Best way to approach this carpet?

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scanlessfool

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Hi everyone. I recently purchased a beater vehicle so that I may sit my now to modified former daily driver. I acquired this car for $500 and for that, I got what I paid for. Despite the body being perfectly straight, the interior was another story. It was disgusting! When I first saw it, which was at night, there was clothes all over the interior and I could tell it was a mess.

Come daylight, it was much worse then I imagined. When the car was finally at my residence, I took a closer look at the interior. I included those pictures towards the end. After trashing what was inside and vacuuming it, what I have is the below. Now, I am by no means expecting to get it in brand new condition, but any condition is better than what it is in.

My question is, what is the best way to approach this? As of now, my game plan is the following:

- Rug Doctor
- Rug Doctor Spot & Stain Remove

  • "Removes stains from coffe, juice, sauces, chocolate syrup, permanent marker, makeup, oil, mud, grass, and more" ala RugDoctor brochure.
- Rug Doctor Odor Remove

  • "Apply as a spot-treatment, or mix in a Rug Doctor machine during cleaning. Enzymatic action attacks foul odors at their source, completely eliminating them. Effective on animal, food, smoke, mildew and other odors" ala RudDoctor brochure.
I also have in my small arsenal Megs APC+ & a PC7424 with the white & aqua brush attachments. While searching, I also came across a product by the name of Folex and was considering it as well.

With all that being said, agitate first and then Rug Doctor or what?

Thanks for your time. On to the pics!

What I have now.

IMG_0633.jpg


What I had before.

IMG_0613.jpg


IMG_0619.jpg


IMG_0618.jpg


IMG_0623.jpg
 
Maybe pretreat with APC And agitate, then follow up with the rug doctor products. Did any of that brake fluid spill on the floor? I've always had good luck with APC.
 
mbkite said:
I would take the carpet out and pressure wash it
Click to expand...
Without hesitation! With some good APC (I always have results with Meg's APC+ or Opt. Power Clean), a little scrubbing, and repeated pressure washing, you can make that carpet look TOTALLY different. I won't say 100% restored, because I can't tell the exact condition. But it will be clean.

If you don't have a high power pressure washer, you could try the car wash, but it may not be strong enough. Or, if your house is in need of washing, just rent one and kill two birds with one stone. :)

By the way, since this is your personal vehicle, you have the liberty to run around for a few days without the carpet in the vehicle. At the very least, take it out so you can just wash it while you scrub. Using water to rinse clean will make a ton of difference. Even extractors (in my experience) will leave behind some "dirt" (at least dirty water that dries).

Take it out, you aren't far from it now. Just pop up the plastic pieces of trim still holding around the door sills, remove the seat belt bolts on the bottom, and take out the little plastic cover near the left foot of driver floorboard (probably where the trunk lever, etc. is). The plastic pieces little just pop out, just be careful. You have to use force. Start near one end and slowly work to the other and you will be fine.

DLB
 
mbkite said:
I would take the carpet out and pressure wash it
Click to expand...

Hit the nail right on the head. Now is the time to do it while you have everything removed. I would take folex to it over the rug doctor product. If there are major stains that won't come out then you could use this experience to learn how to re-dye it. Looks like a learning opportunity to me.:xyxthumbs:
 
Maybe look into replacing it. Might be easiest in the long run. Can you imagine what their house looks like?
 
With a ten-foot-pole?
Im the MAN

J/K

You've got some good pointers from previous posts.

Bob
 
I am going to have to agree with "kimtyson" in just replacing it. I see that there is a lot of oils built up in the carpet, and that will most likely never come out. IF you so choose to clean it I would suggest FOLEX and a Carpet Extractor.....Rent one from the store if you don't want to purchase one....it will make all the difference.
 
I vote for just replacing it. You can spend the time saved on hunting down and fixing the leak in your brake system that required all those bottles of brake fluid.
 
AKmikeSSter04 said:
Did any of that brake fluid spill on the floor?
Click to expand...

Surprisingly enough, no. It was more so crumbs, food, fast food condiment packages, fries, sunflower seeds, and lastly, Coca Cola or coffee.


DLB said:
Without hesitation! With some good APC (I always have results with Meg's APC+ or Opt. Power Clean), a little scrubbing, and repeated pressure washing, you can make that carpet look TOTALLY different. I won't say 100% restored, because I can't tell the exact condition. But it will be clean.

If you don't have a high power pressure washer, you could try the car wash, but it may not be strong enough. Or, if your house is in need of washing, just rent one and kill two birds with one stone. :)

By the way, since this is your personal vehicle, you have the liberty to run around for a few days without the carpet in the vehicle. At the very least, take it out so you can just wash it while you scrub. Using water to rinse clean will make a ton of difference. Even extractors (in my experience) will leave behind some "dirt" (at least dirty water that dries).

DLB
Click to expand...

Nice! I did not think of a pressure washer. I did forget that I do have OPC.

In regards to pressure washing, it actually is the first time hearing or reading of said technique on a carpet. Judging by what you said above, I would first wet It down with a pressure washer, approach it with whichever cleaning product, agitate it section by section, and then rinse by pressure washing again?
At the moment, I am still driving my other vehicle until this one is registered, interior cleaned, and seals replaced, so fortunately for that.


2old2change said:
I would take folex to it over the rug doctor product. If there are major stains that won't come out then you could use this experience to learn how to re-dye it. Looks like a learning opportunity to me.:xyxthumbs:
Click to expand...

I guess I will purchase a bottle and conduct a test spot. It doesn't hurt. Great point about re-dying it. I didn't even think of that.

kimtyson said:
Maybe look into replacing it. Can you imagine what their house looks like?
Click to expand...

That was an option I was looking at until I searched and realized it would be cheaper to use the existing one. It would also be a great learning experience. I was able to sneak a peak into their home, and it was in the same condition as the vehicle.

clm65 said:
You can spend the time saved on hunting down and fixing the leak in your brake system that required all those bottles of brake fluid.
Click to expand...

I'm actually not too worried about all the brake fluid bottles. I have the exact same chassis, in a coupe, so I'm really familiar with it.
 
scanlessfool said:
Nice! I did not think of a pressure washer. I did forget that I do have OPC.

In regards to pressure washing, it actually is the first time hearing or reading of said technique on a carpet. Judging by what you said above, I would first wet It down with a pressure washer, approach it with whichever cleaning product, agitate it section by section, and then rinse by pressure washing again?
At the moment, I am still driving my other vehicle until this one is registered, interior cleaned, and seals replaced, so fortunately for that.
Click to expand...
I have done plenty of carpets this way (pressure washing) so I can only give you advice based on my personal experience. You definitely don't see it come up much, I think most folks are too intimated or lazy to try it honestly.

If you have OPC, you are set. You said you had the scrubbing brushes for your PC, so that's tools you need.

What I do once the carpet is out usually is to mist the entire thing with water (not on high pressure, just using the PW tip to spray the entire rug). Then like you guessed, just work area by area until you cover the entire thing. After a couple of good cleanings, most of it is usually clean. You will always have spots that take a few visits though. In between each scrub session (with your PC) do a high pressure rinse so you can tell what headway you are making.

I have done carpets that nasty, and at least 1 that was worse than that (tan carpet that was literally dark gray from the nastiness - like the opposite of your gray being brown). I have always had success and even the worst of them I only have 3-4 spots that I don't get back to 100%, and those are where the carpet dye has been killed and would have to be re-dyed no matter what.

If you are considering re-dying, you still need to clean it this way. Otherwise you are just dying the dirt and filth. Likely though you won't bother with re-dying it after you get it totally clean.

FWIW, I use this brush on a cheap rotary that is dedicated to carpets:
31JkMHQpAoL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


To those mentioning the time factor - you could have this carpet out, cleaned and installed in about 1.5 hours tops (that does not include time for it to sit and dry, which isn't time you are losing). So figure how much you would MAKE for 1.5 hours of work and see if you could buy a new carpet for that. It is possible I guess, but you have learned nothing, and you are still out the money it cost you.

Go for it! Clean that rug! You will gain experience, and you can experiment on it if you want. It's a win win if you go that route.

Any questions I can help with, let me know.

DLB
 
Dalton has a very solid point! try to clean it and learn somthing.

the carpet is 90% from being removed and if your thinking of replacement take it out!

give it your best with cleaning and if your not happy replace it!

You have nothing but knowledge to gain from it either way! Seems like a win win to me just my old tarnished .02!
 
All this is great advice, but it's a beater. Replacing the carpet isn't the point of a beater. Taking the carpet out and pressure washing it, isn't the point of a beater. I personally never waste my time doing that. Unless you are trying to restore the car for some reason, I wouldn't put that much effort into it. I pretty much specialize in POS cars like this, and I prefer them.

APC and an extractor will work just fine. If you don't want to buy an extractor, rent a rug doctor *and clean your home at the same time for a bonus*. You can even buy a used carpet cleaner on CL and resell it after your done. I've done this SEVERAL times. I once bought a $300 carpet cleaner for $50, used it for 2 weeks cleaning vehicles and resold it for $100. I finally bought my own just because I'm getting more and more details. Check out a video I just posted with my LGM. You don't need fancy chemicals or tools. APC and a $3 scrub brush is all it takes.

Auto Detailing - Carpet Extraction w/ Bissell LGM - YouTube
 
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