Mildew advice?

The overly rainy weather in NJ lately has caused the inside of my truck to start smelling of mildew. Does anyone have any good tricks for dealing with mildew inside the truck? I would just spray everything down with bleach, but I don't want to bleach out the color in the seat cushions.


Mike

I haven't had the issue in my HMMWV yet, but for other vehicles I'll run a dehumidifier in them to remove all the moisture that I can, then run an ozone generator to get rid of any leftover smells.
The HMMWV doesn't seal up as well as a civilian vehicle though, so might not work as well. Might have to just leave the dehumidifier in it until all the rain stops. Plus side is, you have plenty of places in the floor to run the drain hose through so you don't have to pay attention to the water level in the collection tank.

Put a heavy tarp over it that will keep the water out. Set up a fan to dry it out. If you don't keep the water out, you are fighting a losing battle.

Try a desiccant bucket.
Used them in my boat for winter storage.
Inexpensive and always worked for me.
Wally world has them.

All great ideas I will try, but what about killing and cleaning the existing mildew? Will a solution of water and bleach ruin the color of the seats? Anyone have a favorite non bleach mold and mildew killer?


Thanks,
Mike

warcow105 said:

All great ideas I will try, but what about killing and cleaning the existing mildew? Will a solution of water and bleach ruin the color of the seats? Anyone have a favorite non bleach mold and mildew killer?


Thanks,
Mike

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I think bleach is a bad idea.

Dish soap and a water hose. Then exposure to direct sunlight. UV kills it dead.

The above has been sufficient for KS climate. It probably would not be for GA/FL. AZ requires no moisture interventions. I have no experience with NJ so no idea there...

Dehumidifier vs desiccant - my preference is a dehumidifier, given enough space for it and a power source. Desiccant is ok for spaces that are closed up with no air exchange, like the inside of a safe.

Remove all padding, pressure wash the inside, pressure wash the mats or buy new ones.
I use the floor paid retainers sparingly, or nor at all, the pads and dirt, now mud...trap moisture.
by not securing them to the floor, you can peel them back and let things dry out.

I rated the inside of my deuce down with Lysol spray when I got it.