skip to Main Content

Freshen Up Those Carpets

After a wet winter, this should be on the top of your To-Do list.

Carpets protect your vehicle’s floor, act as effective sound dampers, improve insulation, and enhance comfort. However, carpets need to be maintained properly to ensure they remain clean. Every time you step into your car on a rainy day, you are introducing water to the carpets. Due to the fibres present on carpets, they can easily attract and hold dust as well as moisture. Over a period of time, this moisture can lead to mildew which has a musty smell. If you’ve noticed a mildew smell in your car, it is relatively easy to fix it yourself.

Clean in Advance

Has it been a particularly wet winter? Did you just take your car on an awesome week-long road trip where you ate most of your meals on the go (…in February)? It’s easier to prevent a mildew smell than to treat one, so you should clean your carpets pre-emptively. A simple clean done before mildew becomes an issue takes little time.

How to Remove the Musty Smell

There are two conditions that the carpets must meet to guarantee that the smell will be gone: clean and dry. It is important to clean the carpets as soon as you notice smell becoming an issue. This type of issue will not go away on its own, and ignoring the smell will only make it more difficult to deal with.

Step 1: Try to get some fresh air into your car by opening the doors or windows in a covered place or on a dry day, this will help the carpets dry out.
Step 2: Provided the carpet is dry, use a vacuum to get rid of the loose dirt.
Step 3: Make a cleaning solution of 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water. Dip a sponge into this solution and use it to scrub the musty carpets. Note: before scrubbing, apply a little bit of this solution to a hidden part of the carpet, such as under the seat, to see if it causes any changes to the colour.
Step 4: After the carpets have dried, apply a carpet-cleaning foam and let it dry.
Step 5: After the carpets have dried again, vacuum up the foam. Your carpets should be clean and fresh.

If you completed this 5-step process and the smell still hasn’t dissipated (or you just don’t have the time to do it yourself), it might be time to bring it in to a professional. Stop by our shop, and we can figure out the detailing process that is right for you.

Close search
Cart
Back To Top