Ok, so this question does not concern a Mini, rather the car that I'm trading in for the new MC on order. But I find the knowledge of the people on this board superior to others - so your help is appreciated!

Had the floor mats of my Bimmer shampooed, and the guy doing it left them in the trunk (wet) without telling me. A few days later, I open the trunk, and obviously there's with moldy/mildew kinda smell. I took the mats out and aired them out - they're fine. But now the trunk has this smell that I can't get rid of. Tried spraying it with an air freshener, but back to the smell a couple days later. I've not some baking soda sitting in it now, hopefully that will help.

Anyone have experience with this?

 

Got a steamer? If not, see if you can borrow one from somebody. Works great. I wouln't want to be without one. I have several.

Steam kills mold and gets rid of many odors. I smoke, but using a steamer, all over the inside of my car, including the vents, I actually get compliments on how nice my car smells (mostly from the great smell of my all leather seats). No perfumeee smell from coverup chemicals.

 

If you don't have access to a steamer, or you find that the steamer doesn't work, grab a spray bottle of Nature's Miracle from a pet store and spray down the interior of the trunk. Spray the whole thing down until it's slightly damp, leave the trunk open and allow it to air dry. Nature's miracle has to dry out completely in order to kill the mildew that's causing the smell.

The only other thing that I know of that will kill a mildew smell is bleach and you really don't want to use that in your car. Good luck!

 

There is probably not much mildew in there if it has only been a couple of days. Get a box of baking soda, open it up and put it in the trunk, it should absorb the odor, but will not get rid of any mildew. I don't think a light spritz of a bleach/water mixture would hurt anything either, and should kill any mildew.

Mark

 

I was able to get out Cigarette Smoke from my purchased Used '01 Dodge Durango by leaving a bowl of White Vinegar in it overnight. Smell came out and co-workers commented "No one's ever smoked in here", I had to correct them. I almost did not buy it because of the smell, but it had all the options including the color that I wanted.
Fabreaze also makes a product for washing clothes that smell. I'm not sure how you would use it, but it might be an option.

 

i would just wash the car with the trunk open.


i think some baking soda and some bacteria killing lysol would
do the trick. steam cleaner is a nice idea too, if you have
access to one.

 

+1 with Lysol...kill it off

 

2nd for Nature's Miracle. Get it at a pet store. It's base is alcohol and it is filled with enzymes. It breaks down all organic odors.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. As an update:

I've tried the baking soda - no luck

I've tried Febreeze and another air freshener - now I have a hybrid febreeze/moldy smell. Definitely an improvement, but still not to my liking

Next stop, I think I'm going to try the vinegar idea (although I hope I remember to remove the bowl before I drive off in the morning!), or Nature's Miracle. Wish me luck!

 

You could rent an ozione machine as a last resort.

 

Well??...What if anything worked??

 

Ok, here's the score so far:

Moldy smell: 1 - baking soda: 0
Moldy smell: 1 - Febreeze: 0
Moldy smell: 1 - White vinegar: 0

This thing has now turned into a beast! From all of the above, although the smell is still there, I think the vinegar did in fact help. I'll another over-nighter. But as of now, my trunk smells of mold, Febreeze and a light vinegar undernote. Definitely better than when I started, but far from gone. My pet store didn't have Nature's Miracle in stock this weekend, but I'll try again.

Worse comes to worst, looks like my Mini should be coming in approx 4 weeks (earlier than expected), so I'll just live with it until then!

 

I've used a bowl of arm and hammer baking soda before. Now it comes in a handy air freshener, non spilling form where you just peel off the side of the box and there is a mesh to keep it nice and neat in there.

 

ok, here's wat i call de-skunking solution:

1qt of hydrogen peroxide + 1/4 baking soda + 1 teaspoon of dish soap.
put in spray bottle and spray and wipe... not sure it'll work on molds.

i'd think moldy smell should go away with killing off the bacteria...

 

or throw one of these in the trunk... that'll take out the moldy smell.