Mould & damp musky smells in the carpet
This is one of the biggest complaints we get from people, which is created from the growth of mould in hidden and usually damp areas of the cars' cockpit. For removing many of these bad odours, it will depend on where the smell is coming from, how long it's been there and how it got there.
Damp or musky smells
For things like overnight water ingress from a window left open in the rain, wet surfing or swimming gear, spilled drinks, wet feet or pets in the car it's pretty simple:
- Remove the wet item(s), then clean the area with Fabra Cadabra and a Square Bear microfibre applicator. Afterwards, wipe with a clean Dirty Deeds microfibre cloth.
- Spray the areas with Pong-Go. Let the car sit in the shade with all four doors open till its 100% totally dry.
Well established mould infestation
If you're facing a mould infestation that is well established, from things like; a drain hole cover in the floor missing, leaking sunroof, a perished door/window rubber or seal, soaked carpet from the air conditioning system’s interior water pipe being blocked or pulled out from the unit, you really need to focus on fixing these issues first - otherwise you will go to all the effort of cleaning them out, only to have the foul musky smells come back again, which can be very frustrating! So, work out where the smell is coming from and make sure you know 100% how it was created first.
When it's a bigger mould issue, it can become a big job to fix properly. You may need to remove the cars interior to be able to clean and treat the mould properly. However, there are a few thing to try before doing this.
- Locate where the mould smell is strongest in the carpet, and give the area a thorough vacuum.
- Clean the area affected with Fabra Cadabra, sprayed enough to get it damp (not saturated), and with a medum bristled brush like our Plush Brush, gently rub it back and forth over the area you have sprayed, again use it in an up/down direction and then a side to side motion. If the stains are in a harder to reach section that the Plush Brush cannot get into, you can use "The Pouncer" round detailing brush from The Foursome brush set. Spray some Fabra Cadabra into the bristles and gently rub back and forth over the area you need to clean.
- Wipe it off with a Dirty Deeds cloth and follow up with a steam cleaner or shampoo extraction machine.
- Finish up by spraying about 5 to 6 sprays of Pong-Go in and around the affected area. Park the car in the sun and leave all the car doors open to dry for 4 to 5 hours. If the smell returns, try Pong-Go once or twice more, as it might not have been able to get all the bad smelling molecules with the first treatment. If the smell remains unchanged, its time to pull the car's interior out.
