Best way to remove moisture and mold in car?

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LovetheA's

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Recently I went to check on my 67 barracuda. It is in a storage unit inside a storage facility. I noticed that there was some mold buildup and it was very musty smelling inside the car. I plan on going this weekend and starting the car up letting it run a while and taking it out in the sun to dry. Anyone have any suggestions on what can I put in the car during long boughts of storage to prevent humidity and mold. I did find something on line called Damprid which looks promising.
 
Hello There

I have a friend that professionally shrinkwraps heavy machines to ship overseas. I asked him for advice on storing metal things in my cold shop during the winter without getting condensation on them. He told me that he has had great luck with BBQ charcoal. His advice to me was to get a couple of bags and tear them open so that then air can get to it, and be absorbed. I place the bags inside my tablesaw base and shaper base and it seems to be doing the trick (works inside a storage tote filled with books as well)........Just a suggestion. Good Luck!
 
I use Damp Rid in my trailer where I store one of my cars for the winter

. A big size in the trailer and a smaller one inside the car.
 
I find it strange to have a moisture issue with something stored indoors. My 40x80 steel quonset is next to bone dry during all months of the year. It has 1 two foot square vent on either end of the building. Un heated,and weather here will reach near -40 on the coldest of days.

vehicle put into storage with wet carpet?
Or just a sealed storage building,and not properly ventilated?
The air-dry products are calcium chloride, corrosive and harmful if given the oppurtunity.
The charcoal suggestion seems a better alternative to me.
The issue of moisture still needs to be handled,or your car will rot from the inside out.
 
Word of caution with damprid like products.

Be sure you have a LARGE catch basin. I put one in a room of the house in so cal. Forgot about it for a year or more
Found it and its built in catch basin was full and had overflowed onto the hardwood floor. Left a stain in the wood.
 
Perhaps I should be more clear about the storage area where the car is stored. It is in a larger type storage locker unit. One issue is that the storage unit where I live in CT is pricy in this part of the country. It is approximately $200.00 a month and that is for inside storage but not climate controlled. So for now that is all I can afford. The storage locker is along a row of units on the edge of the building. There is quite a bit of temperature and humidity change even though the the locker is inside due to the drastic changes in weather up in CT. All this will be a non issue when I finish my heated garage for storage of my cars. So for now I want to be able to lessen the humidity and moisture and beginnings of mold from forming inside the car.
 
I had a similar situation when my truck was parked for about five years. When I got into it scuzz was everywhere. I cleaned up the mess wearing a GOOD face mask and gloves, with bleach water to wipe everything down. Then when it was all clean, I cracked the windows open about a half inch and put an incandescent 100 watt bulb in a cheapie fixture on the floor of the truck. I set it on a timer to come on for two hours daily in the afternoon. Problem solved.
 
Do you have power in your storage unit? If so get a dehumidifier for the storage space and plug it in.
 
My cars get filled with tons of moisture living in Oregon with all the original rubber seals. I use this DriZair works good but just gotta keep emptying the holder.
B8962453-6DD8-47D4-9892-A2D809AF186B.jpeg
 
A little extreme comparison, open a bottle of muriatic acid and leave it on the bench with a few tools nearby. The vapors are enough to cause damage.

calcium chloride is just way slower.
 
Tooljunkie said:
A little extreme comparison, open a bottle of muriatic acid and leave it on the bench with a few tools nearby. The vapors are enough to cause damage.

calcium chloride is just way slower.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tip. I haven’t had any issues my cars also aren’t showing bare metal inside either.
 
CFD244 said:
Hello There

I have a friend that professionally shrinkwraps heavy machines to ship overseas. I asked him for advice on storing metal things in my cold shop during the winter without getting condensation on them. He told me that he has had great luck with BBQ charcoal. His advice to me was to get a couple of bags and tear them open so that then air can get to it, and be absorbed. I place the bags inside my tablesaw base and shaper base and it seems to be doing the trick (works inside a storage tote filled with books as well)........Just a suggestion. Good Luck!
Click to expand...
And you can use it for 4th of july BBQ too.
 
THIS! I own a marine shop, we shrink wrap boats, IF you dont have access to power for a a stor dry dehumidifier we use these, they are like store dry but no mess as the crystals drop from one compartment to another and never leave the bag!

Screenshot_20201116-194143_Amazon Shopping.jpg
 
An Ozone generator could get rid of the musty smell, wont do anything for the moisture but it would take care of the smell.
 
LovetheA's said:
Recently I went to check on my 67 barracuda. It is in a storage unit inside a storage facility. I noticed that there was some mold buildup and it was very musty smelling inside the car. I plan on going this weekend and starting the car up letting it run a while and taking it out in the sun to dry. Anyone have any suggestions on what can I put in the car during long boughts of storage to prevent humidity and mold. I did find something on line called Damprid which looks promising.
Click to expand...

This works well vvv.

CFD244 said:
I have a friend that professionally shrinkwraps heavy machines to ship overseas. I asked him for advice on storing metal things in my cold shop during the winter without getting condensation on them. He told me that he has had great luck with BBQ charcoal.
Click to expand...

When I was a young fella I used to work for Mayflower as a driver/loader. We quite often picked up whole households and put them in storage sometimes for a couple years at a time.

We used charcoal (the basic charcoal NOT the self lighting stuff) we would purchase ladies nylons and cut the legs off and put charcoal in them and tie the end up so it stays. We would put a small amount in refrigerators and then a leg in the storage box itself before closing it up and stacking them in the warehouse.

Charcoal works surprisingly well, I have opened fridge doors after 2 or 3 years and there was never any mold and it smelled fresh. Customers would often comment when we brought their fridge in the house, "I bet it's going to stink inside". Nope, never happened, it works well.
 
trapster said:
An Ozone generator could get rid of the musty smell, wont do anything for the moisture but it would take care of the smell.
Click to expand...
Illegal in CA, but I got one online from another state. You don’t want to breath the air while using it. Worked fairly well on a rental house where the sh!tty non-paying tenants stunk it up with pot smoking. Still had to paint/wash the walls and get new carpet. Horrible to get rid of.
 
Bad Sport said:
This works well vvv.



When I was a young fella I used to work for Mayflower as a driver/loader. We quite often picked up whole households and put them in storage sometimes for a couple years at a time.

We used charcoal (the basic charcoal NOT the self lighting stuff) we would purchase ladies nylons and cut the legs off and put charcoal in them and tie the end up so it stays. We would put a small amount in refrigerators and then a leg in the storage box itself before closing it up and stacking them in the warehouse.

Charcoal works surprisingly well, I have opened fridge doors after 2 or 3 years and there was never any mold and it smelled fresh. Customers would often comment when we brought their fridge in the house, "I bet it's going to stink inside". Nope, never happened, it works well.
Click to expand...
This guy worked on the Mayflower! Gotta be our oldest member!!!!
 
Charcoal, put it in a plastic container. Cut some holes in the top of the container.
It will absorb moisture to the point, it will not even light in 6 months.
 
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