Dirty Mats and Carpet

S

streece

New member
Hey All

I used the Oxy method of cleaning the mats and carpets in my wifes van this weekend. It worked good on the stains but, here is the problem; when I saturated and scrubbed the mats that were heavily soiled they looked great until I used the LGM to suck up the water. It looks like all the dirt was on the bottom and I brought it back to the top. Any ideas?:wall
 
For the mats if they are really bad, when I pull them from the car, I scrub them really well with an OXY/Laundry soap mix. Then after letting them soak, I hang them vertically and rinse them from top to bottom with a heavy spray. When the water runs clear, repeat, let it drip-dry for a bit and then use the extractor.

For the interior carpets, there is a 'mist' setting on my garden hose nozzle. This works really well for pre-wetting the carpets and during the rinse. It's usually better to wet the carpest with water before using the cleaning solution - it rinses cleaner/easier that way. So it would be: dampen/cleaner/scrub/rinse/repeat rinse as needed.

If you're extracting a lot of dirt from specific areas after the water has mostly been pulled out, a second application of cleaner might be needed. Sometimes scrubbing during the rinse/extract - with a clean brush - can help.

You have to remember though, that on most daily-driven cars, there will be some dirt/stains that will not come out. You'll be able to fade the stains and improve the appearance significantly, but no matter how many times you run the extractor over the carpet, it will still pull up dirt...I use an extractor with a clear nozzle, so I can see the dirt coming out...even the tiniest bit. Sooner or later, you'll realize you've "hit the wall" and can't make any more of an improvement. The sooner you realize and accept that, the better off you'll be.

Of course you also have to realize that I'm talking out of my :ass in the last two sentences. I know all about hitting the wall...but I refuse to accept it (and I don't think many on this forum accept it either).
 
Since I don't use any sort of extraction and only "surface clean" my mats and carpets I can only offer something that I have tried on our mats.
Because I had read how "surface cleaning" really didn't clean the mats, I removed them, cleaned them in my usual manner, then put them in the shower with the drain closed and soaked them for 15 minutes. My thought was to soak/float out that remaining dirt that I wasn't getting. After letting the water out, I sprayed them with my APC, agitated with a brush and rinsed them.
It might be worth a try for your problem.

FWIW, I didn't get much more out of the mats by doing this so I felt my surface cleaning wasn't doing all that bad.

Charles
 
for really dirty matts, I've taken them down to the self-serve wash , hung them up on the clips inside the bay and power washed them ...if you have a power washer and a sturdy place to clip them , it can also be done at home ..then vaccum them and leave them in the sun to finish drying :cool:
 
Poorboy said:
for really dirty matts, I've taken them down to the self-serve wash , hung them up on the clips inside the bay and power washed them ...if you have a power washer and a sturdy place to clip them , it can also be done at home ..then vaccum them and leave them in the sun to finish drying :cool:
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Thats exactly what I do, except at home. I power wash them top to bottom until the water runs clear. I take a flat edge of anything thats stury and run it over the mats to push most of the water out. Then take the shop vac for a few passes, then let them dry.
 
Stephan said:
Thats exactly what I do, except at home. I power wash them top to bottom until the water runs clear. I take a flat edge of anything thats stury and run it over the mats to push most of the water out. Then take the shop vac for a few passes, then let them dry.
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Same here for me....with mats I presoak then use a plastic brush to get the dirt loose, then get the hose and rinse them until the water runs clean....then I use the shop vac to lift all the water....lastly don't beat yourself up to bad with mats some are stained beyond getting the stains out
 
Beemerboy said:
Same here for me....with mats I presoak then use a plastic brush to get the dirt loose, then get the hose and rinse them until the water runs clean....then I use the shop vac to lift all the water....lastly don't beat yourself up to bad with mats some are stained beyond getting the stains out
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Thats my problem, and is also a problem with some customers I have had, I really work on getting every little stain out and sometimes, the carpet fibers are non fixable and it drives me nuts when I can't get them out. And then you have those customers who always say oh you couldn't get that stain out.:wall
 
Stephan said:
Thats my problem, and is also a problem with some customers I have had, I really work on getting every little stain out and sometimes, the carpet fibers are non fixable and it drives me nuts when I can't get them out. And then you have those customers who always say oh you couldn't get that stain out.:wall
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What I have learned is when you give someone an estimate for the detail...I look at the paint, but also the carpets and mats...I have made it a point of telling people that some stains are not going to come out...you have to educate people that mats are made form plastic and sometimes they get stained to the point of no return...this has helped me greatly when I return the car and there are a few stains that did not come out
 
Thanks Everyone!

I think all your input will help. I liked the idea about letting the customer know ahead of time about certain stains not coming out.:bow

Thanks again!
 
streece said:
Thanks Everyone!

I think all your input will help. I liked the idea about letting the customer know ahead of time about certain stains not coming out.:bow

Thanks again!
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the same should be said of scratches too ;)
 
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