My daughter left the window down on our 2023 Forester last night. It absolutely POURED and the drivers everything is soaked. We used towels to drink up most of the water. I used compressed air to dry the switches out.
Currently the car is in my shop, both front doors are open and a strong fan is blowing air across the front, in one door and out the other. Is there a better way to dry out the interior? Maybe run the AC on recirc for a long time?
A residential dehumidifier running inside the closed up car?
Dehumidifier for sure
Dealerships park them in the sun with the engine running, windows up and the a/c on full blast. Don't recirculate.
Scatter a 10lb bag of rice on the floorboards? Later, vacuum up the moist rice?
Edit: non-recirulating AC is a form of dehumidifier but a stand alone unit would be more effective. Running car and running dehumidifier will give you a double effect.
Thanks all. I don't have a dehumidifier or that'd be in there already. As far as running in recirc, wouldn't that dry it out faster since I'm not bringing in humid, SW Florida air?
The rice is an interesting idea. Didn't even think of that.
Suck as much water as you can with a wet dry shop vac or carpet and upholstery cleaner?
Remove the drivers seat and lift up the carpet and it will help a lot, the insulation under the carpet is a big sponge and doesn't have any airflow when blocked by the carpet.
Sonic makes an important point. This may seem counterintuitive, after doing your best job with shop vac on the floors, pour alcohol on the floors, the alcohol/water solution will evaporate faster than water along. Has something to do with latent heat of evaporation.
Do they still have drain plug in the floor pans of new cars?
Of course, in the old cars, they needed to be taken out from above, which did not make much sense. You essentially have to take the interior out to get to the plugs, and at that point... not super useful.
They sell large size silica gel for keeping gun safes dry. Also, safe dehumidifiers.
On a hot dry day with no chance of rain, I'd leave it outside in the sun with the windows down.
1988RedT2 said:....On a hot dry day with no chance of rain....
Florida man laughs at your naivety...
Lots of good tips here. I always start with a shop vac. AC, not on recirculate for a while.
This stuff works, buy the tub, not the closet bag. I keep one in my Miata since it's parked most of the time.
Sonic's idea will save floorboards. I would pull EVERYTHING out, seats,, carpet, rubber etc.
Hair dryer, leaf blower, and make sure your daughter helps. Improves the memory.
As for dehumidifier, borrow one from a neighbor, buy one, buy one with the shady intent of returning it, or rent one (that will likely be industrial and do a super job.)
Down draft fans are good for that. The bigger ones move 3000 cfm and they work well if you put the car in the garage and pull the seats.
Used to be sold as Dri-Pod but they seem to be out of stock.
Other than that I'd go get a dehumidifier and close it in there.
John Welsh said:As for dehumidifier, borrow one from a neighbor, buy one, buy one with the shady intent of returning it, or rent one (that will likely be industrial and do a super job.)
Still won't get the padding under the carpet dry. Sadly, I know this.
I would shop vac out as much as possible, then run a/c on recirc with the heat on as long as possible.
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