You can kill the mildew with a homemade solution.
Why do my car vents smell like mildew.
Use long handled products to make it easier to reach deep into your vents.
For example it could happen because of leaves dust and debris that builds up inside the air vents.
You can remove the tobacco stench by shampooing the carpets the upholstery and the headliner using an enzyme based cleaning product.
The air from your blower motor forces air across this surface and out through the vents in your dash floor and defroster.
Probably one of the reasons why there is a distinct smell in your air conditioner when you turn it on is the growth of mold in your air vents.
In most cases this happens for a few different reasons.
This is especially a problem for those with asthma who may be sensitive to mildew spores.
Most likely it s the smell of mold and or mildew.
That s bad news because your ac is most likely distributing mold and or mildew spores throughout your home.
This results in the dirty sock like odor you smell when you first start your car and turn on your air conditioner.
The smoke from cigarettes gets into everything within your cars interior.
Mildew can also often grow inside air conditioning vents.
This moisture occurs naturally and is part of the car but if left for too long it can create mold.
Every time your ac comes on the air leaving your vents stinks with a musty odor.
Even a cabin air filter clogged with rotting leaves or leaking trunk can become odiferous.
What in the world could it be.
As the car becomes older bacteria mold fungi and micro organisms can start to grow.
You should replace the air filter to eliminate the odor.
That smell is mildew and it indicates that there has been.
If there is an odd moldy smell that kicks in as soon as you turn your air conditioning on you don t have to close your nose and bear it.
Smells of mildew in your car may be caused by the growth of bacteria.
In fact the smell happens as a result of mold building up inside the vents.
Either way it s supposed to make you comfortable and that s not possible if there s an unpleasant musty smell coming out of your vents.
If you re smelling a musty moldy smell think dirty socks then what you re smelling is mildew growing in the system.
Cigarette smoke is probably the hardest of the smells to remove from your cars ac vents.