Don’t Store Valuable Stuff in Humidity–Especially Your Car
This lesson is learned quickly when you live in the Southern US: humidity is not your friend. Humidity will make you a minimalist in a hurry if you need to make the choice of paying for “conditioned” storage or divesting of your things, because if you have to store anything valuable for more than a week, “unconditioned” storage can destroy them with mold and mildew.
If you’ve ever watched “picker” and car restoration shows, you’ll know that people are storing marvelous treasures in their barns, sheds and basements. Here’s what they don’t show: all the mold and mildew that accumulate on these items. They can become unrecognizable. When moving to a new home a few years ago, I used the large (unconditioned) workshop metal building for storage until I could sort everything out, and quickly discovered that mildew would grow on everything. Even the antique sewing machine case. Especially leather shoes. Quick lesson: add air conditioning asap!
This is true for your car, too. If you have a car that’s not being used, it’s full of mold food: dust and moisture = mold. Here’s a photo of what can happen in short order (a matter of weeks) if it's left in a humid garage. Cars are valuable, and if you are actually paying to rent a parking spot, the storage cost adds to the damage! Here are our tips:
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If you have to store your car for more than a few days, vacuum it out and clean surfaces as best you can (TotalClean is a great non-toxic surface cleaner).
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Roll up the windows. You’ll want to keep humid air out.
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If you don’t have access to electricity, add several desiccant-type dehumidifiers to the floor or any stable place (you don’t want them to tip over and release liquid back into the interior). These will need to be changed out frequently if the garage is humid.
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If you do have access to electricity, add 3 things (pass the extension cord through a window but seal around it as tightly as you can):
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A small plug-in dehumidifier (this will also need to be emptied often)
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a Mold Guard or Air Angel
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another small fan (plenty of air circulation is key to 2 things: dehumidification and getting the ions everywhere in your car)
The key to keeping your car’s interior de-funkified is to pay attention. If you can’t check on it at least once a week, try to find someone who can, and explain to them why you’ve set it up this way and what to check. The keys are, similar your home:
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Seal the car’s “boundary” by rolling up the windows and closing the doors securely. Without doing this, your dehumidifier(s) will not be able to keep up with the moisture coming in continually through the open areas.
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If you have an electrical outlet to use nearby, you can pass it over the top of the window, using a piece of foam and non-marking tape to seal around it, or try to find another penetration to the outside of the car (like a rubber plug under the spare tire well, a hole through the tail light area, etc.). Seal around the cord.
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Check on the car and empty the dehumidifiers frequently (at least once a week). You can even use one of our mini humidity sensors to have an idea of what kind of humidity the car is experiencing. If it seems to remain below 60% when you check on it, there’s little chance of mold and mildew developing. It’s not worth trying to dehumidify below 40%, because even though mold won’t grow, dry climates also cause materials to dry out and crack, which also ages the interior prematurely.
If your car runs, it’s worth keeping the interior in a use-able condition too. We hope these tips help you come back to a car you’ll enjoy driving again!
