What is the best way to shampoo my carpet regularly so that it retains it appearance with heavy use? The commercial machines at the car wash look like they simply steam in a lot of soap and thern suck it back out- ALways seems to get dirtyier faster in my truck AFTER I clean. ANyone test a unit I can buy and use regularly and not have a lot of chemical smells to add to the car ?

 

elbow grease... just get some carpet cleaner or auto shampoo, and a brush and do it yourself... Spray it on the carpet or get a wash mit and apply the soapy water and go over it with a brush, and vacum!

 

I like tuff stuff and prestone carpet cleaner.

 

~One man’s opinion / observations ~

Use a carpet extractor to clean and remove liquid and dirt. (Vapour Clean T5Extractor / Spotter®) extraction process is the choice of professional detailers.
Extraction is faster, easier and more thorough. Hot water units offer better productivity, better results and faster drying times. Extractors also allow the ability to remove cleaning residues. Rinsed fabrics look cleaner and resist soils better.
Extractors work like the hand cleaning process except they use a mixed solution (303 Cleaner & Spot Remover) that is sprayed from the machine in higher volume. The vacuum, removing the excess moisture and the grime, then immediately recovers it. Clean normal to heavy soiling as described above. Floor mats may get as wet as necessary to properly clean them. The rubber backing and the ability to relocate them to a warm place for quick drying aids their cleaning. After mats are clean and dried apply stain guard (303 High Tech Fabric Guard) to repel grease, dirt and oil based stains and provide UV protection against fabric fading.

~Hope this helps~

Experience unshared; is knowledge wasted…/
justadumbarchitect * so i question everything*

 

WOW

 

I've had great results using the small Bissell extractor sold at Lowe's, K-Mart, etc.

Spray some cleaning solution (I prefer Griot's Garage Interior Cleaner, but some use a diluted Woolite solution, or carpet shampoo) on the carpet/upholstry. Scrub it in with a stiff (CLEAN) brush. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

After this, put only hot water into the Bissell extractor. Go over the carpet and upholstry, using the extractor only to remove the detergent and the loosened stains.

Note: If the stain was from a large amount of liquid (personal example: Chocolate milk), you will need to go over the area several times (maybe two tanks worth of hot water), as the liquid will probably have gone through the upholstry, and into the foam.

Use the extractor only to remove the detergent, never to apply/remove simultaneously. Any detergent residue left on the carpet will attract dirt - which is the reason your carpets got dirtier faster.

The Bissell unit isn't that expensive, but if used as described above, it gives professional-quality results.

 

dmatre,

This sounds like a good plan. I was thinking of doing this myself. Do you have the Bissell little green extractor (model # 1425)? This is the one I'm considering buying.

What type of brush do you use to scrub with?

Would use the brush on cloth seats as well?

Do you use the turbo brush that comes with the unit?

How many tanks of water does it take to do an entire car?

Sorry for all the questions. I appreciate any insight you can provide.

David.

 

David,

The brush I use is the Interior cleaning brush from Griot's Garage. I've been buying stuff from them for about 10 years now, and everything so far has been as they advertised.

I wouldn't go out to specifically purchase this brush, as I really don't think that using a different brush will affect the results.

I would look for a good, stiff brush, which will disturb the fibers of the carpet - allowing the cleaner to flow in between. Of course, use less elbow-grease when scrubbing the upholstry.

I don't recall the exact model number of the Bissell Little Green that I have, but it's the one without the self-heating option. It has only an on/off button on the front.

The number of tanks of water to do a car depends entirely on the car. When I first got the unit, I did the wife's Passat (kid Taxi). I must've used 8-10 tanks, as there was ketchup, chocolate milk, and other unidenitfiable junk stuck in the seats and the foam below. When I did my car (no eating/drinking allowed in the car), it took about 1/2 tank per floor mat (2 tanks for the car).

If you use the Bissell, just keep an eye on the recovery tank, and empty it when it reaches the max. line. And, the hotter the water in your tank, the better your results will be. My brother has a similar unit and boils water on his stove. I'm not that brave, as I don't care to burn my hands filling the tank - so I just take it from the tap.

The good news was that even though the wife's car was 4 years old when the interior was first done, when finished it looked as good as new! Needless to say, after the first experience with the extractor I was hooked.

 

dmatre,

Thanks for the info!!!

 

This is awesome data. Looking for a Bissell this week. Thank you !

 

I have used the Bissel, actually several of them, and they all stunk at cleaning, at least at the professional level, because they do not have enough extarction power and they don't last that long.

What is getting your carpets dirty again, twice as fast, is left over soap residue and a nice wet/dry vac will have just as much if not more lift than a store bought Bissel.

Someone mentioned "303 Fabric and Upholsterey Cleaner" and I personally second that choice because it works great and will not foam up, at least it shouldn't and if it does then you are using way too much. Spray it on the spots or over the carpet/mats and let it dwell for at least 10 to 15 minutes then scrub them carpets, use a spray bottle as a rinser, vac up and then wipe dry with a clean 100% WHITE cotton towel.

Or invest in an extractor. A heated unit is great but not essential. I use a Stryker cold water extractor and it cost me about $400. If needed I can add hot water to the unit but I use it mainly as a rinsing tool and it works great, not very large at all.

The KEY though to clean carpets is using the correct cleaner for the area to be cleaned. There are two types of dirt in car carpets and they are 1) Good ol dirt and 2) Grease. The dirt can be left to dry, if intorduced in the form of mudd, then brushed and vaccumed up. Grease, collected on the bottom of shoes from parking lots and such, needs a cleaner that breaks down and emulsifies it and suspends it for easy removal. Do NOT use motor degreaser as the surfacants will be hard to remove from the fibers and they may damage not only the carpet but also close by plastic, vinyl materials.

A steam-vapor cleaner is an ideal tool to have for cleaning carpets, and a host of other materials, and since it cleans with super hot "steam" it does not soak the carpet with water and thus the drying time is very quick.

Hope that helps,
Anthony

 

Thats true about the residue soap on the mats making them dirty twice as fast.....

Last time I tried with the Bissell I steamed with soap for a bit and then I went over it for a few minutes with just pure water and tried to get the rest of the soap out... Still get's dirty pretty fast...

I wonder if when we buy new mats if spray on scotchguard or another protectant will help at all in this situation....

 

Yes it will help out a great deal. One of the betters one I have used is made by "303". Many of the on-line auto detailing suppliers carry it.

Anthony

 

Anthony,

Thank you for the great advice.

How would you treat cloth seats? My driver seat in my 7 year old bimmer has an outline of where my body sits. I'm assuming this is sweat that has built up over the years. What can I do to remove this and make the seat new again? Would the 303 cleaner be good for this? What type of brush should I use to scrub the seat, if any at all.

I also have a great deal of salt from the winter that has hardened and is stuck to the carpet. What would be the best way to remove this.

Thanks again.

David.

 

David,

Two ways to go with the cleaning of your seats.

1) You can use a home brewed method using white vinegar in a spray bottle, cut with about 50% water, and spray the area down and with a medium/soft brush go over the area to be cleaned. Take a white towel and dry the area. Repeat as needed.

Now this is a home remedy and personally it stinks.......I mean literally

2) Get some of the "303" spot cleaner and spray the area down, until it's just wet on the surface and let it dwell for about 10 to 15 minutes, scrub the area and if you have an extractor (you can always rent one with a small upholsterey cleaner) use it to inject clean rinse water and then extract it out right away.

Now what may happen a day or two after cleaning the seats is something called "wicking". This is where the foam gets wet and as it dries the stain "wicks" up through the foam and back into the fabric. If this happens just clean it again and pay attention to the edges of where the stain is, it will be like a "ring", as you will want to clean this from the outside of the ring or edge to the center.

As for the salt, well since I live in Texas and we hardly ever see a heavy freeze, hence no need for salt, I can only guess at how to remove the hardened salt on your carpet. I would guess that you can take a stiff carpet brush and with tight circular motions break loose the salt. It was mentioned to me when I asked someone about it that you try dripping lime or lemon juice on the salt...WHY?....I have no clue as I pretty much rolled my eyes at that advice...............but hey if all else fails

I hope this helps and if I can be of any more help please let me know.

Anthony

PS - A steam -vapor cleaner would work great on your fabric seats and perhaps even on the salt

 

Anthony,

Thanks very much for your insight!! I really appreciate it! I will give your recommendations a shot!!

Thanks again. Take it easy.

David.

 

Here is a BEFORE and AFTER of Mercedes I had detailed for a client.

The interior is just horrible and it had never been cleaned so I pre-spotted the mats and carpets with "303 pre-spot" and on the grease areas I applied some "Chem-Spec Citrus Cleaner". I let these dwell for about 15 minutes and then extracted.

Leather and vinyl was cleaned using Top of the Lines "Deep Down" and the leather was treated with Platinums "Leather Conditioner".

Here is the drivers mat BEFORE

 

Well it appears I can't load up any pics at the moment. Perhaps I can at a later date. Sorry about that.

Anthony

 

You can't post pics on the board right now. You have to host them somewhere else and link them on your reply

 

go to costco OR go BJs or any wholesale club, they sell the machines cheap.