My Mini has been sat in my garage for about 2 years now, what’s the best way to keep moisture at bay?
Cat litter has been mentioned a few times, but what brand/ type is best?
Is there a car specific product out there that will take care of this issue for me?
My seats are mouldy and I expect ruined, is there a way to clean them and eradicate the mould?
Many thanks…
very weak bleach will kill the mould
You can get proper moisture absorbing bags on eBay
Is it wise to bleach (weak) my leather?
Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be pouring it out the bottle
Leave the windows a jar and put a soft breathable cover over the car and hey presto!
A wet vac will remove it, but you need to keep the inside of the car dry otherwise it will just come back in the future. I used to get a small tub of silica gel and leave it in the car. Seemed to work.
I use some moisture catcher things that are only £1 from JTF and only need replacing every month when the crystals have turned liquidy. Makes it smell fresher too.
Being leather I’d hover the seats first and then use a weak washing up liquid solution/leather cleaner. Bleach will probably stain/ruin them.
Just use leather cleaner and a leather sealer to form a barrier and as stated above leave the windows open a little … seems strange tho it happening in a garage unless your garage is damp ?
Cheers james
Hi,
I had the same issue as you. I cleaned the seats with a foaming upholstery cleaner a couple of times and can highly recommend a cat litter tray filled with Sainsbury’s or Tesco clumping cat litter. Despite my car being in storage with the windows shut, last time I looked there was no mould back on the seats anywhere!!
Cheers, Steve.
Can you possibly bring the seats into the house for a few weeks and allow them to dry out naturally in the drier atmosphere. Don’t put near a heater or try to dry with any artificial means.
Once they’ve thoroughly dried out then attempt to remove the mould but start gently perhaps using a vac with an upholstery attachment then sponging with upholstery shampoo suitable for your upholstery.
Keeping them dry and aired when they’re back in the car is more of a challenge.
I think I’ll give the cat litter tip a go myself.
You could always put a dehumidifier in on a timer
Best thing if possible is to get them indoors if the car is going to be sitting out (even in a garage) for a long time. I had my seats up my loft for several years, and they kept fine up there. Came out as nice as they went in. As for the clean up, depends how bad it is. My back seat was a bit mouldy before I put them up the loft, but I found that warm water and a mild detergent got rid of it, just took a good few goes of scrubbing at it with a cloth (not anything abrasive of course!)
My car is now in my garage for the winter, which isn’t ideal as the garage leaks a bit. I have however found that by keeping the car under a halfords breathable cover, it is remaining almost completely dry. On occasion when it has been very cold and raining heavily, there has been some condensation on the car, however once the rain lets up within a day or so it is all dry again. The breathable cover does seem to do it’s job. I have left the garage window open a bit to allow draughts to circulate, and this definitely aids in letting the breathable cover do it’s thing once the rain stops.
I noticed the seats were mouldy today when your car came to us.
Ill get them cleaned before refitting them.
Cheers
Ben
