I'll admit that I'm a bone-head. Regardless of that, I left the rear windows down the other day and it apparently rained (in Hawaii). When I went out to my car the next morning, my windows were fogged up, so I thought it had only condensed. I did what I could with the water on the vinyl (with a ShamWOW! no less) and thought that was it. A two days ago, I noticed a funk in the car. I went in the back seat to check it out and noticed that the carpet on both sides was wet. A shop-vac didn't do squat. I pulled up the carpet and the bench seat in the back and the foam in the seat is wet on the very bottom where it collects. The carpet is wet, but the padding is not.

Is there something I can put on the carpet (baking soda, Damp-Rid, etc.) that will help remove the moisture, or do I need to suck it up, remove the carpet, and let it dry?

Thanks for the help.

1/3/2009 2:18:03 AM

I imagine you could idle the car, turn on max AC, set the heat all the way to maximum (so the air is circulated and dehumidified) and leave it that way for a while. I mean, hell, that's what is happening right now in my apartment. We had a spill come through the ceiling so they cut a hole in the ceiling, put in some gigantic loud-ass fans, and put in a dehumidifier to suck all the water out of the air.

Outside of directly sucking out the water, drying it out with hot air from your car oughtta work.

As for the funk... I dunno... White vinegar can kill some shit living in your car seats/foam padding but your call will smell like vinegar for a month. I used it when I got some milk absorbed into my car's seats/carpet and now (a long while later) you can't tell there was ever an issue with it.

[Edited on January 3, 2009 at 4:00 AM. Reason : To suck out that water you're gonna need a steam vac too. Just don't spray any water w/ it.]

1/3/2009 3:59:56 AM

Might seem stupid, but do you have electric leaf blower? Just a thought, you could blast the hell out of the wet spots with it...might work. Hell, hot air even comes out of mine from the motor friction.

1/3/2009 4:21:33 AM

you're in hawaii, roll the windows down in the heat

1/3/2009 5:05:13 AM

this happens all the time to my Miata, except much, much worse (naturally)

I just put the top down the next day it's not rainy, hell sometimes I never even bother putting it up if it's already been rained in a bit

your mistake #1 was leaving the windows up.

it doesn't really start stinking unless it gets good and warm for about a day while the windows are up. the relative humidity in the car has to get into the 90s w/ internal temperatures above 70 for microbial life to flourish to the point of makin' a stank that quickly.

I imagine leaving the sun roof + windows open for a couple days to a week will work just fine to air it out and keep the RH low enough to prevent further microbial growth... then hit it with some febreeze or in-vent air fresheners if there's a lingering odor.

finally, running the heat is a waste of gas, it takes literally hours to dry out the surface of the seats and carpet, and there is still moisture trapped in the foam that only seems to come out w/ time

1/3/2009 6:45:33 AM

Remove all the wet stuff, and move it indoors. out of the relative humidity. Put it in front of fans for at least 2 days, then re-check it. Should be dry at that point. I mean you fans plural too, go out and buy some cheap box fans if you dont have at least 3 fans already. In a room with a ceiling fan will not cut it.

To remove the odor, well bleach and ammonia. Do a search- it works.

1/3/2009 8:33:39 AM

yeah...well....thanks for the help....I completely removed the carpet from the car...not a fun job...it's "drip drying" in front of a box fan in the garage as we speak...it'll be there for a few days...I honestly didn't think how bad it was...the padding is wet, but as soon as I took the carpet out of the car and tilted it ever so slightly in one direction, CUPS of water started oozing from the carpet...and it wasn't clear water...it was BROWN...

1/3/2009 9:44:25 AM

From personal experiences w/ a leak & saturated carpet after heavy rain, antimicrobial febreze works wonders for the 'funk' once you get it mostly dried...

1/5/2009 12:22:24 AM

thanks, but I broke down and bought a whole new carpet. it'll be custom cut and slightly darker grey than the original...

1/5/2009 1:07:59 PM

new carpet is in! i had to trim it to fit the car, around the console area...took a little too much off, but you can't see it unless you are sitting in the driver's seat and look between the console and the seat...all of the wires for the stereo/sub/amp are done, so all I'm doing is waiting for the stereo and i'll have a normal car again...

1/17/2009 6:45:25 AM

Quote :

" I noticed a funk in the car"

sounds like you needed to be in the car when it rained

1/17/2009 6:30:18 PM

this thread is relevant to my new, unwanted interest.

So I can just dilute some bleach, spray and let dry? I'll hit it with some febreeze afterwards.

2/23/2014 4:46:25 PM

I've used drano (the kind with bleach) in a cup to fill the car with chlorine fumes to kill everything, then throw a few of the large DampRid buckets in the car and trunk.

i would think that if you have enough bleach in the spray to do anything, it might stain the carpet. I'd probably try using borax powder first. dust all of the carpets really well with borax, let it sit for awhile, then vacuum it.

2/23/2014 7:09:30 PM

hmm, didn't think about borax. pretty sure I still have a bottle of borax powder somewhere.

2/23/2014 7:16:18 PM

some of the carpet cleaning powders are basically just borax with smell-good stuff if you want it to smell like fresh linen or mountain flowers or something

2/23/2014 8:33:53 PM

http://www.amazon.com/Odorcide-210-Concentrate-16-oz/dp/B003CSNDMY

This stuff was out go-to for strong odors when I worked at a Carpet cleaning business during school.....It is really concentrated though. I would say maybe an ounce in a spray bottle filled with water and then just spray lightly on the bad smelling area.

2/24/2014 4:15:26 AM

If you were in NC I'd say hopefully we would have one more deep freeze that could take care of it.

2/24/2014 10:31:47 AM

I am in NC. The freezing did nothing but make it cold water. And since it was still there with the latest temperature increase, the funk began.

[Edited on February 24, 2014 at 11:35 AM. Reason : .]

2/24/2014 11:35:17 AM

I was talking about the original poster in Hawaii. Of course freezing won't take care of standing water.

2/24/2014 2:09:05 PM

If he still has water problems 4 years later, I feel bad for him

2/24/2014 2:27:47 PM