Cleaning Mold/Mildew from Carpet

[Seanz0rz]

So my mom's CRV developed a leak a few years ago, slow at first, but with over 11 inches of rain, her passenger footwell is a lake now.

i have fixed the leak, so now i need to clean the carpets. i can smell the mold/mildew growing, and can even see come of it on the floor mat.

what would be the best way to clean this carpet? im hesitant to completely remove the carpet from the vehicle. my plan is as follows:

wet vac out the standing water and squeeze as much as possible from the carpet.

pour HOT water in the foot well and repeat the vac method.

then put some product on to kill the mold/mildew.

what product should i use? tileX? 50% rubbing alcohol?

thanks for your help!

[Seanz0rz]

i went ahead and pulled the carpet out. just finished with that and its getting dark, and expecting rain all day tomorrow. so plenty of time to make suggestions on what i should use.

the carpet is not in horrible shape. the padding underneath is. ill look into replacing that.

[corax]

Whenever we had water damage at the dealership (this was years ago), the first step was to pull the carpet and lay it out to dry. Replace the padding, and put a fan in it with the windows down (indoors, of course). Once everything is dry you shouldn't really smell any mold/mildew, and as long as it stays dry it shouldn't grow. If you want to kill it off try a diluted mix of water and bleach (stronger for the interior body, more dilute for the carpet itself).

From eHow, How to Mix Clorox & Water to Kill Mold & Mildew:
For cleaning mold and mildew off of fabrics, use a diluted mixture of 1 cup Clorox per gallon of water. Test the mixture on a hidden area for colorfastness, then scrub the affected areas with a sponge dipped into the Clorox-water solution.

[Obi..]

Like I've said before..

Spot-Shot FTW. It's a less agressive over the counter version of the same 3m cleaner we used in the Benz's and restorations.



*Heck, I've used that and our mighty green machine to kill off that dog kennel smell from the cargo carpet, worked great.

[fenrisx]

A remember about 2 or 3 years ago I left my sunroof open, windows down (including the rear cargo window)... and it rained HARD for about 30 minutes before I realized my windows were down..

I yanked the carpets & let them dry in the Georgia heat.. then I used a carpet cleaner... then I sprayed an entire can of Lysol disinfectant spray.. then an entire can of Oust disinfectant spray... then some febreeze... my car still stunk for a good 2 months that summer before the smell finally went away. I wish you luck!

[Bob98SR5]

sean,

yeah, good of you to pull out the carpet. nothing will allow that water/moisture to dry out underneath the carpet unless you pull it out. i would second the recommendation to use bleach and park it with the windows open in the sun. been raining out here in CA so i guess the garage will have to do.

[Seanz0rz]

garage is full of a VW on jack stands right now, so no dice.

yesterday i pulled off the rotten padding, and what i couldnt remove with a razor blade, i sprayed with bleach. dried it all with a hair dryer, and cut some new padding pieces and glued them in place. i put everything back in the vehicle, and sprayed the carpet with lysol and left the windows down the rest of the day.

no more terrible smell. interior is back in, should be good enough. the padding is a little thinner than the stock stuff, but when it was wet, the stock stuff was only about 1/4 of its dry thickness.

thanks for your help guys!

[Bob98SR5]

sean did you allow the carpet to dry? don't put it back in (maybe too late) until you are sure it is 100% dry

when i got my 4runner, there was spilt baby's formula in the back. you could tell the PO made a half hearted attempt to wash and dry it. there was mold underneath.

[Seanz0rz]

yep it was 100% dry. i wouldnt have put it back in if it wasnt.