Cleaning a generally mouldy, fusty interior

[LowStandards]

How would i do this?

My new car has been sat for 4 years and being a convertable its now harbouring its fair share of mould and general fusty smells!

I was planning on removing the carpet and either stuffing it in the wash or pressure washing it.

The seats are vinyl, but still have mould marks on them despite a quick rub down. What could i use on this?

Same with the roof and dash etc, though this is obviously hard plastics...

So any ideas? I want it sparkling, but i don't want it damaged...

[Deleted]

Personally, I'd carefully dismantle as much of it as I could and go through with warm soapy water to get the worst of it off. Then when everything is nice and dry use appropriate car specific products like Autoglym's vinyl cleaning range before refitting. That way you get all the fustiness out and don't have any unpleasantness lurking in nooks and crannies. A lot of the fustiness should be able to be got rid of with a decent airing, so keeping the car open as much as possible while you're cleaning stuff would do it a lot of favours.

The worst bit is probably going to be the first blast of air out of the dash vents since that'll be full of detritus you can't get to, just like mine was on the first drive after being off the road for about a decade.

[bl1300]

Ok a friend of mine rescued a DAF daffodil that had been garaged since 1978, only a garage two door down had a fire so the whole car was covered in soot. He used Halfords upholstry cleaner to great effect.

As found.


After cleaning and light restoration. I think you'll agree that is an improvement.



The only cleaning agents used on the interior where warm soapy water and the halfords interior cleaner

[Harold Ramp Bumface Fandango]

Brwon Brothers do a brilliant interior cleaner. Comes in a five litre tub and can be mixed with water to make it last longer. Add hot water, get a 'J-cloth' or similar and get rubbing. Fair play, it's brilliant stuff.