HotRod
New member
- May 14, 2008
- 247
- 0
There have been a lot questions on how to clean carpet and upholstery in the past on this forum and others. But there are few write-ups and explanations of how to go about cleaning seats and carpet. The "new" fabric in vehicles nowadays stain up very easily and are so difficult to get them looking new again, so here is my attempt to hopefully help a few struggling detailers.
First, my background: I have detailed cars off and on for about 10 years, working for a dealership and a detail shop and I just opened my own mobile detail service full time about a year ago. I also worked 4 years in the Professional Carpet/upholstery cleaning industry and became I.I.C.R.C. certified in carpet cleaning before I left(Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification).
This upholstery/carpet cleaning job was very nasty, the vehicle is a Dodge Mega Cab work truck. I knew first off that it would never be perfect with the obvious abuse that it inflicted over its short life. The owner just wanted an improvement, and I told him there would be some permanent staining. For some reason these newer dodge seats give me more headaches than any other make.
There are four main factors in carpet/upholstery cleaning:
1. Temperature- Refers to the hot water in your extractor. Heated water removes more soiling, increases your chemicals reaction to the soiling and reduces your usage of chemicals.
2. Chemical- Your cleaning solution selection is important. I have had success with TLC, Megs all purpose, Folex and Sun Gold.
3. Agitation- Works the chemical into the fibers, lift matted fibers, and assist in removing soil.
4. Time- Letting the chemical soak in to the fabric, also known as Dwell time. Your cleaning solution needs time to work.
My system is used a lot throughout the industry, but it is not in any way the only way/or the best way to clean automotive fabric. However, it works for me, and any advice to improve this method is welcome.
Now here are some of my tools/chemicals of choice:
Shop Vac- to pre vaccuum before cleaning
Aztec Hot Rod Extractor
Griots 3 inch buffer with "carpet pads"- used for agitation of the chemical
Carpet brush- to spread the chemical in before using the griots
Carpet dryer with heater attachment- Drying the fabric is the key to prevent stains from soaking back up.
Brinkmman spotlight- to seek out stains not visible in certain lighting conditions.
Microfiber towels- used to wipe down fabric after cleaning reducing excess moisture the extractor cannot remove speeding up dry time.
Folex- Stain and spot removal
Meguiars all purpose cleaner- main carpet pre spray
Sun Gold- Spot removal
A few pics of the equipment used on this job:
Griots 3 inch buffer with carpet pads, also brinkmann light
Carpet dryer with heater attachment
Sprayer used for Megs all purpose cleaner
Now here are the before pics:
And here are a few process pics:
I started on the middle front seat. I pre sprayed the seat with megs all purpose, spread it with the carpet brush, then let it dwell for a few minutes. Then I grabbed my 3 inch griots buffer with the yellow carpet brush and began agitating the seat. I used speeds 4-5 on the machine, it seems to bog down with any lesser speeds. NOTE: TAKE CAUTION USING ANY HIGH SPEED MACHINE ON FABRIC. ONE SLIP AND YOU MIGHT DAMAGE SOMETHING. USE COMMON SENSE.
After the agitation I fired up the Aztec Hot Rod and began extracting with hot water. It usually takes 15 minutes for the Aztec to heat up, so I had it turned on prior to the previous steps. Also adding a defoamer into the waste tank is a good idea with any extraction job, and I add a rinsing solution in the rinse tank that helps with odors, and stains reappearing.
After rinsing with the extractor, I wiped the middle seat down with clean/dry microfiber rags, then turned on the heated fan to dry. Remember: Dry cleaned areas as quickly as possible to prevent stains from coming back. Then I immediately moved on to the next seat as well as the carpet. This method was used to clean all carpet and seats in this truck.
After this process was completely dried, I only had a few light stains that would not come out, or they just came back from wicking of the padding. So I got out the Folex and it took care of most stains, and I also used Sun Gold to spot clean problem areas. Its not a perfect end result, but much better than before.
Now, here are the after pictures:
Some of these pictures were taken before I did any spot cleaning, and I forgot to get any pictures after the spot cleaning was finished.
First, my background: I have detailed cars off and on for about 10 years, working for a dealership and a detail shop and I just opened my own mobile detail service full time about a year ago. I also worked 4 years in the Professional Carpet/upholstery cleaning industry and became I.I.C.R.C. certified in carpet cleaning before I left(Institute of Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Certification).
This upholstery/carpet cleaning job was very nasty, the vehicle is a Dodge Mega Cab work truck. I knew first off that it would never be perfect with the obvious abuse that it inflicted over its short life. The owner just wanted an improvement, and I told him there would be some permanent staining. For some reason these newer dodge seats give me more headaches than any other make.
There are four main factors in carpet/upholstery cleaning:
1. Temperature- Refers to the hot water in your extractor. Heated water removes more soiling, increases your chemicals reaction to the soiling and reduces your usage of chemicals.
2. Chemical- Your cleaning solution selection is important. I have had success with TLC, Megs all purpose, Folex and Sun Gold.
3. Agitation- Works the chemical into the fibers, lift matted fibers, and assist in removing soil.
4. Time- Letting the chemical soak in to the fabric, also known as Dwell time. Your cleaning solution needs time to work.
My system is used a lot throughout the industry, but it is not in any way the only way/or the best way to clean automotive fabric. However, it works for me, and any advice to improve this method is welcome.
Now here are some of my tools/chemicals of choice:
Shop Vac- to pre vaccuum before cleaning
Aztec Hot Rod Extractor
Griots 3 inch buffer with "carpet pads"- used for agitation of the chemical
Carpet brush- to spread the chemical in before using the griots
Carpet dryer with heater attachment- Drying the fabric is the key to prevent stains from soaking back up.
Brinkmman spotlight- to seek out stains not visible in certain lighting conditions.
Microfiber towels- used to wipe down fabric after cleaning reducing excess moisture the extractor cannot remove speeding up dry time.
Folex- Stain and spot removal
Meguiars all purpose cleaner- main carpet pre spray
Sun Gold- Spot removal
A few pics of the equipment used on this job:
Griots 3 inch buffer with carpet pads, also brinkmann light
Carpet dryer with heater attachment
Sprayer used for Megs all purpose cleaner
Now here are the before pics:
And here are a few process pics:
I started on the middle front seat. I pre sprayed the seat with megs all purpose, spread it with the carpet brush, then let it dwell for a few minutes. Then I grabbed my 3 inch griots buffer with the yellow carpet brush and began agitating the seat. I used speeds 4-5 on the machine, it seems to bog down with any lesser speeds. NOTE: TAKE CAUTION USING ANY HIGH SPEED MACHINE ON FABRIC. ONE SLIP AND YOU MIGHT DAMAGE SOMETHING. USE COMMON SENSE.
After the agitation I fired up the Aztec Hot Rod and began extracting with hot water. It usually takes 15 minutes for the Aztec to heat up, so I had it turned on prior to the previous steps. Also adding a defoamer into the waste tank is a good idea with any extraction job, and I add a rinsing solution in the rinse tank that helps with odors, and stains reappearing.
After rinsing with the extractor, I wiped the middle seat down with clean/dry microfiber rags, then turned on the heated fan to dry. Remember: Dry cleaned areas as quickly as possible to prevent stains from coming back. Then I immediately moved on to the next seat as well as the carpet. This method was used to clean all carpet and seats in this truck.
After this process was completely dried, I only had a few light stains that would not come out, or they just came back from wicking of the padding. So I got out the Folex and it took care of most stains, and I also used Sun Gold to spot clean problem areas. Its not a perfect end result, but much better than before.
Now, here are the after pictures:
Some of these pictures were taken before I did any spot cleaning, and I forgot to get any pictures after the spot cleaning was finished.
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