A few of months ago I traded my red '32 sedan street rod for a '32 fordor highboy sedan and have been working on fixing some minor issues and driving the Ranch Wagon,last month I had cataract surgery on both eyes and just didn't drive any of the hot rods last month. Last night I was out in the shop and was squeegeeing up some water from a recent storm where water came under the roll up doors. After that I decided to crank the old beater which has been ignored lately and when I opened the door I noticed mildew on the rubber floor mat & the windshield...it's on everything but the strange thing is it's not on the other 2 cars and I don't see any signs of it anywhere else in the garage. Any one ever have a mildew problem in a car and if so how do you keep it from happening again? I have a small fan running trying to circulating the air and the doors are open now just airing the shop out. HRP
Hey HRP, Those fans will help dry out the inside, but desiccants helped in the long run. The problem is that you have to empty those containers everyday if there is a lot of moisture. So, first, get rid of the rubber mats. We all like the old traditional look of rubber mats, but they build moisture underneath. Also, wipe out all of the liquid as much as you can. The fan helps, but there is one other device that will do a much better job of creating some heat and dryness inside that car sitting in the garage. But, for inside of the garage, you can safely place one of the Davis Air Dryers in place and shut the garage door. It heats up the whole area without a flame or hot coals. You can leave it plugged in overnight as long as the top and bottom are not clogged up with combustible materials. Air flow is a must. We had ours sitting on a large piece of floor tile and it worked well. Always wipe off the top surface to keep the dust and other combustible stuff out of the holes. Jnaki The larger one works the best as it develops higher temperatures. We used this in a small closet, a boat and in a garage. But when our 1962 Corvair got a dump load of water inside of the side vents during a bad storm, there weren't these air dryers available. So, we did what you are doing with a fan or two running all night in the garage. It took over a week to completely dry. We had to get new carpets from the dealer, and the pile of towels was huge. You can experiment by leaving the windows and doors shut to increase the heat, but I would leave a window open, just to let some heat escape. Also, figure out how that water is getting inside of your car. That should be the first step. On an closed up fibergl*** boat, it was moisture from within and then years later, the leaks from the shroud stanchion seals. But on a car, some worn out seals is usually the culprit...or???
Strange that the mildew is only on apparent on one rig which indicates that you have some trapped moisture somewhere. If it has carpet it may have been shampooed before you traded for it or perhaps the windows were down in a rainstorm. The floor covering may need to come up to see what's under there or behind the door panels. Lived on the wet side of Oregon for several years and always kept a fan going in the garage to keep the air moving. Also used the dehumidifier pellets to take moisture out of the air. That trapped moisture will begin to get smelly, ruin things and eventually rust as well.
The 30 x 40 shop is insulated to the max,I have insulated doors & energy efficient windows and painted sheet rock top to bottom and even though I have serious weather stripping around all the roll up doors and on the bottom in a driving rain some water still gets under the doors and I try to stay on top of that but the past month I have been a slacker. As far as the sedan,there is basically no interior,just door card material on the front doors and a Tijuana blanket on the set,bare bones hot rod interior. The window on the drivers side was down but the last time the car was out it wasn't raining. And this problem is only confined to the one car. HRP
I'm going to look into a dehumidifier,I have heat & air but don't use it unless I need it and sure can't afford to run it full time. Brenda's brother is in the heat/air business and I will talk to him about adding a unit to take care of the moisture. HRP
Hey HRP, Well, your garage seems to be as tightly sealed as can be. So, there needs to be some circulation of air inside. Your brother in law would know how to get air circulating without opening up a window or door. Our So Cal house was remodeled to be energy efficient, with double pane wood framed windows, french doors and all of the seals were new. It was/is tightly sealed. So, nothing got out in the winter with heat, or inside during the summer, needless to say, moisture from just normal showering created enough moisture inside of an adjoining dark closet. The desiccants took care of that, but we left windows open a crack to circulate air. Now, a powerful bathroom exhaust fan takes care of that moisture. Ceiling fans in other rooms when needed, circulate air all over. No more moisture. Jnaki As far as cars in the winter, desiccants or the Davis Air Dryer inside the car/garage takes care of wet carpets from the rain or snow. In all cars, old or new, door and window seals are something to check. Sometimes the caulking around the gl*** (under the chrome trim) is thin or worn, too. The drainage in our 65 El Camino was not that good in the rear window area. So, the seals and caulking had to be replaced to stop the leaks.
............They're in boxes for almost everything from TVs, computers and sometimes even shoes. I never throw them away when I find 'em. I throw them in car trunks, under seats and in tool boxes. They don't absorb moisture forever, so like jnaki says, pick up some of those commercially available desiccants. Hot rodders are the ultimate re-cyclers so I use these little packets when they're included in packaging of any kind..............................And don't forget, a structure can be so tight that no air exchange can take place and a situation for moisture can develop.
Back when I was both young enough and crazy enough to own a boat on a trailer in my back yard,i kept a dehumidifier running in side it{it was 30ft sailboat},before that one I had a smaller 22ft an it stayed OK with just a 100watt light bulb on in side all the time to keep milldow from showing up. Here in Miami Fla. it can be bad,too clean it up so it dose not return,beside keeping it dry,also bleach cleaner.
I've been working on the car this morning and all the mildew has been cleaned up on the interior of the car & under the seat. It's now sitting outside with the windows down and airing the car out,I'm going to spray some X-14 on the fire wall and engine compartment this afternoon,it works great in bathroom showers so it should do the job under the hood. HRP
Dehumidifier. Perhaps, the last time you drove the sedan, it was in warmer than usual conditions. When you parked it in the garage, a cooler environment, slight moisture or condensation, developed under the mats, etc. Think humidity. The cooler air caused the rubber mats, etc. to "sweat". It doesn't take a lot of moisture to spawn mold or mildew.
Sounds like you came out of it better then I did. If I had it to do over, I'd tell the doc to screw himself or find a different eye mechanic.
A car friend of mine works for a H/D dealer here. Recently, he was handing out these desiccants to anyone who wanted them. They are about 14" x 5" bags. He said that each crate that has a Harley,comes with one in it. Might be a place to look for one, if you have a friend at a H/D dealer.
I had a problem like that with a 35' chevy sedan. Water ran down the rear side gl*** on both sides where the previous owner had installed some material to use as sound deadening . Thankfully i caught the problem before and real damage happened. I know something was up when i noticed that the windows seemed to fog up and there was a slight musty smell that started in only this car and not the others in the shop. If you have any boat stores in your area they always have a good ***ortment of products to help fight moisture.
Good idea,we live on a big lake and have a lot of boat storage/sales places here,Thanks,I will check them out.HRP
BTW,the X-14 Mildew remover worked like magic,spray it on and let it do the work and rinse it off,looks great. HRP
Along with Dessicants in the car itself, run a dehumidifier in the shop for a few days. If you take away the humidity in the air it will essentially produce an environment where mildew can't really grow. Beyond that the desiccant could work once you vanquish the environment in which the mildew flourishes. I had a bad ceiling leak in my commercial building where my sign shop is and was worried about mold. A buddy of mine that works for an air and water restoration company locally told me to run the dehumidifier and essentially create an environment where mold and mildew cannot grow. Never had a problem even with fighting an active leak for a few months. Good luck! Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Get an old piece of carpet or plywood and park your car on it. Moisture comes up out of the concrete and causes cars to sweat. Our dirt late model would be dripping wet with water off the frame while a car setting right beside it would be dry. Put a piece of old carpet under the car and no more water. Can't explain it . It just happened. Damp Rid on the inside and airflow.
I put garage door threshold seals on both my doors and it cured my water problems coming in the garage. Been 10 years now. Also have (3) 52" fans that are on 24/7 to keep the air moving.
If you have a smell in your car .Try fresh coffee grounds{in a can}. It really gets rid of smells. Bruce.
As Ed so eloquently pointed out moisture can wick up through the concrete but here where I live the building codes require a heavy plastic vapor barrier before the concrete is poured,In my case any moisture seeps under the 3 roll up doors across the front of my shop and only when we have heavy wind driven rain. I never wanted to install a seal on the floor but I may have to if I want to prevent this problem in the future. HRP
You can't have mildew without moisture, you must have water trapped in the car somewhere for it to be only one of your cars. Had a neighbor that bought a 2 year old Cadillac. I opened the door and it smelled like mildew, finally found that in the trunk, under the spare tire cover the well was full of water. The tail light was leaking whenever the car was washed. Look inside the doors and anywhere else you can think of to find trapped water. Then figure out how it is getting in there. Good luck.
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