It’s been a wet couple of months for most of Australia, with the La Nina weather pattern giving us very little sun and lots of moisture. And it looks like it will be staying this way for another few months yet. So you can look forward to seeing the big effect it will have on our cars, especially if you’re like us and have your babies tucked away nicely, waiting for a break in the weather to take them for a drive.
Our cars and Casey, all eager for the rain to stop so they can go for a run!
When the day comes to roll up the garage door, you will most likely find you’re in for a lot more than you bargained for, as a new unwanted organism has moved in and infested your car. Namely, black or grey mould throughout the interior… If you don’t treat it quickly and correctly, it can become a long and expensive task to get rid of it...
Eeek, 6 weeks of no sun, constant rain, humidity and low ventilation cause this!
Mould is a kind of microscopic fungus. There are many types of moulds, and they are present throughout the environment, indoors and out. Tiny mould particles are always present in the air, in the form of tiny microscopic cells known as mould spores. Mould spores can germinate and grow in a moist or damp environment, on almost any surface. They especially love to grow in low ventilation, low light areas. The interior of our garaged cars seem to fit that bill very well.
Casey, pretty pumped to be cleaning the mould infestation.
In extreme cases of mould it can badly damage the surface it is on, not to mention create respiratory problems, so it is important to treat and clean down the mould affected areas before this can happen.
Prevention starts in the home
Mould is easier to prevent than having to remove it, here is a few quick steps to stop or slow down any growth, starting with getting your shed/garage prepared;
1. Importantly, mould cannot grow in a dry and well ventilated area. You need to remove moisture in the air and provide natural light to slow any mould growth. This can be difficult for most sheds, especially with sunlight. One thing to look at is a decent dehumidifier machine; a local Sunshine Coast company http://www.dampsolutions.com.au specialises in these and have a huge range of items to help with this. A good one can be somewhat expensive however, if the missus puts up a fight about it, let her know it also works great at drying the washing in the same area.. A good compromise to make sometimes! If you don’t want a unit in the garage, an inexpensive, small portable unit running in the car would be worth a look at, just be sure to check the water tray each week so it does not overflow. Also make sure it sits on a solid, flat surface and has a separate electrical cut out, as I am sure we would all pick mould over a fire any-time!
2. Open the garage right up and ventilate it every chance you can get, especially when it’s a dry day with the sun out! Likewise, if your baby shares a garage with an everyday car, don’t put the everyday car away wet, as it just adds a lot more unwanted moisture to that environment.
3. Leave the tops of your car windows open, for ventilation. Yes, it can allow moist air to come in the car doing this, but our next item helps with this.
One of the moisture trapping items we use in the sheds.
4. Place moisture absorbing packs in the car, under the seats and on the floor. These are the “closet camel” or “silica dry packs” types, available from any supermarket or hardware store. Change them or re-dry in the oven every few weeks, depending on the climatic conditions. We use bigger ones throughout the shed in place of running dehumidifying machines, mainly due to the size of the areas we have. We find they are a lot of work in the wet season to keep the silica gel topped up and absorbing, but if we keep on top of it, they work well.
5. Keep the car cover off in rainy, humid weather, they kill any chance of light or ventilation inside the car. One exception is the Carcoon types, which circulate air and allow light to filter through, but in the weeks of non-stop rain this year, we have seen moisture and mould develop even in these!
Remove any rubbish of the floors, check how mould loves the leather wheel.
6. Remove any rubbish or other loose items from inside the car and clean all the surfaces from dust and grime (Steering wheels especially as the mould loves any perspiration left on the wheel.), it’s these types of things that mould will first begin to grow on.
7. Fix any leaks or ways water could be getting into the car (I have had it from both an air conditioning drain pipe not feeding out of the car and rubber floor bung covers not being replaced), If out in the rain, wipe dry your wet shoes, before they come into the car and really shake the umbrella before putting it inside.. Keeping everything dry inside is essential for keeping the mould out.
Casey. with all the gear needed to clean the 911RS.
8. Our interior car care products; Leather Love and Vinyl Care both have unique antimicrobial and cleaning ingredients built into them, which help minimise the effect of mould growth, plus they will not damage the surfaces they are being used on. Use them as required, to combat any potentially damaging mould build-up in your car.
Cleaning Away Mould
First off, get yourself a filtered face mask, as you don’t want to be breathing in any of the mould spores as they affect most people, even giving major respiratory trouble if the mould infestation is well established.
Casey, happy as she has just been informed that she will be getting paid in Chocolate.
Get yourself a wet /dry vacuum or even a steam cleaner for your floor mats and carpet. It may sound like a pain, but it is best to remove the seats for a good job. Thoroughly clean the carpets with a good fabric, carpet cleaner with disinfecting properties (Yes we are making one currently). Then vacuum it all out. Clean the hood-liner with our Vinyl Care and glass with the Naked Glass cleaner too. Once finished, leave the car with all doors open to totally aerate.
A lot of the musky smell you get from cars is from mould in the carpet, if the vacuum does not remove it we have found that rather than using “masking” agents to hide the smell short term, it is best to just replace the mats, then if the smell is still there, replace the carpet and more importantly the felt underneath with brand new ones. Be sure to clean the steel floor too, any mould in the car needs to be removed as it can quickly grow back.
Mask could be a new look for the younger set.. Also works well at stopping mould spores making you sneeze.
For all the other surfaces especially where the mould is visible, use our interior products. Following the instructions on the bottle, spray the product into a microfibre applicator pad, wipe off the mould quick and easy. Be sure to swap this applicator for a fresh new one often, as the mould spore build-up in the cloth can help spread the infestation further!
Leather wheels are always the first thing to get mouldy
Leather Love is an ideal cleaner, use a clean pad and give an even application.
Cleaning done, time to check your hair and make-up in the mirror.
If the mould was quite built up or is not totally removed the first time, we recommend giving a couple of applications with fresh cloths, just to be sure the spores are all removed. Again, don't forget to clean the hood-lining with the Vinyl Care and Glass too. Change any air filters in the car, especially for the air-con units, mould can live in these for ages and keep spreading the spores every time you turn the air on!
A lot of websites, even “car care” ones, suggest you use chlorine bleach to kill the mould.. DO NOT, under any circumstance use this on your car interior, it can and will damage a lot of the different surfaces, not to mention the overpowering in fumes in the confines of your car. It should also be mentioned that bleach cannot kill mould either, it will look like it has removed it, but in fact it is still there as the mould has a built in defence system that makes bleach into something it can actually feed on!! Likewise Ammonia is another toxic chemical, and something we do not recommend for interior car cleaning.
Our New Anti Mould Barrier
After the mould is cleaned off we then go to a new product of ours, which we developed some years ago and have never released to the public, as we did not think there was much of a call for it. However with all the feedback we are hearing in the last month we could be wrong…
It's green, but in no way friendly to any mould or bacteria.
Basically this product is a new type of antibacterial treatment that helps with preventing mould. We all call it Anti Mould, but it is really so much more. Our chemists describe the way it works by; " It bonds to the treated surface, then physically pierces and disrupts the electrical component of the microbial cell membrane through physical and ionic means, thus destroying them before they reach the surface" Sounds very much like something from the Matrix to me. I say it just kills the bad things that try to come and live on any treated surface. Our own observations after all the testing is that it dramatically slows mould from growing back once the area is clean with either Vinyl Care (for plastic, rubber and vinyl surfaces) or the Leather Love (obviously for Leather). We find it gives great long term protection, depending on the environmental conditions- our wet months need a bit more work than the dry ones. In our tests it doubles the protection over just a normal clean of a mould infested area. So we believe it is well worth our while to use it after each cleaning job. Most importantly it is non toxic, in that it does not use biocide poisons, so prevalent in other mould preventative formulas.
Thoughts of the big chocolate payment hit Casey.
It is great to use on fabrics, (which we use with our soon to be released fabric cleaning product that is in the final stages of testing) seat belts and cloth inserts, we just wipe them clean and spray the Anti Mould direct to the area, then leave it to air dry. Note that if you have used a fabric protectant the Anti Mould will not work, as it cannot bond to the fabric surface. It is also not suitable for Suede, Alcantra, Nubuck or waxed/oiled leather type finishes,
The look of a girl when you let her know there are another 10 cars to do, before the chocolate payment.
This new product is not a mould killer/cleaner, it just bonds to the surface used on and creates a permeable barrier that prevents anything microbial from being able to live on or infest it, including dust mites, mildew and bacteria. Another good use for it is if you're having allergy issues inside your car as it stops any of the bacteria being able to grow, thus making it a better place with less sneezes and sniffles.
It has no harmful effects to leather, vinyl, plastic, timber, cloth, glass, fibreglass, metal and other materials. Once sprayed onto the surface and dried, it will bond there and will not leech or transmigrate to other eareas, like your clothing or skin.
Using Anti Mould
It is essential that before you use the Anti Mould, you use the cleaning products to remove any mould first. If you use it before the area is properly cleaned, you will find the resilient mould spores will just grow back there as quickly as before.
It is very quick and simple to use, on hard surfaces, just spray it into a clean microfibre applicator pad then wipe it all over the already cleaned surface your treating, making sure not to miss any areas as the mould could begin growing back there. Leave it a few minutes to dry and wipe away any excess with a clean microfibre cloth. As mentioned above, for cloth or fabric, just evenly spray the Anti Mould from about 20cm above the already cleaned surface and allow to air dry.
Keep the interior areas clean and well maintained with the respective leather and vinyl cleaners, especially in the wetter, more humid months. This will help control any mould outbreaks by eliminating anything new for it to grow on.
Our Anti Mould product is currently not in any of our stores, but if you would like to get some we have it online for a short time to trial out. If we get enough interest, you can expect to see it in Autobarn nationwide soon. Check it out online by clicking here
Love your car,
Dan Bowden
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