Mold can occur in the carpet of your car as a result of several incidents. If you leave a window open during a storm, track in water from your feet, or spill a beverage, mold infestation may occur. No matter what the reason for your mold issue, it is important to deal with the problem quickly.
There are two important factors to consider before cleaning mold from your car's carpets. You must prevent the mold spreading from your car into your garage or house, and you must protect yourself from breathing in the mold. Pull the car out of your garage and do not let anybody inside of it. If there are any items necessary from the car, do not let them in the house unless absolutely necessary. Wear goggles, gloves and a mask when cleaning mold. If you do not take precautions, the mold may infest your house and your body as well.
If you catch the mold early enough, you may not need to remove your carpet, but it is best to do it as a precautionary measure anyway. If the mold has seeped through your carpet and into the floorboards, it can easily spread anywhere in your car. Do not put the infested carpet in your house. If you can make room for the carpet, clean it outside or in your garage. Depending on how much mold there is, you may need to get a new carpet entirely.
When your carpet is removed you can truly see if the mold has spread. Using a black light, you can see all the places that the mold has migrated to. Using Borax laundry detergent mixed with water or another mold cleaner, you can clean the mold in a circular motion using a heavy-duty brush. While the cleaner will kill the mold, it is important to remove the mold. Use clothes or paper towels that you will discard afterward to remove the dead mold from your car.
You can use a similar method that you used to clean the floorboards with the carpet. There are also various carpet cleaners that may be able to deal with the infestation depending on how much it has spread. After cleaning, use the black light to see if all cases of mold have been eliminated. If you find that no matter what you do, you cannot get the mold to die, it may be best to replace the carpet.
After you have thoroughly cleaned the car, you need to get the hard-to-reach areas of the cooling and heating ducts. If you do not clean the air conditioning system, the mold that may have lodged itself within may re-infect your car. You can use a specialty product or you can use a diluted solution of hydrogen peroxide (6 to 10 percent) in a spray bottle to spray inside the ducts. Make sure to spray any other hard-to-reach areas in your car as well.
