How to Remove Musty Smell From Inside Car

Last Updated August 19, 2024

Getting your car’s interior wet can lead to foul odors and even mold. Whether it’s condensation building up in the evaporator or soaked seats after leaving the windows down in a rainstorm, water damage leaves your car’s inside smelling musty and poses a potential health risk.

So how do you get rid of the musty smell after your car interior gets wet? What about musty smells coming from the air conditioner or HVAC system? In this article, we’ll explain why these smells and mold happen in the first place and what you can do to get your car smelling fresh again.

How to Remove Musty Smell in Car from Air Conditioner

A persistent musty smell coming from your car’s HVAC vents is typically caused by pooling water in the HVAC system’s evaporator. 

Under normal circumstances, water escapes from the evaporator drain at the bottom of the vehicle. But sometimes water pools inside the evaporator and can’t drain out. 

If the pooling water sits for too long, mold and bacteria begin to grow. When the HVAC system is activated, the blowing air carries those mold and bacteria molecules through the vents, spreading musty smells everywhere.

So how do you go about removing this musty smell from your air conditioner vents? Here’s our step-by-step guide: 

1. Open the windows of your vehicle.
2. Remove the cabin filter (typically mounted behind glove compartment door)
3. Locate the plenum intake vents at the base of your windshield, where the wipers are located.
4. Spray a disinfectant inside both sides of the plenum intake vents.

The disinfectant will kill the bacteria and mold, removing the source of the offending musty smells. 

In the future, before turning off the car’s ignition, let fans run with the A/C off for a few minutes. This will help dry out the moisture inside the HVAC vents. 

How to Remove Musty Smell After Inside of Car Got Wet

Let’s say you left your car’s windows open in a rainstorm or accidentally spilled a water bottle in your backseat. If you don’t dry the interior immediately, the inside of your car will start to smell due to the mold and bacteria growing in the damp conditions. 

To remove musty smells after your car interior gets wet, you need to fully dry any surface or material that got wet — the sources of the musty smell. 

For Light Water Damage

If the interior is only a little wet, place some small fans inside your car, turn them on and shut the doors. This will dry out the car and remove the offending smells and mold. 

For Heavy Water Damage

Heavier water damaged interiors will require more effort to get dry. You may need to pull out the mats and seats so they can dry outside. You can also try using a wet vac with a narrow nozzle attachment to get inside crevices where water has collected. 

How to Remove Musty Smell Inside Car That Won’t Go Away

If the musty smell inside your car persists despite drying the interior to the best of your ability, we recommend running an ozone generator inside your car. Ozone will break down the odor-causing molecules inside your vehicle, eliminating them entirely and thereby neutralizing the smell. 

Getting your car’s interior wet can lead to foul odors and even mold. Whether it’s condensation building up in the evaporator or soaked seats after leaving the windows down in a rainstorm, water damage leaves your car’s inside smelling musty and poses a potential health risk.

So how do you get rid of the musty smell after your car interior gets wet? What about musty smells coming from the air conditioner or HVAC system? In this article, we’ll explain why these smells and mold happen in the first place and what you can do to get your car smelling fresh again.

How to Remove Musty Smell in Car from Air Conditioner

A persistent musty smell coming from your car’s HVAC vents is typically caused by pooling water in the HVAC system’s evaporator. 

Under normal circumstances, water escapes from the evaporator drain at the bottom of the vehicle. But sometimes water pools inside the evaporator and can’t drain out. 

If the pooling water sits for too long, mold and bacteria begin to grow. When the HVAC system is activated, the blowing air carries those mold and bacteria molecules through the vents, spreading musty smells everywhere.

So how do you go about removing this musty smell from your air conditioner vents? Here’s our step-by-step guide: 

1. Open the windows of your vehicle.
2. Remove the cabin filter (typically mounted behind glove compartment door)
3. Locate the plenum intake vents at the base of your windshield, where the wipers are located.
4. Spray a disinfectant inside both sides of the plenum intake vents.

The disinfectant will kill the bacteria and mold, removing the source of the offending musty smells. 

In the future, before turning off the car’s ignition, let fans run with the A/C off for a few minutes. This will help dry out the moisture inside the HVAC vents. 

How to Remove Musty Smell After Inside of Car Got Wet

Let’s say you left your car’s windows open in a rainstorm or accidentally spilled a water bottle in your backseat. If you don’t dry the interior immediately, the inside of your car will start to smell due to the mold and bacteria growing in the damp conditions. 

To remove musty smells after your car interior gets wet, you need to fully dry any surface or material that got wet — the sources of the musty smell. 

For Light Water Damage

If the interior is only a little wet, place some small fans inside your car, turn them on and shut the doors. This will dry out the car and remove the offending smells and mold. 

For Heavy Water Damage

Heavier water damaged interiors will require more effort to get dry. You may need to pull out the mats and seats so they can dry outside. You can also try using a wet vac with a narrow nozzle attachment to get inside crevices where water has collected. 

How to Remove Musty Smell Inside Car That Won’t Go Away

If the musty smell inside your car persists despite drying the interior to the best of your ability, we recommend running an ozone generator inside your car. Ozone will break down the odor-causing molecules inside your vehicle, eliminating them entirely and thereby neutralizing the smell.