Help cure the aftermath of my sick addiction to carpet shampoo :/

[manbeer]

Ok guys- over the years i have had something of a carpet cleaner fetish. In my last car, a G35, it didnt seem to be a big deal as it did not seem to hold much of the residue. I got a 135i a few years ago and the carpet is a much different texture and thicker. I always loved the kind of toxic chemically fresh smell of a freshly cleaned carpet so i kind of abused various cleaners without proper extraction. As a result the carpet never feels clean anymore. It has a kind of sticky texture that seems to hold the dirt in and if you sniff closely a sort of musty-ness

It took me a while to sort of put 2 and 2 together and realize what ive done and now i am trying to figure out the best way of dealing with this short of a full on extraction machine which i cant afford. Are those tiny ones that bissell makes for home use any good? I tried the shop vac but it doesn`t really seem to cut it for the amount of water im going to need to rectify this

Any advice is appreciated, thanks

[RaysWay]

Welcome to Autopia!

It sounds like your best bet will definitely be a hot water carpet extractor. There`s really nothing else on the market that will duplicate the results of injecting 210° hot water into the carpet, and then extracting it back out. I would try finding a local detailer with an extractor and have him only use water.

[manbeer]

Thanks, i was kind of thinking that this would be the only real option but was hoping for something i could DIY. I am assuming that if I drop it off and yank out the seats it wouldn`t be a terribly time consuming job?

In the future, when i DO want to clean my carpet, what is the best method/products to use that won`t leave a ton of buildup behind?

[MooreImpressive]

what have you been doing to "clean" the carpet previously? what was your method and products?

[Accumulator]

manbeer- elcome to Autopia!

I have a number of extractors, from the little consumer-grade ones to a Pro-grade model by Century.

IME any extractor is better than no extractor. Heated is better than not.

Last step needs to be a clear rinse with either (good-quality) water or better yet a Rinse Agent (available at Pro Carpet Cleaning Supply places). That`ll get the residue from cleaners/etc. out.

[Stokdgs]

In my Shop for years, I have used a VX5000 Steamer with my Mytee Extractor, and Meguiars APC that has the lowest amount of foam.
I only use Water in my Extractor, no extra slurry, rinsing stuff, etc.., just good clean water, that is heated by the Extractor..
You need as has already been covered above, to really rinse and extract - but at the same time, be careful how much water you get into the carpeting.
You do not want to get so much, it goes past the carpet into the pad below and then through the pad onto the floor..
This is the why I try to use my Steamer as much as possible, to limit how much moisture gets into the carpeting..
You have to be very observant, and not distracted, while you are doing this..
In my years of Detailing hundreds of Bimmers, this is what I have learned:
Excellent user friendly carpeting and pad..
Easy to clean, releases dirt and water easy..
Has a better quality pad than most vehicles, that can take abuse and come back fine if dried and allowed to air dry if it was really wet..
The seat foam on Bimmers is very high quality, will last a long time..
The seat foam on Bimmers, if allowed to soak in water because of flooding or "duh, I forgot to close the windows for the week of the tsunami" will Absorb a huge amount of water, and will not want to release it easily..
You will need to remove all seats, and very carefully and with much labor, using a really good extractor, work the foam to remove as much water out of it, and then let it air dry as long as it needs..
If you dont do the foam this way, you can almost always count on mold growing on it..
Good luck with your project !
Dan F