dwlovell

So we have had the car about 2 weeks with almond/black mbtex.

So far we already have two issues to clean:
1) On the passenger door handrest, there is a tiny blue ink stain. (most likely from a ball point pen, dont ask how). I have tried first just water, then water with mild soap, then lemon juice. All with a rag and mild agitation, no scrubbing. No luck, didnt mess up the mbtex around the stain, but really didnt remove or lighten it much.

2) On the driver seat, there is already a color ruboff from my wife wearing a pair of black jeans that were new. (she did wash them once prior to wearing in the car). It is really minor, but you can see it on the left side of the seat bottom. I have not tried to clean this yet.

What are the recommended cleaning steps for mbtex? Is it supposed to be better for cleanup than leather? It almost feels more "matte" to me than leather, so I am afraid its soaking up stuff like a sponge that would be hard to clean.

Ideas?

meghanwww

There are a bunch of threads on this topic so you may want to do a search or look back. I use a product called Vinylex which is made by Lexol specifically for Vinyl seats. You just spray it on and rub (with a little elbow grease) with a clean towel and you will see the black (or blue in my case) from the denim transfer on the towel. Not sure if it will work for ink, but some people have suggested Mr. Clean magic erasers...

dwlovell

Sorry for not looking first in this case, I usually do.

Updates:
- The ink stains could not be removed with Armor All cleaning wipes or Magic Eraser. I dont think any product will "remove" it since I think its a real "stain" that is in the fibers, not a surface problem to be broken up and removed. Not sure if I will order the Vinylex or not.
- The black rub off from the jeans on the seat came off with a single wipe of Armor All cleaning wipes, it was trivial. I am pretty sure water probalby would have removed that as well, but I didn't try that because of the luck I had with the other ink stain.

MBRedux

Here is a sure bet way to remove ink from your MBTex seats. Now if its a large pen mark, it may always be visible... but if it's an inch or so you may wish to try this.

Things you'll need:

A) 5-10 Q-Tips
B) A clean soft white cloth
C) A small can of Naptha (found at most home improvement centers/or hardware stores.
D) A good grade leather treatment (Better than vinyl treatments... dries dull... not slippery)

Apply the naptha to the q-tip then blot it on the towel. Wipe the ink with the q-tip along the length of the mark. You may wish to rotate the q-tip as you do this. It helps keep a clean surface always on the ink line.

Keep repeating this with fresh new Q-tips until as much or all the ink is gone as possible. Remember to do this in a well ventilated area. Also keep in mind that Naptha evaporates very quickly and leaves no residue.

Now treat the whole area with the leather treatment.... as I said, it's the best thing even though it's vinyl. Buff it out with the soft white towel.

Good luck

MBRedux

Now if all else fails, this is the stuff to remove ink and even Sharpie ink from anything, even photographic film.... It can be found at most professional photo stores or online: It's called PEC-12. It also dries supder fast, leaves no residue and won't harm most surfaces or fabrics.

dwlovell

Thank you mbredux, I think I have naptha at home, I will give it a try!