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I was just doing a clients headliner in his smart car convertible. It has a super porous headliner (with all those small holes in it) that sits detached from the roof. I had luck steaming out the lighter grease stains but the large ones simply would no budge at all. I was using a Dupray Hill steamer so very strong. Is it possible to remove black grease stains from this kind of material at all?
Welcome to the Forum !
What did you use with your Steamer to remove the lighter grease stains ?
What do you mean - the headliner sits detached from the roof ? How does it stay up ?
Is the headliner cloth ?
Dan F
My go-to grease stain cleanup is WD-40 followed by go-jo or goop hand cleaner followed by APC. Yes it`s three steps but it works on stubborn mechanic grease. The solvents in WD-40 dissolve the grease and the oil in it keeps it suspended. The rest just gets the WD-40 out.
As always a test area is advised.
Just used the steamer alone on the light stains.
It`s a convertible top in a smart car so it just sits hung under the actual roof and its cloth yes.
Dan below gave me some great advice i`m going to try!
Carbon tetra-chloride was (past tense) sold in small cans and was a great oil-&-grease remover. It`s the same chemical that you smell in a dry cleaner shop.
If you do not like the fishy smell of WD-40, try the "denatured" version of it Spot Shot that can be found in the laundry soap isle at Walmart. It is what I start out with on oily or greasy INTERIOR stains.
I have tried Goo-Gone, but the citrus solution seemed to "discolor" light -colored fabrics and carpets OR maybe its the dissolved tar that caused the staining.
As a side note, the worse petroleum-based staining comes from asphalt sealers. That tends to get on shoes and be transferred to interior floor carpets and carpet floor-mats. Short of a steam cleaner, which I do not have, I have not found a solution (no pun intended) to this "stain".
I really like Optimum`s Carpet and Fabric Cleaner. It works really well, but may take multiple applications to remove such grease stain. I would NOT recommend Optimum`s Power Clean APC, that, while effective, its industrial odor tends to linger in fabrics and may be disagreeable to some individuals. That`s why I like the OC&FC: its fragrance is MUCH more interior-agreeable. The label says you can use it full strength on some stains rather than the recommended general use dilution 1:3 ratio.