Bleed through on Import interior extractions

roundyround

New member
I'm having a problem with the appearance of the seat cushions on import vehicles after doing a complete scrub and extract. They look fine when scrubbed and still wet, but as they dry... dirt seems to wick back to the surface and results in a poor appearance. We have had this on and off for a few years but since we are doing more imports (Honda) now it has gotten worse. Carpets and door panels are fine but seats need major help!

Any suggestions?
 
I assume you rub with a clean rag after steaming, I also assume not to get too wet. Can you recommend a good quality steam unit? Thanks
 
Make sure you vacuum the seat prior to starting, very important to get loose debris out of the seat. Do not over wet the seat to begin with and get the seats dry as fast as possible when your are done. I would have a blower or high powered fan on them immediately. The longer those seats stay wet, the better the chance it will wick...Follow those tips and should solve your problem
 
Here are two suggestions:-

Introduce a rinse agent which will nuetralize your cleaner and reduce "browning" which is most time than not caused by chemical residue remaing in fabric.



Secondly you may use a foam cleaner to go over the areas of concern.
 
I find that when this happens a significant amount of liquid has been spilled on the seat. and absorbed into the cushion. Sometimes repeated extraction helps, but not always. You can go back with a dry MF after the soil wicks back up, otherwise not too much that can be done when it is that deep in the cushion.
 
^^^



I second what Brad stated.



I had a client spill about 20oz of coke in the back seat, all the extraction in the world just caused more WICKING of the fluids to the surface. If you want to remove all the fluid you must keep removing the fluid, or you can place a towel with some weight on top of it and leave it the wicking will stop once the fluid is dry, HOWEVER the fluid is still in the seat......damn that was a run on sentence!



Steaming is a great choice since the water amount is lower so you get less wicking, but you will not remove ALL the fluid in the seat. A good steamer is the VX5000 I love mine.



OR do as david F suggest and take out the seats and flood them with a pressure washer and allow to dry thoroughly in warm dry air.



Cheers,

GREG
 
Thanks so much for all the replies! On the immediate vehicle we had to get done we ended up misting cleaner, dry brushing, then wiping with minimally damp cloth, and setting our mongo fan to hurricane and letting it sit overnight. Turned out acceptable but not up to normal standards.



I ordered a Daimer Kleen Jet Pro Plus 300CS Vapor Steam Cleaner this AM. I'm looking forward to trying it out on some of the Repo we've been getting lately!

They are nasty! Should be a good test.
 
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