salt.
2. A standard large bucket of water.
3. A soft brush or clean spray bottle.

To use this method, simply mix the un-iodized salt into the bucket of water and brush or spray the mixture over the car seat, carpet, or area you want to kill the mold on.

Make sure you cover not only the area you can see the mold growing on but also the surrounding area, up to around 1-2 feet in a circular pattern. This is done to ensure you kill the mold spores as well.

Leave the salt water to fully dry, in direct sunlight if possible, and with plenty of air circulation. This will allow salt crusts to form.

Using a soft brush or vacuum, simply brush off the visible mold particles and repeat as necessary.

Remove Mold from Car Seats with Oil of Cloves

Another natural, but powerful, alternative, is to use Oil of Cloves to remove mold from your car seats, carpets, or interior.

Cloves are a powerful and effective antiseptic that not only kills mold but also inhibits its spores from growing, by attacking and killing them too. This is important as just killing the mold will not stop the infestation from growing back on your car seats, carpet, or other places on the interior. You must stop the spores as well.

Oil of Cloves is relatively cheap and readily available from pharmacies or health food shops. It is known as an analgesic, stimulant, antiseptic, and expectorant.

Oil of Cloves is very effective on hard surfaces and can also be used on soft surfaces as well.

*  Oil of Cloves can irritate the skin, especially of young children or babies, so ensure you dilute the concentration to less than 1% when you use it. This includes using it on baby car seat covers and anywhere skin can make direct contact.

What you will need to remove mold with Oil of Cloves:

1. Oil of Cloves, you only need a 1/4 teaspoon, so a small bottle is ok.
2. 1 Quart (1 Litre) of tap water.
3. A clean spray bottle.
4. An old toothbrush.
5. A clean cloth.
6. Optional: Bicarbonate of Soda and White Vinegar.

For hard surfaces, if possible, first clean the area with a mixture of 4 Quarts hot water, 1/2 a cup of white vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda. Then create a paste of a couple of drops of oil of clove, bicarbonate of soda, and the white vinegar. Use the toothbrush to rub the paste onto the area and leave it to dry, then wipe it off. This is a good maintenance choice to do as well.

For hard and soft surfaces like car seats and carpets, start by mixing 1/4 teaspoon of oil of clove in the quart of water and mix in the spray bottle. Make sure you cover not only the visible areas of the mold but up to 1 or 2 feet circular around it. It is important to kill the mold spores, that you can not see, so they don’t grow back. Soak the area well.

Leave the mixture to dry for a minimum of 20 minutes, check if it is dry and if not, leave it longer. You can leave it on overnight, the longer it is left on there, the more it will kill the mold, so longer is better.

Once it is dry, wipe off the dead mold particles with a clean cloth and throw the cloth away as it has mold spores on it. You can also vacuum the area if you have a wet-dry vacuum or a vacuum that you can throw the vacuum bag away with, as you do not want to then go and blow the mold spores all around your home the next time you vacuum.

Repeat the steps again by spraying on the oil of cloves mix and leaving it to dry. This time, leave it for 1 or 2 days to let the oil of cloves kill the mold and spores and remove the mold from car seats, carpets, or interior, and the mold will dry and drop off.