Howdy y'all,

So, Monday 8/28 my family and I evacuated from their house at 11:30PM, due to the hurricane and water starting to come in the house, and had to wade through waist deep water and pouring rain. Due to the rain we weren't able to dry off so we put towels down and sat directly on my leather seats (perforated for cooled seats). The next day we got in and noticed that the seats were still wet since the water soaked into the padding. Wednesday 8/30 I started leaving the windows down letting it air out/dry out, I continued this through Friday 9/1. Today I noticed that it smells like mildew inside the truck. Any thoughts on how to remedy this? Anything I try needs to be safe for leather since I've got a Lariat with black leather. I've thought about baking soda in a bowl in the cupholder, but I think that's just gonna mask the smell for a bit. If mildew is actually growing I obviously need to stop that.

Thanks in advance.

 

Your post got me interested in mold and mildew in car seats. I Googled and found this link:
http://wheelsguide.net/remove-mold-car-seats-interior/

I too have a Lariat and would hate having the problem you have had not only with the seats but the hurricane also.

I hope you and your family are okay and things get better for everyone with damage from the storm.

 

Lysol disinfectant should work, I had mildew/manure smell coming from my a/c, I sprayed that in the air intake and the smell hasn't come back.
.

 

You've got to get it dry first. Close it up with some desiccant packs in it to get the moisture out. If all else fails, it would be covered under insurance.

 

It's all dry. It sat in direct sun for 3 days with the windows down.

I'm gonna try vinegar, if that fails I'll try the lysol. I'd rather not make an insurance claim for an odd smell. Lol

 

Alright, so I picked up Lysol spray, and on the can it says not safe for leather. I think I'm gonna pay someone to do it. One of my coworkers is particular about his stuff and has a guy he calls when he has an issue and needs a detail. Case and point, his buddy got sick and projectile vomited in his car, the guy came out at midnight, cleaned up everything and had the smell out in an hour or two.

 

To 'fix" this problem correctly the seat covers need to be taken off. It's very possible the cushions will need replaced or at the very least treated. There are a couple of different products that can be sprayed on the covers that will take care of the smell along with cleaning and protecting them. Do this while they are off.

Again, it's more likely the cushions and not the covers themselves that are the real problem. Don't forget the carpet....

 

If you open the seats, take a look at a product called odoban. We are using it to treat after hurricane Harvey. Kills all the way to hiv. You can get concentrate at Home Depot or sams. Comes in one gallon concentrate. The one at sams comes with a free 16 ounce spray bottle.

 

That's my fear. The carpet isn't an issue, I've got Husky X-Act contour mats. Just the seats sadly. My dad got off easy, his cloth seats aren't smelling like this and got equally wet. If I'm pulling covers I'd rather put custom leather back on, but that's not in the budget right now.

 

I let baking soda sit on the seats for 2 days, no more smell. Guess it wasn't mildew growing. Lol