Hi all,

I have a '76 Fleetwood Brougham that had been stored for 3 years and then repainted before I got it.

It has a slight musty smell in the interior that won't seem to go away. I have to say I don't use it much and it normally sits under a cover indoors to keep the dust off but I leave the front windows open.

The car is not damp inside and I can't work out where the musty smell is coming from. Don't think it is the seats or the door panels, or headlining so could only really be the carpets.

Any ideas anyone and any ideas for removal. I'm a bit loathe to have the caprets professionally shampoo'd becuase of the amount of water they would use and the felt backing on the carpets. However it might work if they dried out OK. What do you think please??

The carpets are also a light blue and I'm a bit worried agressive shampooing will lift dirt to the surface and cause staining streaking. It happened one on the '90 of a competing premium car make I had - shall we say - and the tar backing of the carpet came up through and stained the carpet.

regards & thanks to all, Nick

If you have access to a dehumidifier I'd suggest letting it run in there overnight just to be sure there's no underlying moisture.

If you're certain there's no moisture in the car you can skip the previous and if the carpets/upholstery are relatively clean then I'd say invest in a 3-dollar bottle of Frebreeze or some other de-odorizer, give it a good dousing and let her air out... see if that does the trick.

Hi there,

Actually I don't have access to a dehumidified but I was thinking of taking off the sill plates and lifting the carpets to see what was under there and letting it air out - with the aid of a blow fan heater.

I did try the Febreeze when I got it but to no avail unfortunately.

thansk for your suggestions, regards, Nick

I think OUST spray is really good and makes smells go away...they have it at walmart.

Hi 2003whiteCTS [guess what car you've got then!!]Thanks - I've seen Oust for sale here [UK& Ireland] so I'll give it a try.thanks, Nick

My suggestion is sorta obscure, but cheap lol

White VINEGAR!

What I did in my 93 was get some arm/hammer scented deodorizer that is meant for carpets (its a power like baking soda) and sprinkle it on the carpets and maybe seats if they are fabric. It will absorb some moisture and deodorize. While it sat on the fabric I got 2 plastic cups and poured some white vinegar into them, set them on the floor boards and rolled up all windows and closed all doors. I let it sit overnight then gave the carpets a good strong vacuum and removed the cups with vinegar and then sprayed febreeze, or any other spray. Then just let it air out a bit.

Your car will smell like vinegar for a bit, but vinegar is good at absorbing odors and the scent dissipates pretty fast. I did this to remove smoke odors from the previous owner and it worked good.

great behind bars!

I'll try it at the weekend regards, Nick

Well guys the Shake n Vac worked. used 3 tubs of the stuff and rubbed it into the carpets and left it for a couple of hours then hoovered it all out.

Worked a treat! Thanks! Nick