Trunk Left Open in Rain--Suggestions?

[joejv]

have a 2k solara SL.

well, leave it to me. the one rainy weekend in SoCal and i didn't make certain my trunk was fully closed. thing sat from roughly i guess 6:00ish in the evening till 10:00 the next morning with the trunk steadily creeping open until it went full up.

fortunately, i had a trunkload (pun intended) of various papers in there, and they took a tonne of the rain.

i pulled everything out of the trunk--panels, spare tire, etc. seems the mat and the papers took the brunt of the wet, however, the two compartments had standing water up to a couple of inches, and there was quite a bit of condensation on the metal under the panels.

i've since dried things out as best i can using towels and left all the panels out. i intend to leave the trunk fully open this weekend--we have lots of sun scheduled--and even put a fan on it.

but, any suggestions for any type of spray or something. i thought about using lysol, but something made me stop and at least ask here first if there's something better or whatnot.

any advice, much appreciated.

[Justin@Adams]

Hey joejv,

So far it sounds like everything you are doing is good. Just be sure that you check over the entire trunk for anymore water. On the panels use a good detail spray, and for the carpets try spraying them with some Febreze and let them sit out to avoid any type of smell.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

[joejv]

Thanks Much Justin! I picked up some of the anti-microbial or some such Febreez for the fabric portions and decided on a mild vinegar distilled water solution for the panels.

I have a back yard with a clothes line, so figure I'll hang the top liner and bottom liner with the bits of particle board stuff for the sun and dry air.

Again, MANY thanks,

Joe

ps man do i feel like a dope, but hey, it taught me to make sure that darned trunk is *closed*.

[touringcamry]

Stick a heater in the trunk to speed the drying of the interior

[ToyotaJimD.]

Use a wet/dry vac as much as you can to get moisture out of anything that you can't easily remove.

I don't remember if the back seats fold down, but if they do, leave them down to help get some flow-through -- especially while you're driving with the AC on (even if the temperature is set to warm, AC pulls moisture out of the air.

Primarily, keep air flow in there as much as possible until you're sure it is dry.

[Pb]

I'd use a hot water extractor to get out any of the old rain water out of the carpet, to keep it from smelling later on. You can rent one. Or buy a cheap Bissel Little Green machine.

Then you can sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and let it sit overnight. Then vacuum it up in the morning. Baking Soda will soak up a lot of moisture and smell.