It’s a bit uncommon, but if the conditions are right—like when the interior of a car is damp and warm—it sometimes happens that a car will get a mold problem. This comes with all the usual unpleasantness of mold, like a bad odour and unsightly spots of discoloration wherever the fungus is living. The fact that cars are mostly enclosed spaces can add a few other complications to the problem too. For example, bad smells will be pretty much trapped in the car. What’s more, being in tight confines with mold can cause health problems.
When a car starts growing mold, auto detailing professionals are often called in to fix the issue. Wondering how they do it? Here’s a look at the process involved.
1: Auto Detailing Professionals Will Identify & Fix the Source of the Mold
Just removing mold isn’t enough. If the cause of the mold isn’t fixed, the problem could just come right back. For that reason, one of the first steps that detailers often take is to look through the entire car to see if they can spot whatever issue caused the mold to form in the first place. It’s important to note that the use of safety gear—including gloves, goggles, and a face mask—is essential, as this will help prevent illness.
Usually, mold growth will be caused by something in the car letting in moisture. This can be an old seal letting in rain, the air conditioner causing too much condensation to form, or other factors that can lead to water collecting inside the car. If the problem can be identified, the auto detailing professional will either fix it themselves, or refer the client to a different automotive expert who can provide assistance.
2: Next Up: Removing the Mold From Inside the Car
After the source of the mold is discovered and fixed up, it’s time to clean the mold itself. Usually, this involves at least a couple of steps. First, a powerful vacuum cleaner is used to remove any loose mold, as well as loosen some of what’s left. Next, a brush or sponge, along with a strong cleaner, will be used to clean up what remains, and hopefully eliminate any stains that formed while the mold was growing.
This process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and the end result will be that the mold is cleaned out pretty effectively.
3: The Last Step Is for an Auto Detailing Professional to Disinfect the Cleaned Area
Sometimes, it’s necessary or advisable for the cleaned area to be wiped down with a disinfectant. This can help prevent new fungal growth, and is an especially good idea if there’s some visible remnant of the mold such as a stain or crust.
Professional automotive detailing experts will often turn to a mixture of bleach and water for this, as it’s inexpensive and quite effective at killing off any lingering spores. A word of caution, though: if ever you do mold removal for a car, it’s important that you ensure the treated area gets properly dried after you finish. Lingering moisture could undo all of your work by allowing new mold to grow!
Mold is a gross problem for a car to have, but by eliminating the cause and carefully cleaning and disinfecting the area, it’s possible to get a car with a mold problem back to good health quickly.
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