Getting Rid Of Terrible Mold In My Car With White Vinegar

My car has been standing for 3 months and is now covered in mold. I tackle the interior with a combination of distilled white vinegar, a wet and dry vacuum and a steam cleaner. The mold was everywhere and took around 3 hours to clean. I will go over it again with a cleaning foam to improve the smell of the vinegar but I am happy with the results. Make sure you have a respirator and goggles if attempting this job as mold is very dangerous.
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[@solarcrickets]

I've got mold in my car for the first time in my life, and watching this made me feel a little less overwhelmed by the process. Thanks!

[@StrangerBlameGame]

Thank you. I almost cried when I got into my Mini and there was mold. I was medically unable to drive for a bit, and it was neglected. Here in Seattle it’s damp and yuck. Vinegar is the key. It leaves a anti-microbial layer to prevent further mold/mildew for a while, so I’m told by my PHD Pharm candidate daughter. Thank you. Great video! Hey!!! Your steering wheel is on the wrong side ;)

[@maggiedoor6093]

Here in Canada we have gallon jugs of cleaning vinegar , strong white vinegar for pickling, regular for salad dressings and baking etc and malt vinegar. Thankfully I haven't any problem here with my car, I only drive it once a week in winter. I had no idea something like this could happen.

[@kimkerr917]

Hi from Olympia!

[@RachlovesKen]

I also live in Seattle and same thing is going on with me! Car is covered hopefully this video helps 😅🥹

[@ellkir1521]

I run the AC with full on heat to remove the after moisture. Also, once all done run an ozonator for twenty minutes tops.

[@AR-sd]

Greetings from San Diego, California! Always great to see car detailing from a different part of the world. Great job!

[@captainmycaptain4195]

Dude! That wet/dry vacuum bit was way too satisfying 🤣

[@blondeexplorer8276]

Thank you for your help. 😆😬🤬🤪 I freaked when I saw mold in the car. Yep been sitting for a few months and nonstop rain and some snow for a while. You are greatly appreciated for sharing your knowledge. Stay healthy. 😁

[@alanhodgson5975]

Top job Martin nice clean and hygienic again amazing how much muck builds up over the years keep up the good work 👍👍👍👍👍

[@saneauto]

Great transformation. Ive done this several times. I dont know why I didnt think to video the process. I will on the next one. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@andyhillhouse9813]

Brilliant! I've got the same car sitting for the same length of time with the same sort of mould build up. Perfect video for me!

[@kluv5560]

Just watching the cleaning process is so satisfying

[@robroberts2064]

Mold is probably deep in the heating and cooling ducts for the cabin too. First step before you start on the seats is to take the air-intake filters out (usually engine compartment up by windshield wipers), run the heater fan on hot and high speed with the car running for an hour and spray TWO cans of disinfectant (like Lysol in the USA) into the air intake. The disenfectant will come shooting out of all the vents, disenfecting them, and land on your seats which is fine in this case, but you will want to make sure it's non-bleach based first.

[@elcapitan6605]

mold is not harmful to humans, no reason for panic and hysteria over it

[@StarvingPixels]

​@@elcapitan6605 it absolutely is harmful

[@benwinstanley101]

Great video chief . Few tips through dry hoover first, slower passes so you extract more. Then afterwards put a couple of those cheap plastic dehumidifier plastic boxes in while it drys . You can get air freshers with anti mold inhabitants too

[@larylhuntington5398]

Got a classic car that sat in a musty garage for over 10 years. Brought it home and yes it stinks from mold. I do have the same equipment you have available to me. Going to stock up on some vinegar and try to get this thing clean so I can start the restoration process. Thanks for this vid. It helps.

[@ShannonMichelle7937]

Thank you for sharing. I have a car that’s been sitting, and now that I’ve gone inside it’s got mold inside 😢 you have such a good attitude and willingness to get it done! You’ve inspired my cleanup. Thank you 🙏🏾 looks great.

[@AJPsWorkshop]

looking a lot better great job Martin

[@valborchardt3596]

What a job. Well done. You cleaned it well mate. Take care

[@AbhiTek_]

The results compared to what it was like before are amazing! We have one of those Vax-wet vacuums as well and have been thinking of giving my Mother’s car a good going over. Gave my Vectra a clean with it last year because I had just bought it and despite the previous owner having had it pre-sale valeted, the water still came out brown like yours did. Great piece of kit these vacuums. Plus they can be used in the house for cleaning your carpets and rugs, too! 👍🏽

[@retrorestore]

Yes, impossible to do without one.

[@xinixxagnix201]

Impressive cleaning job, i did not know vinegar is such a fine mold killer, thnx Martin!

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

Yes. I use a little every time I wash bedding, towels, socks, etc.

[@milorocky6960]

Dont know if you guys gives a damn but if you're stoned like me during the covid times you can watch all the latest movies on InstaFlixxer. Been streaming with my gf these days :)

[@bowenalfonso3208]

@Milo Rocky yup, been watching on InstaFlixxer for since november myself :D

[@shankill178]

Great job Martin. This damp old country causes problems you wouldn’t think of. The wet vacuum cleaners really are a great cleaning tool.

[@retrorestore]

Cheers bud

[@lead-dog]

Excellent video. Covered all the bases. Thank you very much.

[@vodvic79]

Thanks for sharing Martin. Since being off work and having to isolate I've only used my car once in about 10 weeks. It's now started to get mould on the seats. So I will try this. Thanks again!

[@mrs_hindson7239]

Same!☹

[@CountryBlessingz]

Same here 😤

[@wildestcowboy2668]

Vicky you are way too pretty to be working on a dirty car.

[@kjallen2610]

@@wildestcowboy2668 erm what

[@Alexander_l322]

@@wildestcowboy2668 simp. And creepy. Get a life.

[@Ayd3n5valet1ngs3rvice]

Love this! Thank you for sharing how to eliminate mould in cars! I’m at the start of owning my own valeting service and without people like yourself guiding us it would be hectic!

[@RudeBwai115]

Thank you so much! Greetings from Italy

[@The_journeyy]

*Amazing work* 👏

[@frankbing1]

Great job Martin, not the sort of job I’d like either, difficult I know but because the cars been standing for a while makes you wonder what’s lurking in the vents and any filters, you certainly don’t want a face full of that as soon as the blowers go on. 😷

[@haydenuk02]

Great video Martin keep up the amazing content

[@michelledcarter]

Wow!!! Excellent work!!!

[@ulrikaschloss5848]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Be well.

[@matthewwilliamson2510]

Great informative and well constructed video , thanks so much for taking the time to make it 👍👌💯 now I feel confident in tackling my car which has a similar but thankfully less intense mold problem.

[@gerrydays1909]

Good work Martin looking good 😀

[@turbolivesinmyheart6328]

Hello Martin. I'm so glad to see that you are wearing a respirator, instead of a particle mask. A lot of people out there claim that a particle mask is a respirator. I know you know the difference, and I'm glad. I'm also glad you pointed out safety glasses. Nothing worse than getting some kind of cleaner in your eyes. You know what, I think that car is as clean as it ever has been, even when it was brand new. Your work ethic is beyond what I can do for sure. Takes a lot of work to do what you did to the inside of that car. Now you just need to hang a little tree from the mirror.

[@retrorestore]

Yes, it was a lot of work but without the wet vac, I don't think I would have done it myself.

[@billiedixon3041]

Thanks so much for sharing this. I was so scared after being away for 5 weeks and seeing all the mold. This makes me feel so much better. Thought i was going to have to get rid of my car 😅

[@i_____am_____realitybroski6421]

Just got a 96 civic and the mold isn’t half as bad as this, thanks for the tips!!!

[@robertmunroe3976]

Well done Sir!

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Great job!! Result was stunning!!

[@retrorestore]

Thank you! 😊

[@peteramberley9952]

Was impressed with the vax had really good spray pressure and the steamer was impressive too. I bought a small hand held one like a kettle with a hose but feel a bit inadequate now after seeing yours🙄,

[@viktornemeth6241]

Great advice mate! Just few things to add. I gathered some info around the net. 1. How to stop vauxhall from excess humidity? I tried everything. Had 3 of them and all seems to have the same problem. Even with full heat during driving all windows becoming so foggy it's almost impossible to drive. I heard duct tape over the gap where you take out the pollen filter. Obviously you need a good clean of the surrounding area first. Apparently water gets in there. So I'll try this now. Also will change the pollen filter. 2. I seems to find massive amount of water under the spare wheel. That will be my first place to start to dry that up. And will be looking for holes, shouldn't be any TBH. Bear in mind my car just started to get small patches because I'm using it just not often enough. 3. And if you are not using your car for long periods cat litter can help a lot according to some. It's probably will cost a bit of a money, but if it's working and saves time I don't care. 4. On ebay you can find 20l of white vinegar for £18 or 10l for £15 that should be enough 😅

[@EnglishLaw]

I found this video via Google, went to subscribe and found I was already subscribed 😁

[@Nbubs-1]

Thank youuuu i just got my first car and couldn't drive much through the winter. So now I got mold. I cried my eyes out. But I'll definitely try this thank youu

[@kevinwoodruff7377]

Martin you done a great job on those seats the steam cleaner you are using are brilliant I use mine in kitchen from time to time.👍

[@barryfoster2115]

Nice Work Mart. Baz.

[@ganman2001]

Great job...nice demo of how to DIY ..tks

[@simonscott3694]

Great job martin.....

[@a11csc]

wow watching this again as my astra has same problem.but thanks to you martin this will be a doddle

[@barbarawiddowson635]

Amazing job Martin.

[@retrorestore]

thanks Barbara

[@beakfish7319]

amazing work!

[@davidvickers9029]

Good job martin, that's what I use white vinegar diluted with water and 15 drops of lavender oil, kills all bacteria.

[@AnaLopez-kw3xd]

Half vinegar half water?

[@askmamalouise7605]

Thanks so much for such great advice!

[@handyman5455]

You are multi-talented. job well done mate. I’m happy with that 😎

[@retrorestore]

Cheers bud

[@andy_v4443]

another great vid martin, i agree with ya to much of a faf on these days to remove a seat from a car

[@aj_nichols]

Nice work!

[@jay-kq8of]

Great vid Martin il look into getting some white vinegar and giving my car a good wet vac thanks for the tips

[@Rick9482]

Just the kind of information I need to get started on the massive clean up of my G35. Big thank you!!!

[@PoloZ34]

is it from the drain tubes in the sunroof? Lol just picked up an Altima with smells of mold or mildew can’t tell but gotta do this over the weekend😭 leaving the windows down for now while I’m at work to air out

[@AllGloryToJesus4Ever]

You had some in your seats as well? Or just the carpet?

[@zzsmile1]

Thank you for a thorough informative video. Just for future reference, mould is fungus (plural: fungi), a different organism to bacteria. 🤗👍🏾

[@eifiondavies2662]

excellent martin

[@cabdriveruk]

Great video Martin. Those vax are the business and well worth the money as the results show. Car is looking good now Martin. Cheers, Jeff.

[@retrorestore]

Yes Jeff, it would be impossible without one.

[@Engineerboy100]

Good job. I did this to my wife's car not too long ago. Don't forget to shoot some vinegar through the ventilation system and change your cabin air filter.

[@themamosians62]

Great video thanks mate. You helped me decide to get a pro to do it as I have no steam cleaner etc

[@scammerbasher9859]

Nice one mate 👍

[@akjnetwork]

Thanks for sharing this information brother.. in this monsoon my car 🚗 is covered in fungus,locked in for 15days probably..

[@coldmanblues1446]

thank you so much for this video I really appreciate it because I have a little mold damage in my backseat and had no idea how to go about cleaning it. So just wanted to say thank you very much and I love your videos. :-)

[@retrorestore]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Demonoid1990]

This is a constant battle for me with my Ford F250. It's parked at our yard in Oregon most the time I'm on the road, I'm a CDL trucker. We haven't had as much freight volume as we used to routed through our yard. So I finally got in it today and had a fair bit of mold to deal with. It's not as bad in the summers, but during our rainy season in autumn/winter/spring it tends to flare up. I need to just get me some of them bag things you can put in the vehicle. Forget what they're called, but just looks like a cloth sack with some sort of mineral mixture inside, and it absorbs moisture. Once it's "full" you can just put it in an oven to cook/evaporate the moisture out of it. Kinda like a dehumidifier but no electricity required and specifically for cars or other small enclosed spaces like garden sheds, pantries, closets, ect..

[@davidmackenzie1952]

Cracking job. 👍👍

[@k50159]

Much appreciated mate

[@Cavalier_Steve]

Great video as usual Martin, I think you may have water ingress somewhere, make sure you dry it out well or it will be back, I have found that a de-humidifier works great in a car it’s surprising how much water they extract. All the best. Steve.

[@retrorestore]

Yes Steve, i'm on the look out for one.

[@73challenger5031]

Don't forget to change the cabin filter, as well.

[@bernfran1313]

Thanks for sharing! I wonder about the vents and electrical system. Were you able to show a video of this vehicle a day or two later with it up and functioning properly?

[@vdubs6068]

Great vid Martin 👍

[@retrorestore]

Cheers Jamie

[@tadgodsey]

Good video. FYI mold is fungus not bacteria

[@Ismail-Yahya]

Great video! Thanks for sharing

[@retrorestore]

Thanks for watching!

[@MrBarrytommy]

Only time I had mold is when I drove through a flooded road and water soaked under the carpets Luckily a very hot summer cured that Great clean up job though 😎

[@RAA12586]

Ill have to tackle this soon with my project car.

[@mike130557]

That damned Kid Juice gets everywhere!!! Nice work, Martin👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@retrorestore]

Cheers bud.

[@Jimmiburn]

So we can add valeting to your CV Martin 😉very impressed pal lovely job 👌

[@retrorestore]

Cheers bud Too much like hard work lol

[@paulthompson5416]

Hi Martin I’d said in the last video about fabric softener 50/50 mix but just this week I’ve discovered dettol now do a tin spray called dettol all in one and it’s suitable for soft furnishings and obviously being dettol has the old (kills 99.9%) on the tin bud👍🏼 and more to the point it’s only 3quid in Tesco’s 👍🏼👍🏼 and it’s grand I’ve done the car seats, settee, kids car seat and nothing has any doggy marks on it so it’s good stuff in my opinion and an antibacterial spray for £3 👌🏼

[@andrewwoodward6560]

Huge and rather unpleasant job, for sure . Nice work Martin !

[@naeemahharris9874]

I don’t know you…but I love you for this!!! And all the extra advice in these comments. Truly helped and and saved me 💰 thank you!!! 🙏🏽 ❤😊

[@retrorestore]

You are so welcome!

[@chrishoughton510]

Great job pal!👍

[@retrorestore]

Cheers Chris

[@dodgydruid]

I used to love the smell of malt vinegar from the Sarson's factory in Bermondsey, almost next door to where Michael Caine grew up and not so far from where Tommy Steele grew up either... and my saturday nite boozer was right next door to London Bridge, saturday nite with the northern soul, mod and 2 tone til 4am giving it large as always ;)

[@londontaxijim9526]

Ian Watson my Nan lived in Tanner Street. Sarsons mixed with the bouquet of the Tannery is a smell that I have never smelt since.

[@alexam5336]

Aww did you know my family, the Manzi boys? Dad was also friends with Tommy Steele

[@Mudmowerdiesel]

Awesome video thank you

[@Kammii88]

You definitely need G101cleaner it's a really good multipurpose cleaner for these jobs you can mix it with water

[@deannascoggintorra5148]

Much appreciated! I'm deep in the woods and my car that I was about to sell before the Covid-19 crisis has been mostly sitting and it has all kinds of mold that I have cleaned twice (improperly)..this plus no direct sunlight...ugh! But I have safety gear and access to these tools at a friend's place....and there are some detailers working in my area as well. Glad to know what I am dealing with and what will work to fix it.

[@pamuk7]

I'm in the same boat

[@stevewoodw]

White vinegar! A giant in the world of cleaning....if you spill milk on carpet it will stop the room smelling. I've used washing powder when vaxing carpets (particularly that which you can use at lower temperatures - eg. Dreft.) good video to see...

[@banger220]

Top job martin

[@brianhull5125]

I could really do with using that vax machine on my car upholstery...it looks wicked...a job well done I’d say 👍🏼

[@andycousins5016]

Amazing superb propper job

[@gregglumus5303]

I recently saw a video where they used lemon juice and it actually did very well. I tried it and much to my surprise it works. I subsequently used my spotbot carpet cleaner to vacuum the remaining liquid then shampooed it to get it totally clean. It worked great.

[@coryn1980]

Good job mate great video my mg zs is the same mate been doing the timing belts on it got them done now got to clean the inside fun times

[@linda01234567890]

Exhausted just watching all that work.

[@roystheboy]

That came up really good martin

[@retrorestore]

A lot of work though Roy.

[@roystheboy]

You don't mind hard work

[@astralgary.]

When I saw the title I wondered what car it would be. It's a vectra like mine

[@barneyisbay6139]

Got a 2008 civic si a few months ago. The day after driving it home I got told I couldn’t drive for 6 months due to medical. I kept it in the garage to protect from clear coat faluire seeing as I can’t wash the car and put protectants on it. It’s a dark not well ventilated garage so I didn’t realize it was there till after 2 months of it sitting because I turned my flash on to try and find the goodies left from the previous owner. I’ve been in a panic cause I’ve already not been able to drive and worry it’ll die or my engine will flood on me so when I realized it was covered top to bottom with mold I panicked. I’m in the process of cleaning it currently with a few other tricks I’ve found aswell so thank you

[@HyperMordi82-ux9ms]

Thanks, good really good video! I need to get some mold out of the old toyota standing around. Gotta do without the fancy tools somehow though.

[@MrObiwankanoobi]

as you can see, this is a really good video.

[@respect3867]

Martin is a legend

[@David_Williamson]

Man you're awesome thanks a lot

[@ELEVOPR]

3 months? Wow I am working on a car that's been Parked for Years and it's 10xs better than 3 months of that parked vehicle 🤦🏼‍♂️ Thanks for sharing. getting my Vinegar ready 🤗

[@johnlad1481]

Nice vid Martin I've just got a vectra Sri cdti nice cars need to give it a clean inside aswell lol

[@louisjames1062]

It will be water leaking down the windscreen and strait past pollen filter intake duct gasket where in seals on to bulkhead. Common on all gm cars.Whilst your in there, grease up wiper linkages and remove drain boots.

[@Texaca]

2:28 .... I got that exact same steam cleaner... I bought it at a thrift store, for like $12 US... I think. It only has one brush attachment for the nozzle. 😊