Have a 97 Suburu Legacy Sedan that the tailight from an accident was cracked and leaking water in the trunk. It was like that for a couple of months when friends kept saying it stinks anyway, make a long story short I brought it to my Mechanic and they fixed the tail light and took out the carpeting in the trunk but it still stinks and I have brough to one of those detailers but it didn’t work. Can you help me!Cindy
The only way to kill that mold is with chlorine bleach, or possibly Lysol spray. Since the carpeting has been removed, you can try spraying the sheet metal inside the trunk every day for about a week with Lysol spray.
If that doesn’t work, then you can try one of those pump-spray mildew products sold in the supermarket. Just be sure that you don’t spray this stuff on any wiring, seals, or gaskets. The painted sheet metal won’t like the chlorine bleach either, but on a 12 year old car, it is now an issue of your health or the appearance of the sheet metal in the trunk. I would opt for preserving your health, rather than the painted sheet metal, since inhaling spores from mold and mildew can be very bad for your health.
I would look for one of the companies that work on homes after a fire. That is just there thing and they have tools a detailer will not have. Of course you should price the cost of a new trunk carpet.
You may also want to check the under chasis of the car, since water travels with gravity, and an older car as this, it can find its way thru cracks, holes etc and run underneath the car.
And yes your only best bet is with Clorine Bleach, which I have used with great results. Although there are some products that you can find at your hardware store besides bleach or contact a professional water damage cleaning company
from the way it’s worded, sounds like it may have gotten into the metal.
If nothing else works, you may hafta scrap the car since mold can be pretty nasty to those with allergies. Gets into the air, and anyone walking by the vehicle may be affected
I would go with another disinfectant that is rated for mold and mildew. Bleach is very corrosive.
bleach, bleach and more… bleach.
the mold may have gotten up into the back padding of the rear seat, the rear seat bottom cushion and the carpet, and floor liner of the car.
the spare tire area, and the other side (i think it has a little storage nook; those all are suspect for mold, and the nice linings of carpeting is probably moldy too.
DONT use any stuff that says, scent, pine fresh, odor, or other ‘neutralizing’ stuff (like febreeze etc.) those only mask the problem. you need bleach to KILL the mold. then in all likelyhood you should have the interior pressure washed, but that would cost more than the car is worth. (stripping all the interior out, washing, and reinstalling.)
agree that bleach is corrosive, but between mold and bleach i’ll take bleach any bay. if it gets rid of mold it must be good.
I am just saying that Lysol, for example, might be a better alternative if it is rated for molds.
Don’t use bleach. Bleach will kill the existing mold but won’t stop new mold from forming. For that you need to treat the fibers with disodiumoctaboratetetrahydrate. You can make this yourself. Get a roach powder that is mostly boric acid, mix one pound of this with a pound and a half borax powder.
Boil two gallons of water and mix in the powder. You will probably only need about a pint of this to treat the trunk and carpets of your vehicle. You can use the rest to treat any wood you have around the house. It stops rot and drives off termites and other insects.
I hope you all realize you dont use straight bleach, use diluted version.
Thank you vdcdriver, I haven’t been able to use the computer it had a big problem which I finally solved. I never thought of lysol spray before…