Stained upholstery cleaned with steamer. 2 Pictures.

[AppliedColors]

Before:


After:


Process:

1. Vacuum.
2. Mist Meguiar's All Purpose Cleaner on entire seat.
3. Spray stain spotter (we used an aerosol product called Lifter, but any stain spotter from your detail supplier will do) on darker stains.
4. Wrap triangular steamer head with clean microfiber, and push the steamer head with medium pressure over the bench, covering the entire bench about 3 times.
Refer to this video for an example of the technique:
YouTube - Vapor Chief Steam machne cleaning carpeting
5. Let air dry.

This was done in February on a 40 degree day. It was 60 degrees in our shop. The bench was dry within 10 minutes...no water stains.

You could certainly get similar results with traditional shampooing (drench with chemicals; scrub into a foam; extract with extractor or wet vac), but you'd risk getting water rings. The steamer vapor is so hot that you simply won't get water rings...which are a particular problem on cold days. The steamer method is also faster, as no brush agitation was required on this bench. This bench was done in about 6 minutes.

[todd@bsaw]

Great results!
That's almost my exact same process and it does me well.

[Denzil]

That's pretty much how I do my interiors now as it's faster in cleaning and drying. Thanks for sharing!

[smprince1]

Looks great.

One question for my education, though. Why do you apply the APC over the entire seat and then apply spot chemical to the tough spots? I usually do the opposite and was wondering about the reason.

Thanks.

[Denzil]

Originally Posted by smprince1

Looks great.

One question for my education, though. Why do you apply the APC over the entire seat and then apply spot chemical to the tough spots? I usually do the opposite and was wondering about the reason.

Thanks.

Well, the APC is for general cleaning purposes and will take out pretty much all the light stains whereas the spot chemical is intended for those hard-to-remove stains.

[smprince1]

Originally Posted by Denzil

Well, the APC is for general cleaning purposes and will take out pretty much all the light stains whereas the spot chemical is intended for those hard-to-remove stains.

Yes, I understand that part.

My question was the order the product was applied. I apply the spotter first, then the general cleaner second. I was wondering if there was a reason to do it the other way or if it mattered.

[AppliedColors]

Originally Posted by smprince1

Yes, I understand that part.

My question was the order the product was applied. I apply the spotter first, then the general cleaner second. I was wondering if there was a reason to do it the other way or if it mattered.

Doesn't really matter what order they're applied in.

[Denzil]

Originally Posted by AppliedColors

Doesn't really matter what order they're applied in.

There's your answer.

[SilvaBimma]

Great example just how darn good a steamer can cut down time, chemical, and effort.

[advs1]

hello all. i was wondering what steamer you used for that? brand, model, web link? thanks and that seat looks awesome

[Legacy99]

Nice job, now you need to apply some 303 fabric protector to keep it looking good.

[jayjacque]

Wish this thread was around a couple weeks ago when I was trying to get an answer about water stains on seats. The people that answered were saying use and extractor rather than steamer. But those results are irrefutable