The last thing you want to do is leave your car interior to dry by itself. Thankfully, it’s very easy to dry the inside of a car.
Whether you’ve left a window open, drove through a storm with the roof down, or simply spilled a drink, leaving the liquid to dry by itself can cause problems.
Keep reading to find out how to dry out a car interior quickly and effectively. Acting fast is the best way to prevent water spots, stains, and other issues from occurring.
Table of Contents
Why Dry The Interior Of Your Car
There are many reasons why you wouldn’t want the inside of your car to be damp or wet. The most common issue you’ll face when leaving your car to dry by itself is mold and mildew.
Mold grows when there’s a food source, moisture and oxygen. Spillages (moisture) is one of the three main factors and is most of the time the final factor required for mold to grow in your car.
Breathing in mold isn’t good for you. I certainly wouldn’t want to spend prolonged periods in a moldy car.
I also wouldn’t want to have to clean it out of a car. While it is pretty straightforward, it’s still not a pleasant task. After all, it’s pretty foul and can be harmful to health when breathed in.
Another reason to dry out a car interior is to prevent water spots. Depending on the fabric of your interior, water spots can start to form.
Water spots aren’t harmful to health, but make your interior look trash. Nobody wants spillage outlines or stains on their seat. It looks disgusting and will definitely make your passenger think twice about riding in your car.
Equipment & Tools you may need
Drying the interior of a car is straightforward, however, you may need some basic tools and equipment.
- Microfiber Car Towel
- Wet & Dry Vacuum
- Fan / Hairdryer / Blow Dryer
- Dehumidifier
- Cat Litter
The only thing that you’ll actually really need is a couple of microfiber towels, but the other pieces of equipment will help you to get faster and better results
How to dry wet car seats & carpets
The method that you use for drying car seats will be different based upon the type of material they are. For example, all that you’ll need to dry wet leather is a microfibre cloth, especially if it was just water that was spilled.
Regardless, the first step of drying wet car seats is to grab a towel and start removing the excess liquid.
Using a microfiber towel start to dab and blot the liquid away. Keep doing this until you have dried the area as good as you can.
Make sure to check surrounding areas as water runs easily. Leaving the floor or a surrounding area damp could lead to mold growing.
If you have the money using a wet and dry vacuum will allow you to clean the area and dry it at the same time.
A wet & dry vacuum will be much more efficient and also help to remove any dirt that’s trapped in the water. This seriously minimises the chance of water spots and other marks when the seats dry.
Buying a wet & dry vac will set you back just under $100.
Remove moisture from your car interior
After you’ve removed the water from your vehicle, you’re going to be faced with a little bit of moisture that you need to take care of.
Failure to take care of moisture could result in water spots or growth of mold and mildew.
The best way to remove moisture and dampness is by using hot air. Using a fan, hairdryer or heat gun, you’ll be able to dry areas that are still damp.
Opening your doors and windows while setting up some fans to blow through your car will also do the job. This isn’t do-able for everyone. However, when you return in an hour or two, your car will be completely dry.
The second most effective and efficient way to get the moisture out of a car is to simply spot dry the wet areas using a blow dryer or hairdryer.
Depending on the size of the area, this could take a while, but, it’s a method that everyone can do.
Finally, you may even want to add a dehumidifier into the mix. This will remove any excess moisture, helping to prevent mold and other unwanted particles from growing.
Depending on your budget, you could get cheap re-useable car dehumidifier bags, an electric one, or even baking soda.
A dehumidifier is not a replacement for air drying, but it is a very helpful tool to tackle wider-spread moisture.
Using Cat Litter To Dry Out Your Car
Now, this isn’t necessarily one that I’d recommend myself, I’d much rather opt for a dehumidifier, Cat Litter is widely recommended on the internet.
This is a very cheap DIY solution to drying out your car. The main issue is that cat litter is very dusty, and if it goes wrong, you could have to clean the whole interior of your car again.
When using cat litter to dry out cars, simply place it into an old pair of tights, socks or even an old bag.
Leave it in your car for 12-24 hours in a place where it’s unlikely to get knocked over and you’ll return to a completely dry car.
If you’re using this method in a bigger car, you may want to place several bags evenly across the car.
Cat litter also has a smell of its own, you may need extra air freshers or neutralisers to make your car smell normal again.
For as little as $5, and a same day DIY solution. It’s not the worst idea.
How To Prevent Your Car From Getting Wet Again
In some cases, preventing your car from getting wet will be as simple as not letting people drink in the car. In other cases, it may be slightly more complicated.
Leaving damp and wet objects in your car can lead to condensation and so can blocked pollen filters. Condensation won’t soak your car, but, it will create enough moisture for mold to grow.
In more serious situations, you may find that you have a leak in your car which soaks the area whenever it rains. My own car is known for this (Volvo C30), I’ve had to correct it myself once or twice over the years.
If you’re finding dampness or wetness in your car on a regular occurrence, it’s best that you research your car online to completely eliminate the threat, rather than having to repeatedly dry your car.