I've had the '75 parked inside my garage for several months now (maybe close to a year) with the windows up and a cover on it. When I looked inside earlier today I found the vinyl interior covered with mold. The mold is only on the vinyl seats, not on the metal or carpet. Has anyone else experienced this? How should I clean it and how do I keep it from returning? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
If you are getting mold in the car with the car covered and the windows up, it's probably getting a build up of condensation inside the car. It should help to leave the windows down just a little bit while the car is covered so the interior can get some air circulation. A good vinyl cleaner should remove the mold. But I would definitely leave the cover off for a while with the windows down so the interior can air out.
For those who store their cars over a period of time, try this. Go to Lowe's or Home Depot and look in the section where they sell the cleaning supplies and look for something that looks like a 8X8 inch mesh pillow with white rocks in it.. It is an odor remover and it also keeps moisture out of your car. I had mold in my car after a month of storage and I got one of these and it cured it. It also takes that old car smell away. I have also heard you can crush some charcoal and put it in a plastic bowl with holes poked in the top and keep it in your car while in storage.
Open box of baking soda. If it will take odors out of a fridge, I'd bet it will absorb dampness in a closed car.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I should add that I leave the car closed up to help keep the mice out but those insidious little bastards get in anyway. I'll try the cleaning methods and the dessicant idea sounds good too. As an aside, I also keep bars of Irish Spring soap in the car to repell mice... Just some advice, don't bother, it doesn't work - in fact they seem to like it as evidenced by the tooth marks on the bars!
I hate mice. I killed 2 in my Comet GT. Got one with a trap and another with poison. But of course they had to die while it sat out in the hot sun. Little suckers stink too.
actually i have had good luck with the irish spring trick, but you need to replace the bars, i did it in a car i had sitting for 3 years and it kept them away for at least 2 years... i ment to change the bars, but forgot and by halfway through the 2nd year they pooped all over the bars lol... in short, worked good the first year... also the car diddnt smell like it had sat for years so that was nice as well.......
unless the mice are really tall or are good jumpers,they are not using the windows to get in. leave them cracked open,it will help alot.
Vinegar and water mix will get rid of mold and mildew and not discolor the fabric. Then you can use your normal vinyl cleaner to get rid of the vinegar smell. Use distilled white vinegar, not apple or cooking vinegar.
i seem to have the problem of little spiders appearing out of nowhere in my maverick. really freakes me out while on driving. there all diffrent species so i know there cant be one common nest hidden somewhere
