Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

[CBLW]

OK, let me try to explain my situation as clearly as possible so that, hopefully, it will be easy for folks to offer some advice:

While cleaning the bottom of my BMW 135i's accelerator with soap and water, I accidently swabbed a small section of the car's carpet with the wet soapy cloth (to be specific, the tiny piece of carpet that runs directly between the front of the accelerator and the small plastic foot pad imbedded into the floor carpeting. Instantly, I had soap and water in the carpet. Panicked, I proceeded to try a variety of procedures to:

A. Remove the soap from the carpet
B. Return the carpet to it's normal appearance.

Let me clear: There is NO soap in the carpet. Soap in the carpet is not the problem. The problem is that no matter what I do, I can't seem to get this small patch of carpet back to looking and feeling like new. I have tried, Tuff Stuff, Blue Coral, water, vacuuming, EVERYTHING I can think of, and no matter what, the carpet area still seems stiff and ugly. It's depressing me. I just want to make it plush again! When I push the carpet one way, it looks alright, but when I push it back vertically, it clumps in an ugly way that shows me I still haven't fixed the problem.

Can someone help me fix this TINY but very annoying problem? Keep in mind: I don't have a wetvac, I don't have a steamer. Anything else I can get. I can't imagine why the issue still exists.

HELP!

[Maserati Mario]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

mmmmmm...did the color change?
Stiff I understand, but ugly?
Sounds like there's product (soap) still in there, try a spraying water then vacuum, do this over and over until no product is left.
Also you put a lot of different products into the carpet.
Can you post pics please? It is always helpful to put up pics so we know exactly what your talking about.

[CBLW]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

No change in color, thank goodness. But my problem with doing as you say, is that I am concerned that the more i scrub and wet the carpet, the worse it will look. I have tried vacuuming excessively, using spot cleaners, water, etc., to no avail. Certainly, there must be a reason why this little patch doesn't look right. Keep in mind, the more I rub, the more carpet is bound to fray. This is a small spot of carpet, so it's rather hard to work and more noticable.

[Murr1525]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

Even soapy water shouldnt affect carpet that badly....

But I would agree with at least getting a wet/damp cloth and blotting some, make sure that there is no product left in there.

[CBLW]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

I'm telling you guys, unless there's something I'm missing -- like using VERY hot water, or something -- I've done it all. I need to try something new. Or should I just COMPLETELY soak the area?

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

Try blotting the area with as hot of water as you can. Then immediately blot it dry. It sounds like you have some sort of residue still in the carpet.

[CBLW]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

Should I blot the water with a cloth, or just dump REALLY hot water into the spot and then set to work blotting it out? And you recommend blotting, not scrubbing? Correct?

[BlueZero]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

I'm stuck on the part about soap and water doing anything bad to automotive carpet. Rain, wet shoes should all be fine. Is it possible for you to post a photo?

[Murr1525]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

I know.... if rain, snow, sleet and mud wont affect it, whats soapy water going to do....

[gww35]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

Extract with fresh water. Go to a carpet cleaning supply store and ask them for a sample of "Last Step" manufactured by CTI (Yellow bottle) You can use a different brand the Carpet Cleaner will know exactly what you need. After extracting with fresh water and making several vacuum passes then spray the "Last Step" to that area, lightly rub it in with a clean cloth (rub very lightly.) This will solve your problem.

You guys, go to a carpet cleaning supply store. They have stuff you never heard of that easily removes red juice stains, pet stains and odor, blood, spilled milk odors etc..

Most of the larger supply stores have stain removal classes that are very good.

[CBLW]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

Can you clarify what you mean by "extract" with fresh water? I'm so confused... I seriously don't think that there is ANYTHING in the carpet. I just can't figure out why it's bunching the way that it is. I can't imagine that I've actually DAMAGED it just by cleaning and vacuuming an area. Maybe it's beyond repair. Sigh. :-(

[gww35]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

If you are using a portable extractor (carpet cleaning machine) just put fresh water in the tank spray and ****. You need to remove and flush out any left over chemicals or soap. You can just use a spray bottle of water and a shop vac, that works pretty well. Then apply the "last step" and you will be ok.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

Find a reputable and long-time established Detail Shop and let them take a stab at it. Be sure to discuss in depth with the manager the problem and your expectations and see if they'll take the job and if they do hold them to a quality job.

[CBLW]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

Thanks to all for the input... I'll let you know if I ever manage to get this problem fixed. So frusterating...

[BlueZero]

Re: Car Carpet Cleaning Help Needed!

The carpet is the same color (not stained) just clumped/matted together? Does it feel sticky when you touch it? I'm just thinking the soap and water didn't hurt it but maybe some grease or something from the back of the pedal ended up on it. Do you have a old tooth brush or similar brush you can work on the carpet softly?

If you could get a photo somehow it would really help us to figure out what to do. Sorry we can't be of more help.

By the way, I'm totally jealous of your car! Nice ride!