Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!?

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Tue 12 Jan 2021 16:30
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - granty91
Hey all,

New to the forum, need some help please!

I've had a leak in my Insignia (which has today been fixed by the garage) the problem is the back seats are still wet (and mouldy!)

Drying them is a problem, obviously they won't be drying in January's weather.
With lockdown, and a lack of time available for me to do it, I really can't take it on a 2-3 hour drive with all the heaters on.
I also can't really leave it outside the house running - my house is set back from the main road, probably approx. 100 yards, it's at an angle too (i.e the car is to the far left of the house, not directly in front).

Wondered if there were any other tips of advice on how I can dry the car? It's getting mouldier by the day and I also want to dry it out so that I can definitely tell if the leak is fixed or not.

Any help would be great... thanks in advance!

Regards,
Grant
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Tue 12 Jan 2021 16:41
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - skidpan

Buy a dehumidifier and leave it running in the car. Better than heat.

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Tue 12 Jan 2021 17:28
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - granty91
I've got 2 very small ones in there at the moment, they've not made any difference so far (although to be fair, that was before the leak was fixed)/
This is them: pingi.com/shop/car-dehumidifier/car-dehumidifier/

Is it better to get a bigger one perhaps?
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Tue 12 Jan 2021 17:38
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - bathtub tom

Can you get mains power to the car? If so, hiring a de-humidifier could be the answer. Those little packs serve very little purpose.

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Tue 12 Jan 2021 18:12
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - granty91
Sadly not
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Tue 12 Jan 2021 23:15
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - Andrew-T

I have one of those Pingi jobs. Its capacity is about 60 grams of moisture which is removed by microwaving. Two ounces of water is quite a bit, but if things are seriously wet it could take a long time to complete.

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Tue 12 Jan 2021 23:31
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - sammy1

Can you remove the seat and dry indoors? Leave windows or doors open on a windy day. Put towels or something absorbent "cardboard" on seat and apply weight to get rid of most although if you have had a bad leak water could have soaked through to the metal underneath.

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Wed 13 Jan 2021 08:35
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - Deryck

The seats shoukd come out - I would go for that option

rear seat removal - Insignia Drivers UK Forum (insignia-drivers.uk)

I have found even just damp seats take forever to dry at this tie of year

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Wed 13 Jan 2021 15:40
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - John F

When it stops raining, strategically place a hair dryer on medium setting and leave rear windows open an inch. I assume you can run an extension lead from the house. Also, when fine and dry, park in sunshine when possible, with windows slightly open.

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Wed 13 Jan 2021 15:45
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - skidpan

When it stops raining, strategically place a hair dryer on medium setting and leave rear windows open an inch. I assume you can run an extension lead from the house.

From earlier posts

Can you get mains power to the car? If so, hiring a de-humidifier could be the answer. Those little packs serve very little purpose.

Sadly not

I had suggested a dehumidifier at the start of the thread, way better than a hairdryer.

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Wed 13 Jan 2021 17:36
Vauxhall Insignia - Best way to dry car seats!? - Chris M

A dehumidifier on its own won't work at this time of year. You'll need heat as well and you're unlikely to get much even if the car is parked in the sun. Ideally the temperature in the car needs to be around 30 degrees centigrade to raise the humidity sufficiently.

The OP has already stated the car is some distance from his home, so it looks like he needs to find a friend with a power source.

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If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.

Is an electric car right for me?