Here in Texas we’ve been having an unusually heavy rain season. We’ve had a car parked in our garage that we’re babysitting for some friends. Today we took it out to drive for the first time in several weeks and we discovered mold growing on the inside of the car, on the seatbelts, floormats, and cupholder – not a great deal of quantity but enough to get us worried. What should we do?
You could use bleach and water to get rid of and kill the mold, but don’t use it on the seatbelts, as I’ve heard bleach can cause the seatbelts to deteriorate. Soap and water could work too.
The inside of the vehicle has to be dried out or the mold will return or simply keep on building.
Wash or spray everything with water and Boric Acid (Roach powder). Unlike bleach, Boric Acid will not only kill the mold, it will prevent it from returning as long as it doesn’t leach out, so do not rinse afterward. It will keep ants out of the car too.
BTW, you can use ethylene glycol also, but it leaves a greasy feel afterward. It would also be a problem if you had children or pets that might start licking the surfaces for the sweet taste. Antifreeze works good on wood that is starting to rot or mold though.
There is nothing that you can do but replace all the stuff that is moldy, move to an arid place (Arizon, New Mexico,…) and let the stuff get baked out, or sell to someone in a similar location.