How to remove the smell of dampness in a car: how to get rid of it using improvised and special means, what to do if there is a smell from the air conditioner?

Car developers strive to make their passenger compartments as airtight as possible. Moreover, the very design of the car and the choice of body materials completely eliminate gas exchange with the environment. An unpleasant situation arises when, when driving, some kind of positive microclimate is created by the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, but during parking and storage, the interior is a closed space containing water vapor, where microorganisms and other mold happily breed.

And the fight against this phenomenon falls entirely on the shoulders of the owner; not even the most elite automobile plant will help him, rather the opposite.

What to do first?

Before you begin to eliminate unpleasant odor from your car, you need to find out the cause of its occurrence.

If the problem is not a breakdown, then you need to take the following measures:

Ventilate the interior. Car doors are left open for at least 5 hours.
Turn on the air conditioner. Its work ensures the removal of excess moisture. If there is a lot of it in the cabin, then the air conditioner should work for at least half an hour.
Turn on the oven. This will prevent condensation from appearing on the glass if it is cool outside.
Wash and dry the rugs. Sometimes moisture accumulates on them, leading to the appearance of a damp smell. Be sure to dry the floor under the rugs.

If all the steps are completed, but the smell of dampness in the car persists, a better treatment of the interior is required.

4). Thorough cleaning of seats

After you have vacuumed the car, and dirt has still accumulated inside the folds and seams of the seats, you will need to use a brush and a special shampoo (conditioner for car interior fabrics) to remove this dirt; it is also a common cause of appearance in the car. cars smell bad.

When cleaning seats using water, be careful and do not overdo it, as if they get too wet, drying of these seats may take several days. Also, water may leave a moldy odor in the seats.

Check the car interior for various stains, which are usually the source of pollution and almost always carry foreign odors.

To remove excess water from the surface of the materials being cleaned, use appropriate rags or sponges that absorb moisture well.

Use of improvised means

To combat unpleasant odors, you can use available means . It is necessary to choose those compounds that have a disinfecting effect. They should not only neutralize the unpleasant odor, but also destroy the bacteria that cause it.

Soda

Soda not only suppresses the activity of pathogenic flora, but also absorbs excess moisture.

Use it as follows:

pour baking soda onto the rugs and floor so that it covers the entire space;
leave it to have an effect for a day;
collect the powder with a vacuum cleaner.

You can treat fabric covers in a similar way, but baking soda is not effective on leather upholstery.

Vinegar

You can deal with the smell of dampness in your car using a weak vinegar solution.

Mode of application:

Dissolve 100 ml of table vinegar 9% in 200 ml of water.
Read also: Recommendations for cleaning wool carpets at home
Pour the composition into the sprayer.
Use it to treat all accessible surfaces with the exception of covers.
Wipe the interior with a clean damp cloth.
Leave doors or windows open for at least 12 hours.

Vinegar can be used for preventive purposes, even if the smell has not yet appeared. You need to treat surfaces with it at least once a week.

Vinegar is not used to care for covers made of leather and its substitute, as this may cause streaks.

Ammonia

To remove the smell of dampness, you can use ammonia, which is active against pathogenic flora. It not only neutralizes extraneous odors, but fights their cause - bacteria and fungi.

Mode of application:

pour 100 ml of water into a suitable container, add 20 drops of ammonia to it;
pour the solution into a vessel with a spray bottle;
apply the composition to the carpets and floor of the car;
Wipe the surface with a dry, clean cloth.

There is another way to use ammonia to combat the smell of dampness: pour it into a saucer in the amount of one teaspoon, place it in the cabin and close all the doors and windows. After 12 hours, the product is removed and the car is ventilated.

Inhaling vapors of ammonia can cause intoxication of the body. Therefore, you can drive a car only after the ammonia has completely disappeared.

Chlorhexidine

You can purchase this strong antiseptic at any pharmacy. This is a budget but effective remedy that destroys almost all bacteria known to science.

Mode of application:

Dilute 100 ml of an alcohol solution of chlorhexidine with water in equal proportions.
Pour the solution into a spray bottle and use it to treat all accessible surfaces.
Leave the product to dry naturally.
Air out the car for 24 hours.

Chlorhexidine can be used to care not only for hard surfaces, but also for covers made of different materials.

Coffee

Ground coffee beans are a powerful flavoring agent that displaces all other odors.
To achieve the optimal effect, you need to use only freshly ground natural powder. Mode of application:

grind 10 coffee beans;
distribute the powder into fabric bags;
spread them around the cabin;
leave for a day.

If the coffee aroma suits the vehicle owner, then you can maintain it on an ongoing basis by changing the bags once a week.

You need to use coffee after general cleaning and drying the car interior, since it will not be able to cope with the bacteria that provoke the smell of dampness on its own.

Victory over unpleasant odors

In order to understand exactly how to get rid of foreign odors in a car, it is worth finding out the nature of its occurrence.

Advice: if the source cannot be determined, then it is necessary to carry out an “audit” of the interior, starting with hard-to-reach places.

Perhaps you simply forgot the product in the pockets of the covers or it fell under the seat. If you find something missing, you must immediately throw it away and then thoroughly wipe all surfaces.

It is worth considering that order is the first rule of a good atmosphere inside transport. Therefore, regularly take your car to dry cleaning. Or systematically refresh the covers in the washing machine with the addition of a good powder.
After the winter period, if you have felt mats on the floor, an unpleasant odor often arises from the absorbed reagents that are used to cover roads in winter. Dry cleaning will help you cope with this. You can try to clean the coatings yourself, armed with a soft car brush and a well-foaming commercial product.

Dry fog is also a great way to cope with various aromas. It is a heated liquid, which at the outlet turns into very dense vapor. This mist eliminates unwanted odors through the formation of crystals that penetrate into all hard-to-reach places. Manipulations must be carried out only after washing the interior. Also, at your discretion, you can choose the desired scent that will fill the air. How to remove the smell in your car using this product can be read in simple instructions.
Stock up on various store-bought scents that you can hang on the rails above the windows. In this option, “herringbone” is not the best choice. It does not last long and does not always have a distinct aroma. Buy more expensive drugs in the form of vials with a smelling liquid. Or sew small sachets from breathable fabric and fill them with coffee granules.
If the problem is the regular presence of animals, then you should start by removing the hair on the upholstery, and then go over it with a damp sponge with the addition of a foaming agent.

Special formulations

You can cope with the smell of dampness with the help of specialized chemicals, which are sold in online markets and in stores for motorists. Top 3 best products:

Doctor Wax

Odor neutralizer for cars “Breath of the Alps” is a non-toxic biodegradable gel substance that effectively absorbs extraneous odors and provides freshness in the car interior.

You can install it anywhere . The manufacturer recommends placing the jar under the car seat. To achieve the desired effect, the box must be left open. Price – 320 rubles.

Deliss

The manufacturer notes that its product has a triple effect:

neutralizes odor,
eliminates the cause of its appearance,
scents the interior.

The product must be sprayed onto the surface to be treated. If it is hard, wipe it with a dry cloth, and if it is soft, wait until the composition dries. The spray has a light floral aroma. Price – 320 rubles.

Helmetex Auto Coffee and wood

The product is available in the form of a spray. It can be used to treat any surfaces, including:

fabric and leather upholstery,
rugs,
ceiling,
gender, etc.

The composition not only eliminates the smell of dampness at the molecular level, but also has an antibacterial effect. After using it, there will be no streaks or marks left in the car.

The spray has a hypoallergenic formula. Price – 420 rubles for a 100 ml bottle.

How to remove odor from a car using steam

Recently, car washes are increasingly offering the service of cleaning the car interior with steam. According to them, it is safe for the salon, fast and convenient. But you should understand that this is often part of a marketing campaign. Steam cleaning is by no means as harmless as they say. It hides such dangers :

Damage to leather interior;
Leading to the spread of pathogenic microbes and bacteria contained in moisture;
Reduced service life of textile coverings.
The interior is treated with hot steam, which cannot be safe or harmless.

It is best to clean car floors and carpets with steam, and seats and upholstery with specialized products.

It is recommended to carry out partial steam cleaning in combination with folk remedies or specialized household chemicals. So, steam is suitable for cleaning floors and rugs from dirt, while seats and upholstery require more careful treatment.

What if there is a smell from the air conditioner?

If a damp smell comes from the air conditioner, you need to open the front cover of the unit and remove the filter.

It is useless to clean it, as after a while the smell will appear again. The filter needs to be replaced, and the air conditioner itself needs to be treated from the inside.

Procedure:

Remove and dry the rugs, wash and dry the floor.
Turn on the oven at full power, close the doors and leave it running for 10 minutes.
Switch the air conditioner to recirculate.
Use a special air conditioner cleaner. This can be foam, gas or liquid that needs to be blown into the system cavity.
After another 10 minutes, turn off the oven and open the doors for ventilation.

Removing mustiness

The most important thing in this case is to prevent the appearance of dampness. To do this, you should either adjust the ventilation, or use the proven “old-fashioned” method - laying a layer of newspapers on the rugs. However, if a musty smell does form in the car, you can take several routes:

Check the air conditioner. If this is the reason, then you need to thoroughly clean the filter.
If possible, dry the car interior thoroughly. To do this, leave the vehicle in bright sun for at least a day, opening the doors and trunk.
Treat all damp areas with chlorhexidine.

Prevention

To prevent the smell of dampness from appearing in the cabin, you must adhere to the following recommendations:

do not leave the car outside in the rain, you need to park it in the garage;
thoroughly dry the rugs and the floor underneath them;
regularly clean the salon;
carry out timely replacement of door seals;
periodically clean the seats with a washing vacuum cleaner and a steam generator;
store gel moisture absorbers under the seat or in the glove compartment;
ventilate the car by leaving it open;
undergo maintenance in a timely manner.

6). Deodorize the car

After you have cleaned your car of all contaminants, the car must be deodorized to prevent the further appearance of any unpleasant odors inside the cabin. To do this, friends, use a special liquid air freshener (spray).

To deodorize the entire interior, open the hood of your car.

Start the engine and set the air conditioner (or climate control) to maximum mode, and do not forget, the cooling mode must be turned off. Please note that the internal air recirculation mode in the cabin must be turned off at this moment. That is, the interior airflow system must take air directly from the street.

Under the hood of the car, find the heating element of the air conditioner or climate control system. Typically it is located under the hood on the front passenger side. Well, traditionally it is installed under the ventilation holes in the hood or directly under the windshield.

To deodorize the interior with the air blowing on, you must inject car deodorant into the ventilation holes. Inject the freshener there several times and return to the car interior to make sure for yourself that the freshener has begun to flow through the ventilation system into the cabin. You can repeat this process again if necessary.

Car deodorant entering through the ventilation holes passes directly through the entire air conditioning system, thereby eliminating foreign odors from all ventilation units, where, as a rule, it is very difficult to do such cleaning manually due to certain inaccessibility.

Now, in order to completely clear the ventilation of foreign odors, you need to turn on the air conditioner to maximum cooling and repeat the process of injecting deodorant into the air supply ventilation again.

Helpful information

Tips to help get rid of damp smell in your car:

Any remedy will be ineffective if the car is not properly ventilated.
You shouldn’t count on classic cardboard flavoring agents to help with the smell of dampness. Solving the problem requires an integrated approach.
When processing covers, care must be taken not to spoil the material.

The smell of dampness cannot be ignored. It is not only unpleasant, but can also cause health problems.

Constantly inhaling air containing mold spores will lead to the development of respiratory diseases, such as asthma.

You will find a lot of useful and important information about removing various unpleasant odors from objects and surfaces in this section.

Activated carbon

Activated carbon can also help get rid of mold and unpleasant odors. Unlike baking soda, you won't need to clean it up and it will last up to several years. But there are some nuances here.

Do not throw coal around the cabin. It has a black color that will easily stain everything around it. In order for the coal to absorb unpleasant odors, it must first be placed in a fabric bag. And then these bags can be placed anywhere: in the trunk, under the seat, and so on.

Over time, coal begins to lose its neutralizing properties. To restore them, simply place the tablets in the sun and leave for several hours.

Solving the problem

The specific method of dealing with dampness depends on the cause of its occurrence, so the provoking factor is initially established:

The very first and most important thing is to increase the heating, install new heating elements, replace old batteries. Yes, it’s expensive, but it will solve your problems once and for all.
Check the rubber seals on the windows and doors; snow and rain may be getting in somewhere, forming strong condensation during evaporation.
In the refrigerator, this is most often due to stale food, dirty food packaging, or defrosting bacteria due to the door not being closed tightly or the power supply being turned off.
In the dressing room, moisture usually appears from warm air from the steam room and settles in the form of condensation on wooden surfaces.
The stench in the garage is a consequence of poor ventilation and the accumulation of moisture coming from a car driven through puddles, or the presence of containers with liquids in it.
In the kitchen it can form due to condensation.
The stench of the bathroom occurs if you do not use shower curtains or improperly insulate the pipes: then all the water will accumulate on the surfaces, which leads to the formation and spread of spores.

To get rid of unpleasant odors in different rooms, you can use aromatic essential oils, ozonizers or automatic air freshener sprays, but this does not guarantee a 100% result.

After the flood

In case of severe flooding of the home, as in the case of a fire, it is better to make major repairs, opening the windows in the room in the process to dry the walls, floor and ceiling. Subsequently, for their treatment, it is recommended to use a primer with an antibacterial effect to prevent the growth of moldy fungi.