To beg you for your help - musty smell

[ThatFlakyOliveEater]

AIBU to put this in AIBU?

Absolutely. But I’m desperate!

In winter my car leaked under the boot but it took ages to find the source. Fixed the cause of the leak BUT the damp had gotten into the upholstery. It’s been months and I can’t get it out. The musty smell is horrendous. If I’m in the car for even five minutes it clings to my clothes. DC and I stink. I’m so embarrassed, I’ve had to casually mention it to so many people, including pre-school in the worry they were going to think DC we’re being neglected.

Ive had FOUR valets but multiple different people.
I’ve used:
white vinegar
baking soda
Car bomb things
different types of air fresheners
Febreeze
wet vacuum
leaving the windows open at every opportunity

Nothing works. I’ve looked everywhere for a source and can’t find it. It’s like it’s just…everywhere. Everything has been cleaned including the ceiling, seats, carpet and all material bits.

It’s really stressing me out. Someone told me I smell like I smoke 40 a day with my kid in the car and I am so embarrassed.

The last professional to vale the car has got out sick, weeks old dogs wee, cigarette smoke, and he couldn’t get this smell out after two attempts.

Has anyone got any ideas? I looked at replacing the seats but Christ, I cannot afford it.

Please help me 😭

Prob need to check for no dead animals in under carriage of car then get someone to remove and clean the seats, replace the carpet, use a college thar trains upholsterers or mechanics see if they'll do it inexpensively. Use current covers as templates.

I was thinking similarly. We have a battery powered rechargeable one and also some of those bags that soak up moisture. In US it’s called “damp rid”

I think you have to steam clean with a mold killing solution then ensure it gets dry. Then use something like the above to remove all moisture.

Does the surface of the seats smell?

Is the floor at the back dry? And have you checked under the boot carpet in the spare wheel bit? Just thinking of all the places the water ended up in mine.

Have you looked do to replacing seats with second hand ones from a scrap dealer? Lots of cars get written off and seats are ok. May be lots cheaper.

Yes that was where the water was, it’s why it took so long to find! I’ve pulled out all the upholstery there and just left the spare wheel in. It’s all now bone dry.

It’s such a mystery where it is! I’ve sniffed everywhere and there is no source - it’s just in the air! We’ve even done one of those bomb things that goes through the air vents.

Looked and absolutely cannot afford it for this make and model, they were £600-£1000

A container of baking soda left in the car, might help to absorb smells.

My aunt had that smell in her house for years and couldn't locate it. Many people tried and failed. Her son, eventually, found the culprit, rotting wood, which had to be completely removed.

Is the AC pump leaking into the car? Just a thought.

Was going to suggest an Ozone machine, some high end valet/detailers have them. In my experience they’ve been very effective. (Badly installed windscreen after accident cause a leak where the water ran all the way to the back of the car and settled in the spare wheel well and caused everything to go musty and mouldy.)

Have you sniffed the ceiling?

Is your car a Ford? I had a problem whereby my car was getting very damp and musty inside. In the boot where the spare wheel is kept (under the carpet) was like a swimming pool with litres and litres of water inside. I took it to the garage and they removed some big bits of white foam/spongy stuff - I can't remember exactly where the foam was, kind of around the wheel rims somewhere. They got rid of all that and didn't replace it, and they also stripped out the inside of my car and let everything dry out in the sun for a few days, before putting it back together. When I collected it, it only cost £230. Could it be something like that?

A friend bought a very cheap car ( too good to be true) for her DD when she passed her test. The owner said she had spilt a litre of milk in the boot. Friend’s DH thought he could solve it and the cheap price made it worth it. I don’t think I need to go any further do I ?

My friend had a disgusting smell in her car last year. She eventually found a dead mouse in the rear door compartment. She’d had a problem with field mice in her garage and this one found its way into the car door and couldn’t climb back out 🤢

Oh the AC is a good shout. Mine started smelling very musty and unpleasant at one point. It's now broken but I can't afford to get it fixed after spending so much on getting the leak and damp sorted.

It’s not a dead animals smell. It’s the smell of old smoke/dampness.

And I don’t think there is anywhere a m dead animals could be. It happened after the damp so I’m sure it’s related to mouldy foam in as patch of upholstery, I just need to figure out which bit!

I'd get second hand seats from a scrapyard. Should be loads available.

It wont necessarily be wet, its just that the smell of the mould is there, particualrly as I said earlier if it is a plywood or hard absorbent surface like that has got mouldy, it wont be wet, the underside of my garden table wasnt wet, but it stunk to high heaven.

It’s not smelly at all under there. It’s so bizarre, no one can find the damned source!

A small damp detector; if there is such a thing?

The source of the smell is the mould (mildew) from being damp, tough issue and not helped if it's really penetrated. Every time the car gets slightly moist (like when the kids steam it up coming home from swimming, or wet shoes etc) it will return unless the source is dealt with.
These were brilliant in my parents house when they had a similar problem. Don't know if they do cars but I don't see why not... It's kills the mildew stone dead so it can't produce its odour

https://www.puremaintenanceuk.com/services/mould-remediation

Good idea

Good idea, or mould detector

How about those beads that soak up moisture? I've seen them on sale in B&M, but I'm sure you can get them on Amazon as well. Also - cat litter. Try spreading that all over the place and leaving it before vacuuming it up.

In my car there are plugs under car next to back wheels. Pull them off, water comes out. My car has water ingress through the boot somewhere. The wheel well was full and sloshing into footwells. Whole car grew mould. Leaving doors open or even windows killed battery. But I managed to dry it all out last summer and the car detailer did the rest. The seat belts were gross too.
Car lives in garage now if it looks like rain. Useful 🤣🤣
I tried damp collectors, kitty litter, bicarb, all sorts of household sprays, not bleach.

Could it be from an aircon unit?

You need to set it on fire!

We had a car that had damp once as we couldn't get the smell or the fogginess out of it. Ended up getting rid of it.

Yours could still be leaking in from the pollen filter etc if it's a Ford