Dehumidifiers in cars is an odd one, but important as well as the other essential winter products. Keeping the air dry in your car is essential for it to not build up any nastiness. The air in a car will get damp, especially in winter, because a car’s interior is a confined space in which we exhale moisture.
There are other causes too such as transporting the wet dog around to and from the park or settling into your seat after running through a rain storm. Older cars also have the added issue of not being well sealed, meaning external moisture can penetrate the interior too.
Though it’s not as thought of as a winter priority as, say, ice scrapers for your windscreen. Preventing moisture build-up in a car helps keep a car free of condensation, but also helps avoid the invasion of mould and mildew.
The best dehumidifiers at a glance:
Editor’s pick: Pingi Dehumidifier – Buy from Amazon.
Best value dehumidifier: Gadlane X-Large Reusable Car Dehumidifier – Buy from Amazon.
Best double dehumidifier: Hillington Reusable Car Interior Dehumidifier Bags – Buy from Amazon.
Wisedry Silica Gel Packets Car Dehumidifier Bag
While glass squeegees are good for absorbing outside moisture on your windscreen. Dehumidifiers are great at absorbing moisture inside and there are plenty with automotive use in mind. Which are best? See below.
The best dehumidifiers
Editor's pick
Rrp: £9.80
Rrp: £9.80
It's really affordable, small in size and features a handy dot that turns from blue to pink once it needs recharging. If you suffer from damp or steamed-up windows, one of these will be worth its weight in gold.
Pros
- Unlimited usage
- Excellent properties
Cons
- No anti-slip treatment
Best double dehumidifier
The first is the dot on the bag. When the bag has absorbed all it can, the dot goes blue. You then 'recharge' it (about once a month in the microwave) and the dot goes pink. The second useful feature is the inclusion of non-slip pads that you can use to stop the bags from sliding off a dashboard, making this a really good option for a moisture-prone car.
Pros
- Unlimited usage
- Perfect for your dashboard
Cons
- No performance advanatage
Best dehumidifier for absorption
The downside is that they don't have any non-slip pads or boast an indicator to tell you when they need a recharge.
Pros
- Can hold a decent amount of water
- Easy to 'recharge'
Cons
- No recharge indicator
Best dehumidifier gadget
Being cordless, you'd imagine the ID-A300 is battery-powered, but in fact, that's not the case. Just as the bags need to release collected moisture, so too does this and that is what plugging it in achieves. However, it needs to be plugged in for a long time - 15 to 20 hours - in order to release all the moisture.
Pros
- Interesting way of dehumidifying a car
- Neatly packaged
Cons
- It's bigger and more complex
Other products to help with damp
While cars will get damp for all manner of reasons (leaky rubber seals are a top culprit), condensation isn’t the only concern. Damp can lead to horrible smells and even mould. Combat the smell with some of our recommendations. We’re also including an air-con refresh bottle as blocked ventilation is a leading cause of damp.
Best versatile dehumidifiers
They can sit in a car for quite a while before needing to be dried out, which you can do on a radiator, in the microwave, or just by airing them out. As a natural deodoriser, these bags should help lift smells without having to rely on air fresheners.
Pros
- Unlimited usage
- Eco-conscious
Cons
- You'll need to find somewhere to keep them in your car
Best odour spray
Pros
- Eliminates an array of bad odours
- Easy to use
Cons
- Not the answer if your car needs a seriously deep clean
Best air con cleaner
Rrp: £9.99
Rrp: £9.99
To combat this, unblock the drain hose (there are many YouTube videos showing you how) and use an air-con cleaner to kill the bacteria. We recommend STP Air-Con Cleaner. It's easy to use, just run the air con (doors shut and no one in the car) with the STP spray for 10 minutes before ventilating the car thoroughly.
Pros
- Cleans out the air conditioning system in good time
- Easy to set up
Cons
- You do have to have the engine running
While car dehumidifiers dry the air and help avoid moisture-related problems in the first place, of the dehumidifiers above, only the bamboo charcoal will purify the air and eliminate odours too. It erases what no fancy high-tech torch can even illuminate. Meanwhile, air fresheners mask a smell but don’t eliminate the cause.
The cause could simply be a forgotten apple core or pair of gnarly old socks (different from a set of car socks, mind) that need to be removed from the car. However, smells penetrate fabrics and need to be dealt with.
The best permanent solution to avoid smells permeating throughout a car interior is to keep the interior clean. Air it out too on a nice day. Though not on a freezing cold day when you’ll need some snow chains.
Chris Williams is an Automotive Content Writer for Parkers and CAR Magazine, he trained as an automotive journalist in New Zealand, prior to which he studied International Relations and History.
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