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Taking care of your car’s paint is one job you should never stop doing; unless you’re done with the car and wish to dump it out. And if you have mold stains on your car paint, we’ll be looking at how to remove mold from car paint today.
Undoubtedly, a lot of things will tend to damage your car’s paint- it is left for you to protect the car and act proactively to paint damages.
There are lots of things that could cause damage to your car paint if left to sit on the paint for a long time; they include shaving creams, sodas, fluids, bird chippings, dirt, etc.
More so, you may see molds appear on your paint due to overstayed dirt or some other reasons; how would you remove the mold and save your paint from damage?
Let’s quickly find out!
What Causes Mold To Appear On A Car?
Molds may appear on a car due to abandonment – when the car is left for a very long time without being used or washed. Mostly, molds appear on the exterior (car’s paint), but some drivers have also alleged that molds did appear on their car’s interior (upholstery).
Apparently, molds make your car appear nasty, and they can contain bacteria/viruses. You should clean them up when you see them appear on your vehicle’s paint. Interestingly, this article clearly explains how to remove mold from car paint.
To get started, you should learn these tips:
- If the car attracted molds because it was parked for l long time without been taken care of, you’d need a mold removal compound.
- If the molds just appeared after a short time of not washing the car, a thorough wash can clean up everything.
How To Remove Mold From Car Paint
There are a couple of ways to clean out molds from your car paint, and it’s advisable that you put on hand gloves while trying them out. Yes, the hand gloves will protect you from contracting bacteria or viruses that might be in the molds.
1. Using Olive Oils
Molds can be removed from cars using olive oils. This method requires that you wash the car as you’d do any time – using towels, clean water, and soap/detergent.
After washing the car, allow it to dry naturally (or dry it using a clean microfiber rag), then follow the steps below to apply olive oil to the paint to clean the molds.
- Get a dry microfiber towel and pour a few drops of olive oil into it
- Use the microfiber towel to clean the paint areas where the molds appeared
- Gently scrub the areas that have the molds
- Watch if the molds were removed
- Add vinegar to water and rinse off the olive oil
2. Using Mineral Spirits
Mineral spirits are yet another substance you could use to remove molds from car paint. They work to dissolve the molds and kill the bacteria that are likely inhabiting inside. If the olive oil did not work to remove those unsightly molds, this could be a great option to try out.
- Pour out a small quantity of mineral spirits to a clean microfiber rag
- Rub it against the molds in circular motions and allow to sit for some minutes (about 8 – 10 minutes)
- Wipe down with another clean microfiber towel; you can damp the new rag in clean water
Check for the molds – this should have cleaned them off, but if it didn’t, try the next method below.
3. Wash With Salty Water
When salt is dissolved in water, it can be used to clean quite a lot of stubborn dirt. Some drivers have alleged that they were able to use salty water to remove the molds on their vehicle’s paint; hence, this method could also work for you.
- Add salt to a bucket of clean water
- Dip a clean microfiber towel into the salty water, and use it to clean the affected areas that had the molds
- You may need to apply a little pressure while scrubbing on the molds
- Rinse off the car immediately after scrubbing and check if the molds have disappeared
4. Get A Paint Correction Kit
- ALL-IN-ONE KIT: The safe, simple, and user-friendly car care kit includes all the high-quality car detailing products you need to remove light surface defects and add glossy protection to your paint’s finish without creating swirls.
- PERFECT FOR DUAL ACTION POLISHERS: The 5-inch cutting discs and included car accessories are ideally used with the Meguiar's MT300 Professional DA Polisher for car detailing, but it can be used with any dual action polisher.
- MICROFIBER PADS: This car paint restorer kit includes reusable DA Microfiber Cutting and Finishing Discs that are aggressive enough to remove moderate defects, yet gentle enough to leave a professional-grade, swirl-free finish.
- RESTORE PAINT WITH LESS MESS: To minimize the mess, our car paint repair kit comes with DA Microfiber Correction Car Compound and Finishing Wax. With no slinging and minimal dusting, anyone can restore their paint with less cleanup hassle.
- THE COMPLETE SET: Kit includes two 5" DA Microfiber Cutting Discs, two 5" DA Microfiber Finishing Discs, 5" DA Backing Plate, 16 oz DA Microfiber Correction Compound, 16 oz DA Microfiber Finishing Wax, and a Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Shop Apron.
There are a couple of paint correction kits from different manufacturers, which can be used to correct and remove minor car paint defects. How to use paint correction kits may differ; typically, the manufacturers provide instructions on how to use them.
However, generally, to use an auto repair kit, you need to wash and dry the car, use a clay bar to smoothen the surface you wish to work on, and then apply the actual paint correction compound that comes with the kit you bought.
So far, we’ve explained the different possible ways to remove mold buildup from cars’ exterior. It’d be a nice consideration also to highlight the different ways to protect your car paint from attracting molds.
How To Protect Car Paint From Mold
Molds will only appear on your vehicle’s paint if the vehicle is wet – there is no way molds will buildup on your car’s paint when it’s totally dried up. Hence, simply put, molds occur due to trapped moisture on a car’s paint. So how do you avoid this?
It’s quite simple, dry your car before covering it with a car cover. It is a bad practice to use car cover on wet cars; such activity is liable to attract molds on your car’s paint because moisture would be trapped in many areas.
Also, if you’d be parking the car for a long time, ensure that it is dry and parked in a place where air flows in and out to avoid excessive heat, which may moisturize the paint, and thus, giving room for molds to buildup on the surface, over time.
Summarily, always keep your car dry; that’s the surefire trick to avoid mold buildups on your car’s paint. Furthermore, when you wash the car, wait for it to dry before covering the car with car cover.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article clearly explains how to remove mold from car paint and how to protect your car paint from attracting mold. We hope you share the solutions mentioned here with friends and colleagues who’ve got molds on their vehicles’ paint.