My 94 Z28 has been sitting for almost two years and it's about to be running again so I am getting ready to clean it. It has some mildew and mold growing in it, the steering wheel has alot of white on it. The seats and carpet have stuff growing on them too, my cell phone that was in there for awhile had grown fur awhile back!

What can I use that will take this stuff off and hopefully not dull the surface? I have some MeGuires Degreaser thats like an all purpose cleaner but the stuff might grow back if I use that. I used a little bit on the steering wheel, I will have to check and see if it did any good when there is some more light out there.

Should I get some kind of cleaner from the household section that kills mold and mildew or would that hurt the surface? What about spraying some of that Outburst stuff that kills that stuff in the air? I know it's going to have to go somewhere and be deodorized when I get it running but for now, I want to kick the mold and mildew's a$$.

 

Wow, I can't say I've ever dealt with this problem, but I guess this is how I'd try to resolve it. First, I would probably take a carpet cleaner and remove the heaviest gunk by hand with a clean towel. Then, you might want to buy or rent a good steam cleaner and give it a really good cleaning. A cleaner that kills mold/milldew would be a good thing too. I'd guess that it's all over the interior so you're gonna need to be extra thorough to restore it. You might want to wear a protective nose and face mask so you don't breathe the mold spores. You can try some of these cleaners on the plastic pieces too in inconspicuous areas to test for color fastness. Alcohol might work OK on some surfaces.

As for the cell phone, I'd recommend it be retured to the phone company for a refund!

Sorry I couldn't help more, but I've never dealt with this situation. As a last resort, to save you time, hassle, and maybe even money, you might try a profesional detailer or reconditioner in your area.

 

Use Prestone Interior Carpet Cleaner to scrub all the carpets, etc. Rent a HOT-Water carpet extractor to clean the seats. Make sure it is hot as that'll help kill the mildew. Most Pro detailers have Hot water extractors. Do NOT use it on the headliner!

For vinyl and dash you can use a soft nylon brush and some Fantastik. Spray on, scrub, wipe off with damp towel, dry.

Order a gallon of Smoke & Odor Eliminator from PRO (prowax.com). It is an enzyme based cleaner that'll help eat the mildew. Also, after you clean the interior out well you can call a place that does ozone cleaning. You can pay them to run a Ozone machine in your vehicle for an hour or two. It is usually around $100. Good thing about it though is you can also get it through your AC system to kill stuff in there too. Ozone destroys the spores.

 

Thanks guys! It's actually not as bad as you think. There are just some places that grew mold, not alot of places but mold is mold nonetheless and I want to get rid of it. We had a carpet extractor at work but I dont work there anymore and dont have access to it anymore. It would require driving the car there anyway, which wont work without an engine and transmission. I bought some Greased Lightning, I hope it dosent hurt the color. When the car is running again, it is going somewhere and getting the Ozone done, I already planned on that, I am trying to get rid of most of the stuff thats in there now, so I can stand to look at the car again.

 

anything that is Leather Or like your Dash & your centerconsol Just a light tough of Saddle Soap to clean it first then use LEather cleaner. I had a major problem with my car last year since it sat out side uncover through the winter. the cloth part of my seats were covered with it. I took them out & used my Carpet shampooer on them (meaning i brought then in the house) letting them dry then used resolve to clean them again. used Heavy clean (stuff that cleans everything) on my Seat belts.
Then on my leather parts I used saddle soap then leather cleaner.

This year the car once again sits out side But cover this time. & the car had very little mold in it beganing of this month. So I cleaned it when I went to move my car & have been making sure the car stays dry & clean.