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What to use on carpets and fabric seats?

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  • #1

    What to use on carpets and fabric seats?

    Hi all, I was wondering what's best to use on carpets and cloth (non-leather) seats? I've heard that just sponging some soapy water on them and using a wet/dry vac to vacumm the water out is best. Figured I'd ask the experts.

    If the wet/dry vac is the best option, what product do you use for the soapy water mix and how much do you dilute it? Does this option get all the water out and dry out in a few hours, or do you have to be careful how much water you're using on the fabric?

    I used to just use Fabreze spray, but not sure if that's still the best or if there's a better solution that cleans dirt and such and leaves everything clean and residue free. Thanks!
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  • #2
    If you want your carpets extra clean you want a hot water extractor most detail shops will clean your carpets for $50 to $60 steam cleaning works well too
    Even the best cars look like junk when they are not clean

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    • #3
      APC, All Purpouse Cleanner.
      Spray, brush, wipe, vacuum.

      DetailingByM.com

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      • #4
        Re: What to use on carpets and fabric seats?

        Bissell"s Little Green Machine works great for the money.

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        • #5
          Re: What to use on carpets and fabric seats?

          Thanks a lot for the feedback. I'm going to order a jug of All Purpose Cleaner now. At least for the time being until I have more money to invest I think spraying and then vacuuming will be the best bet. Maybe someday I'll get an actual shampooer or steamer, but they're a little pricey for me at the moment.

          One more question, what kind of brush is good to use once the fabric is sprayed with the cleaner solution? Sounds like a dumb question, maybe it is, but I wouldn't want to use anything too abrasive on the cloth, and most brushes I see at stores are kinda rough.

          Thanks!

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          • #6
            Re: What to use on carpets and fabric seats?

            Can look at terry cloth for more of a blotting technique.

            Actually, the brush Meguiars used to make was fairly stiff.

            One of those soft sort of shoe brushes is an option for soft.
            2017 Subaru WRX Premium - WR Blue

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            • #7
              Re: What to use on carpets and fabric seats?

              We always use a little red carpet brush similar to something like this http://www.detailing.com/store/carpe...26a78bb0c3fea4 they are very good brushes however depending on the condition of the seams of your seat you may want to use something a bit lighter im not sure what they have in the stores but you want something semi stiff so that you can break up stains and dirt that is caught up in the seat.
              Even the best cars look like junk when they are not clean

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              • #8
                D10219 Is great for what you are wanting. Just shop vac the leaves 1st.

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                • #9
                  Re: What to use on carpets and fabric seats?

                  Originally posted by Please Wash Me Detailing View Post
                  APC, All Purpouse Cleanner.
                  Spray, brush, wipe, vacuum.
                  That's pretty much it, in a nutshell at least.


                  WARNING: THE IMAGE BELOW IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART OR WEAK OF STOMACH























                  A few months ago one of our dogs needed to have surgery to repair a torn ligament in a knee, and during one of his many trips to the vet during that time he had a bit of an accident in the back of my wife's car. Unfortunately for her, she was alone with him at the time and couldn't do much of anything to fix the issue. Unfortunately for me, I had to clean up the mess. And what a mess it was. When my wife called to tell me what happened I thought she was exaggerating the situation a bit. But when I got home that evening and saw her car parked in the driveway with the windows open, instead of in the garage with the windows closed, I got a sick feeling in my stomach. Then I looked inside the car and almost lost it. She hadn't exaggerated one little bit; she had actually under stated the situation. The image below only tells half the story as the other side was just as bad.



                  I was really worried that this was going to be a lost cause. It was pretty well ground in and mostly dried up. I brushed up as much of the dried material as I could, which wasn't much, and vacuumed what little loose material the brushing created. I then liberally sprayed with APC+, let it dwell for a bit, then brushed some more. I did this a few times, which started to create a truly disgusting "paste" that I could sort of mop up with a terry cloth towel. After a few rounds of this I got a bit more aggressive with the brush and then pulled out our big upright hot water carpet cleaner with the hand attachment. Using a solution of APC+ 10:1 in the soap reservoir and plain, hot water in the rinse reservoir, I went at it. To my great relief it was pulling out the horrendous mess pretty easily at this point. My wife was stunned that it worked so well. The carpet cleaner we have offers great suction power (using it on the carpets at home, also with APC+ at 10:1, the carpets are completely dry in no time) so it did a great job of pulling moisture out of the seats in this situation. Several rounds of rinsing just to be sure I'd gotten all the APC+ out and this was the end result:



                  Needless to say, everyone was happy with the outcome. A little Odor Eliminator to finish off and you can't tell that the dog ever had a problem that day. Oh, and three months later our little pooch is fully recovered from surgery. And we have a large blanket to lay across the back seat for future road trips even though in his 12 years this was the only such incident. I'm just not going through this again if I can avoid it!
                  Michael Stoops
                  Senior Global Product & Training Specialist | Meguiar's Inc.

                  Remember, this hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need therapy.

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                  • #10
                    Re: What to use on carpets and fabric seats?

                    Sorry about the mess but sometimes it helps the rest of us if these things happen to the best of us of course I am talking about new to detailing us

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