15 Tips For Cleaning Carpeting & Upholstery In Your Car

[sampathapg]

15 Tips for Cleaning Carpeting & Upholstery in your Car There's nothing worse than buying a new car, and weeks later, it looks more lived-in than a 100-year-old house. Drive-thru food and drinks, kids with sticky candy, and drooling Fido also do their fair share toward making your car's interior — be it leather, cloth, or carpet — look beaten and worn. By maintaining the appearance of the vehicle inside as well as out, you retain the value of the car, which will help you when it's time to trade it in or sell it. Here are a few helpful hints to help you tackle the spills and spots:

1. Dilute coffee spills immediately with cool water and blot with paper towels or clean rags. If a stain remains after the spot dries, spray on a glass cleaner (yes, a glass cleaner!). Soak the area, allow to sit for five minutes, and blot. Glass cleaner cleans all types of carpeting and upholstery without leaving the soapy residue of most traditional carpet cleaners, which only attract more dirt afterward. Glass cleaner isnormally effective on even the most difficult stains. Once your carpet is cleaned it's time to Scotchgard the surface to limit further staining.

2. Most greasy carpeting and upholstery stains can be removed by rubbing on paint thinner with a clean, 100-percent cotton cloth. Then cover the stain with salt until the remaining grease is absorbed, and vacuum. Or cover the spot with cornmeal and let it sit overnight and vacuum in the morning. Note: Test the effect of the paint thinner on the colorfastness of the carpeting and/or upholstery in a discrete area first.

3. Hairspray will lift out pen ink stains on carpeting or upholstery. Salt will also lift the stain out of the carpet. Allow to sit until the stain is absorbed and brush off. Repeat if necessary.

4. Carsickness stains, from children, pets or adults, should be diluted and neutralized (vomit is acidic) with club soda or a mixture of baking soda and water.

5. Blood stains on carpeting or upholstery, whether animal or human, should be immediately covered with a paste made up of dry laundry starch and cold water. (Do not use hot water, as it will set the stain.) Allow to dry, then brush or vacuum the residue away.

6. Though you should never drink and drive, if alcohol spills while on your way home from the grocery store, beer and alcohol spills on your carpeting should be immediately diluted with cold water so they don't permanently change the color.

7. To clean vinyl seats quickly, wipe them with baking soda on a damp rag. Rinse with dishwashing detergent and water. Baking soda is gentler on vinyl than oil-based cleaners, which will cause the vinyl to harden.

8. For general carpet or upholstery stains, take a gallon of hot water, a generous amount of dish detergent, and add a cup of white vinegar. You'll need a hard bristle brush to work the mixture thoroughly into the carpet fibers. Let sit for 30 minutes. Blot until dry with towels or thick absorbent rags. (This also works well for pet stains).

9. To brighten a fading carpet, first vacuum, then use a sponge mop to lightly apply a mixture of a half cup clear ammonia to one pint of water. Test this mixture on a discrete area of carpeting of first. Note: Do not use ammonia on wool carpeting.

10. If carpeting begins to smell, sprinkle on 20-Mule Team Borax generously, then let it sit undisturbed for an hour before vacuuming up both dirt and unpleasant smells. If your dog goes off-road with you, you might be interested to learn that a second application of Borax will kill fleas and their eggs.

11. Carpet edges starting to fray? Paint carpet seams and edges with a liquid resin, found in craft and fabric stores, to hold the fibers in place.

12. Before your vehicle carpets begin to show excessive wear and tear, vacuum them just as you would at home. This will lift the fibers back upright and counteract the long-term ill effects of the dirt that's been pounded into it. If the situation is really bad, you might consider renting a steam cleaning-machine available at most supermarkets. If you do, be sure to bring up all the water when you're done, as stepping on a wet carpet only will damage the fibers further.

13. Spraying a mixture of five parts water and one part liquid fabric softener onto your carpets will lessen carpet static and remove the light shock that occurs when you touch metal objects.

14. If objects stored in the back of your sport/utility vehicle have left indentations in the carpeting, place a damp towel over the spot and press lightly with an iron on a low setting. The indentation will rise as the towel dries. Be careful not to leave the iron on the spot for too long as synthetic fibers can melt.

15. To keep car mats looking brand new, wax them with a liquid shoe wax polish. This will also make them much easier to rinse clean.

[Sylvi]

Members,

This you tube clip is from web.

(2).

Sylvi Wijesinghe.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Sylvi

[MasterDon]

You know if you're cut,pasting from the web it's common courtesy to leave a link to the original article.

[Davy]

Took out the entire interior of my car recently to cleaned the carpet at home and I think the job went pretty well. Had to spend about an hour or so taking off the interior trims, seats, console, seat belts, scuff plates and so on cause it was the first time I tried it on this and I didn't want to break any clips or do damage that I will regret later.

So here's the story...

What I needed:
- A socket wrench set
- Flathead and Philips screwdrivers
- Foam upholstry cleaner (I used a ABRO can I found at Arpico)
- Some clean rags
- A shoe brush (unused for polishing shoes )
- Water

1. Taking out the interior
Move a car to a place where you can easily keep all four doors opened. Turn off the dome light from the "door" position in case you have to leave the doors opened for a long time. The stuff that need to be removed (in order of removal) are as follows:

- The seats (both front and rear)
- Centre console
- Scuff plates and other plastic trims that fastens the carpet into place
- Seat belts (bolted on to the chassis over the carpet)
- Foot rest (left of clutch) and accelerator pedal rest

Once the interior is taken out, it looked like this:



2. Take the carpet off the vehicle
I find it much easier to work when I have a bit of space, so I took the carpet entirely off the car and put it down on the driveway. You might need help from someone else because the entire carpet sometimes come as just one piece and is a bit heavy and difficult to maneuver alone.

Carpet is out...


3. Admire the bits and pieces you have not seen in your car


4. Start clening the carpet
Spray some foam cleaner to a small section of the carpet and let it sink in for a couple of seconds. Wet the shoe brush with some water and brush softly until the surface is all celan. The images below illustrate how a stain is removed.

You see below the black carbon and dust marks left around the seatbelt mounting bolt and the seat mounting bolt.

Spraying foam cleaner

After a good brush and wiping with a damp cloth thoroughly

Do this across the entire surface of the carpet covering all nooks and crannies. I was more than satisfied with how the carpet turned up after the clenup.

5. Let the carpet dry for a few minutes

Lay the carpet out in the open sun for a few minutes (hours preferably) to air it out and to let the dampness go away.

6. Put everything back in

Put the carpet back in and start installing everything starting from the parts you removed at the very end working your way up the seats which you will be installing at the very end.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Fixed broken image links

Edited March 15, 2016 by Davy

[Bracket]

Took out the entire interior of my car recently to cleaned the carpet at home and I think the job went pretty well. Had to spend about an hour or so taking off the interior trims, seats, console, seat belts, scuff plates and so on cause it was the first time I tried it on this and I didn't want to break any clips or do damage that I will regret later.

So here's the story...

මල් හතයි ඈ ...

Edited January 23, 2014 by Bracket

[Rumesh88]

Excellent write up Davy...as always!

[Hoonigan]

Wow Davy, you make it sound easy. Nice post with the right illustrations.

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Superb write up Davy .

It is very clear why Komi identify you as "DIY Guru".

[rover]

Can any one please suggest a good place to buy cleaning and conditioner products for leather interior. Searched Arpico Navinna but could not find any . Also any tips on leather care is highly appreciated.

[Ruslan]

Can any one please suggest a good place to buy cleaning and conditioner products for leather interior. Searched Arpico Navinna but could not find any . Also any tips on leather care is highly appreciated.

You cn try pitstop. They have Autoglym leather cleaner and leather balm (Cream)

[Supra_Natural]

Great work there Davy!

මල් හතයි ඈ ...

Bracket, kindly note that this forum is conducted in English, therefore it would be preferred if you stick to English when responding.

[rover]

You cn try pitstop. They have Autoglym leather cleaner and leather balm (Cream)

Thanks Ruslan. I will try that.

[Bracket]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="Supra_Natural" data-cid="256828" data-time="1392180482"><p>

Great work there Davy!<br />

 <br />

 <br />

 <br />

Bracket, kindly note that this forum is conducted in English, therefore it would be preferred if you stick to English when responding.</p></blockquote>

Will do. Thanks

[Davy]

Excellent write up Davy...as always!

Wow Davy, you make it sound easy. Nice post with the right illustrations.

Superb write up Davy .

It is very clear why Komi identify you as "DIY Guru".

Great work there Davy!

Bracket, kindly note that this forum is conducted in English, therefore it would be preferred if you stick to English when responding.

මල් හතයි ඈ ...

Thanks guys! Appreciate it.

[Jaliya48]

Great writeup, Davy! On the topic of interior cleaning, do you think a steam cleaner will clean stained vinyl? I tried the usual detergent and a thorough brushing, but it didn't work.

[Davy]

Great writeup, Davy! On the topic of interior cleaning, do you think a steam cleaner will clean stained vinyl? I tried the usual detergent and a thorough brushing, but it didn't work.

Do you know what kind of stain it is? According to my knowledge there is no harm in steam cleaning seats but you might want to be a bit careful when cleaning vinyl parts on door panels and such because they may tend to wrinkle and lose the original look. Again, this is mainly if the vinyl is stretched and attached to a surface.

[Charith H Jayasinghe]

Great write up Davy.....

I haven't gone this far in interior cleaning... wanna try this in coming vacation.

[Jaliya48]

Do you know what kind of stain it is? According to my knowledge there is no harm in steam cleaning seats but you might want to be a bit careful when cleaning vinyl parts on door panels and such because they may tend to wrinkle and lose the original look. Again, this is mainly if the vinyl is stretched and attached to a surface.

Not sure what it is, but it looks like dried grease acquired along the years. I tried the usual teepol, window cleaner and even diluted isopropyl alcohol but it didn't go off completely. I'm going to try this baking soda trick mentioned in the article as a last resort before renting a steam cleaner!

[Davy]

Not sure what it is, but it looks like dried grease acquired along the years. I tried the usual teepol, window cleaner and even diluted isopropyl alcohol but it didn't go off completely. I'm going to try this baking soda trick mentioned in the article as a last resort before renting a steam cleaner!

I was about to suggest surgical spirit, but since you've tried it out already, try placing a paper serviette/tissue over the stain and use a warm iron over the paper. If the stain is fresh, it will be absorbed to the paper pretty soon. If that doesn't work, you can go ahead with steam cleaning.

[rayman]

Hi guys,

Just found a huge grease on my light coloured headliner! It's been a few days since it happened. Any ideas on how to remove it?

Will try out with surgical spirit over the weekend.

Thanks.

Edited June 10, 2015 by rayman

[Davy]

Hi guys,

Just found a huge grease on my light coloured headliner! It's been a few days since it happened. Any ideas on how to remove it?

Will try out with surgical spirit over the weekend.

Thanks.

Surgical spirit should do it. Soak a clean cotton rag (or microfiber towel) with a bit of surgical spirit and gently wipe it off. Repeat with a clean section of the cloth to avoid smudging the stain all over.

[SachiNayar]

Great information Davy on interior cleaning ! Going to try this at the time of car interior cleaning.

[Shack]

Thanks for the great article Davy. I just came across this one. After seeing it now i feel like ripping the floor of my Aqua!

[Vengeance]

That's one great article Davy! Thumbs up! (Y)

I have a small question, while admiring the bits and pieces I haven't seen, I found some thick yellow glue that seems to be holding the bottom plates of my car together, I inquired from 2 trustable/experienced mechanics and they mentioned that this glue is used from the company itself to attach the bottom plates together when manufacturing, but I cannot see this in your car.

I just want to confirm that this wasn't a local job done by Sri Lankan makabasses after a major repair and was done by the factory itself (the car was bought 2nd hand). Car is a Suzuki Zen and pictures have been attached below for reference. Thanks!

[Crosswind]

That's one great article Davy! Thumbs up! (Y)

I have a small question, while admiring the bits and pieces I haven't seen, I found some thick yellow glue that seems to be holding the bottom plates of my car together, I inquired from 2 trustable/experienced mechanics and they mentioned that this glue is used from the company itself to attach the bottom plates together when manufacturing, but I cannot see this in your car.

I just want to confirm that this wasn't a local job done by Sri Lankan makabasses after a major repair and was done by the factory itself (the car was bought 2nd hand). Car is a Suzuki Zen and pictures have been attached below for reference. Thanks!

It's a Maruti. You need to expect shit like this. Be happy that the glue is not Multibond or a piece of cellotape.