11 replies to this topic

[Johnny_E]

It looks nice....

 

 

... but its fell foul to being a rarely used car (before I bought it!). The car only did 30 miles last year under the last owner. It only has 36k on it (2003 Mk2.5).

 

There is a really bad mildew/mould smell off the leather. I've tried everything I can....

• "Dr Leather" wipes - they stank and made it worse! Mould + fake leather smell was NOT good.
• Auto Glym leather cleaner followed by auto glym conditioner (tried this 3/4 times in a row)
• Solution of warm water and white vinegar (probably the best effort so far.. but the smell lingers)

I've had the car 3 months now - and the smell has certainly faded, but its still there. Your clothes smell moldy after a decent drive. Any time I could, I dropped the soft top to let the sun at it.

Any suggestions or recommendations? I really dont want to have to buy new seats.

[msb1973]

Are you sure its not coming from elsewhere and that your roof is watertight?

 

Products wise gliptone leather cleaner and treatment are very good!

[Johnny_E]

Yeah, I'm sure it's the leather. The car has had a hard top on most of its life, but you can smell the mould on the back of your shirt after a drive.

[steffydog]

mmm, maybe best to remove the seats, remove the leather and attack the foam inside? fabreeze maybe?

 

My 2.5 was a bit smelly too when I got it, I used a good dose of autoglym interior shampoo on all the carpets and inner roof, then the autoglym leather cleaner and balm on the seats, smell was gone, id dig a bit further mate, I bet the smells there, but your nose is getting used to it.

[guitarjon]

I'd check the carpets underneath the seat.  Having a hard top also doesn't make an mx5 water tight. In some cases they can leak just as much.

I'd have thought the stuff you've already tried would have sorted it, failing that it must be in the foam. Autoglym leather cleaner isn't  a bad product - as long as you worked it.

[Johnny_E]

I've had my nose in every corner of the car! Its all dry ok. Its in the seats for sure - but as you say... it must be in the foam. I'll try again with auto glym and maybe buy some gliptone. I even tried a can of fogger (dakota odour bomb I think it was).

[guitarjon]

Gliptone is good but I cant see how you can't shift it off the leather.  I'd be taking the covers off first and sorting out the foam before you buy any more stuff.

[stevieh]

Mine had a mildew smell last year but an air con cleaner/sanitizer sorted that out.

[guitarjon]

Good call Steve, didn't think that.  Could be something to do with the bacteria in the pollen filter which is circulating around the car- there are vents which are low that direct towards the seat.  It's probably worth one of those air con sanitiser things too and the change of a pollen filter.

[Johnny_E]

Mine had a mildew smell last year but an air con cleaner/sanitizer sorted that out.

 

 

Good call Steve, didn't think that.  Could be something to do with the bacteria in the pollen filter which is circulating around the car- there are vents which are low that direct towards the seat.  It's probably worth one of those air con sanitiser things too and the change of a pollen filter.

 

Forgot to say... been there too! Coma air con can from Halfords. Masked it... for a day or so. Although I haven't changed the pollen filter. Must get that done in case thats harboring the bacteria.

 

Tell me this... how difficult is it to get to the foam? Surely the leather covers are sewn into place? I'm 99% sure its the seat foams now. When you sniff closely... thats where the mould smell is.

[MagicianLorenzo]

Was there a resolution to this please?

[Johnny_E]

Was there a resolution to this please?

No - I had to get rid of the seats in the end. NO solution or chemical removed the smell. It was deep in the foam. I ended up finding a nice set of custom trimmed OE seats so it all ended well!