How to clean water stains from headliner?

Hi all. This afternoon I did something stupid and left my sunroof cracked for ventilation on my six month old 2011 Honda CRV. As you can imagine, I am somewhat sick to what has happened. I patted as much water as I could from the headliner that weeped in around the front and sides of the sunroof but I am afraid I may be left with a water stain. It appears to be drying well, but I can still see the line to where the water stopped.

Do you any of you have any good techniques on cleaning water stains from a headliner?

Thanks in advance!

Ed

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Originally Posted by eyost

Hi all. This afternoon I did something stupid and left my sunroof cracked for ventilation on my six month old 2011 Honda CRV. As you can imagine, I am somewhat sick to what has happened. I patted as much water as I could from the headliner that weeped in around the front and sides of the sunroof but I am afraid I may be left with a water stain. It appears to be drying well, but I can still see the line to where the water stopped.

Do you any of you have any good techniques on cleaning water stains from a headliner?

Thanks in advance!

Ed

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Welcome to the Forum !

Sorry this had to happen to your new car.

Let it dry as it is doing, or you can get a hair dryer in there and carefully help it dry faster, or put a portable fan in the car aimed at the ceiling and blow air on it all night, etc..

Maybe it wont stain, so you will be ok.
If it does, you have to absolutely make sure its dry, before you try wetting it again with an All Purpose Cleaner (APC), and say a clean dry microfiber towel, and just try to clean the stain line or whatever is there - hopefully nothing..
What color is the headliner ?
Dan F

If the water stain isnt too bad you can try just distilled water.Ive had success with it a few times removing water stains .

Dont soak the headliner. Just dampen it enough to clean it because the glue is sensitive . Also do use a lot of pressure !Be somewhat gentle.
.

Good luck!:)

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Originally Posted by Stokdgs

Welcome to the Forum !

Sorry this had to happen to your new car.

Let it dry as it is doing, or you can get a hair dryer in there and carefully help it dry faster, or put a portable fan in the car aimed at the ceiling and blow air on it all night, etc..

Maybe it wont stain, so you will be ok.
If it does, you have to absolutely make sure its dry, before you try wetting it again with an All Purpose Cleaner (APC), and say a clean dry microfiber towel, and just try to clean the stain line or whatever is there - hopefully nothing..
What color is the headliner ?
Dan F

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Dan,

The headliner s a cream/beige color. Interesting that you mentioned to let it dry. It appears that with it sitting in the sun all day yesterday may have helped matters a bit as it is more difficult to see the line. It happened Sunday afternoon and it was pretty humid on Monday and the car sat in the garage with the windows down.

It may just also take some distilled water as the other poster had mentioned. BTW - which Microfibers do you all like? I see so many available that I had no idea there were so many different patterns or styles.

Thanks for all of the help!

Ed

I agree with the letting it dry part as well. I have had good luck with Wolfgang Carpet & Upholstery Restorer and Wolfgang Spot Eliminator. Both seem to work really well at spot cleaning and stain removal. Maybe it won`t be too bad and will all clean up.

I`ve done a number of HL with stains from soda, ink, smoke, baby formula, you name it. The one thing that has always worked for me is a good APC and a white cotton towel. White cotton will not transfer color and cotton will not grab at the HL material like micro fiber.

Spray the APC on the towel not the HL, the glue in the HL material can be sensitive as stated above. Wipe the area that have the stains, with a gentle pressure turning the towel as it removes the stain.

In the countless HL I`ve cleaned this process has never let me down not once!

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Originally Posted by ca.detailchick

If the water stain isnt too bad you can try just distilled water.

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I agree with this 100%

When you try to use any kind of soap, somehow you always end up with little rings and they are very hard to get off. Using just plan water especially for a ceiling is probably just about as gentle as you can get. If you want you could even try mixing a little vinegar to help.

Whatever you decide to clean it with I would suggest drying it with the use of fans blowing on it vs. just letting it air dry on it`s own.