Carpet mold, Gas spill

What is a good and safe way to remove mold or gas from trunks and carpet.

GM-
Concoursgarage ( Gina ) has said in the past that moldy carpet must be removed, that you must eliminate the " source of the odor " or it will come back.
An old-fashioned bleach solution is the best way to kill mold. Afterwards, you may be able to reinstall the carpeting.

Gasoline evaporates. Simply airing the carpets for a couple weeks ( if you have the time ) may get rid of the smell. Be careful, of course, as gasoline fumes are an extreme fire hazard.

Hope that is some help. Others can fill in the blanks. Also, you can try the forum's search feature.
Thanks for your participation!
Doug

Thnx doug. And sry if the question was asked (i will use the search funtion).

Mold is a serious health problem. You need to know what you are doing to get rid of the mold.

First, take everything out of the trunk, including the mat. As Doug says wipe down the entire truck area with a bleach solution to kill the mold spores in the trunk area.

Then power wash the carpet mat and insure that all the water drains out and even vacuum it out.

You can use a water and small amount of bleach solution in your extractor to eliminate the mold spores in the carpet.

Then spray with a carpet shampoo which is alkaline to neutralize the acidic bleach; scrub and extract again.

That should get rid of the mold and possibly the gasoline odor.

You can spray the carpet with a biological odor eliminator to kill the gas odor if it is still there.

Regards
Bud Abraham

<<What is a good and safe way to remove mold or gas from trunks and carpet.>>

Gas
It will depend on the length of time and quantity of gasoline spilled. It is almost impossible to successfully remove gasoline smell from carpeting if a large quantity has been spilled. Gasoline tends to break down the carpeting and backing and soften any sound detner material in the flooring. Even if you scrub and wash the carpeting the high temperatures in the trunk compartment will continue to cause the carpeting to give off the smell of gas. It is better to replace carpeting.
Do not extract gas with your carpet extractor it is not designed to handle flammables and can damage your equipment


First determine cause of mold. (how did water enter the vehicle)?
Street flooding?
Faulty Seal?
Prior Accident Repair?
Rear tail lights?
Other?

Mold
The type of water entry will determine cleaning methodology.
If water has entered vehicle from the street, you will need to dispose of trunk compartment carpeting and replace with new. Street water or “black water” contains fecal matter, and other hazardous contaminants.

If you are cleaning the vehicle on the outside you will not need to have a containment, if you are cleaning in your shop you will need to build a containment so as not to disperse mold to adjacent vehicles or in your shop

Wear PPE Person Protective Equipment, an N-95 respirator, goggles and gloves
Hepa Vac entire trunk compartment
Damp wipe all surfaces and dispose of cloth
Remove all contents from the trunk compartment and
Dispose any under-padding or contaminated personal items
Dispose of the tire board if contaminated with mildew
Saturate flooring tires, rims, tools and carpeting with mildewcide.
Make sure you apply correct dilution ratio
Wash and scrub out the trunk compartment with soapy water
IICRC standard S520 and EPA suggests the use of a biocide such as chlorine bleach is not recommended as a routine practice during mold remediation. Mold cannot be eliminated as mold spores will be found floating through the air and in dust. They will not grow if moisture is not present.

Wash and clean carpeting and hang to dry, replace under-padding with new
Test trunk compartment for water entry before replacing trunk carpeting and contents. If water is entering vehicle notify client and have them repair the leak before replacing contents or have them sign a waiver that you have notified them of a leak in the trunk compartment



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/2007 01:47AM by concoursgarage.

Concours-
Thanks for the corrections.
GM-
You are welcome to ask questions on subjects discussed previously. New info often comes to light that way.

Doug

Concours

An excellent and analytical approach to mold remediation cleaning, it is clear that you have done your homework. I applaud your efforts.

By the way, when I said to extract with regard to the gasoline I did not mean to infer you extract the raw gasoline. What I said was to remove the carpet pad and power wash out the gasoline. Then extract the excess water preparing the mat for shampooing.

Thank you again.

Bud Abraham

Thankyou Gina now i know my place couldnt handle such a job at the moment. This is why i think this forum is the best! good honest people helping each other.

Bud

Today’s detailer must approach any kind of remediation cleaning from an analytical basis to successfully resolve the problem, provide the best service and serve the customer well.

Unfortunately too many detailers today have lumped all types of cleaning into detailing and they are not prepared either through training or education, nor do they have the necessary equipment or chemicals to resolve the problem satisfactorily.

This hit or miss approach to remediation is a disservice to our industry and diminishes the value of what we do.

Gina

Could not agree with you more. Few detailers have any basic training let alone the type of training you describe regarding mold remediation or bio-hazard cleaning.

You serve as an excellent example of what a "professional detailer" needs to be, one who learns and learns and learns what it takes to be proficient in their field.

Unfortunately in our industry there is no certification or laws governing what kind of knowledge one must have to call oneself a detailer in this industry, it is entirely voluntarily, and you stand out in the field.

Keep up the good work.

Regards
Bud Abraham

For those who are wise enough to use a respirator like the n-95 while cleaning not only dangerous bio jobs like concours, but every day pig stys such as mini vans, try using the 3m 1870. They are expensive but is a superior mask.
My wife used to use 3 to 4 n-95 masks in the barn in one day and now a 1870 last 2 to 3 days and i have noticed a huge difference in the two masks myself.
GM. You can try using baking soda to absorb some of the smell if the spill is light but as concours and others have stated replacing is usually the best choice if a moderate amount have been spilled

As an employer you have to make sure that when you provide an employee with certain types of masks that they are sent to a patient care facility to be tested and approved to wear the mask. Sometimes employees have hypertension or breathing problems and wearing certain masks can restrict their breathing and cause further medical problems

The 1870 is one of the few n-95 masks that is approved by both niosh, the fda and also meets ASTM standards. They are fiberglass free,hypoallergenic and fluid resistent .
One of my oldest clients uses these masks for his equine surgeries he does at his clinic every tues(thats where i first seen them) Also we use them at the breeding and foaling barns where gloves,mask and a full disposable suit is required as germs play a huge factor in breeding and raising foals