Help with carpet stain/discolor

ShaneB

ShaneB

New member
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've had a couple vehicles with these types of stains/discoloration that just don't seem to want to come out no matter what I try. Not sure if it's just permanent, I'm using the wrong products/technique or what. I have this car for tomorrow afternoon as well and I would love to figure out how to clear this up, or at least have an explanation for the customer.

I've tried each of the following cleaners allowing them to dwell on the area for 5-10 minutes before "extracting" with my little Bissell cleaner. CG fabric clean 20:1 (3 separate times), OPC 3:1 (twice) and lastly Wolfgang spot eliminator (3 times). Sprayed, brushed, dwell, extract. Best I've done is lighten it up a little.
 
I'd try a tar remover at an edge amd see if it comes off on the cloth.

And if you cNt get it out the professional excuse is as follows.

We performed x,y and Z on the carpet. Since it did not come out we have determined that the spot, had set too long and is now a stain. In the future if you contact us shortly after the spot occurs we will have a higher degree of success with its removal. A satin is what occurs when a spot sits too long or is set by heat or other processes.
 
pretty much every vehicle has this either on the carpet or the floor mats, to some degree, in the spots where your shoes spend the most time. generally one on the left edge and then one right below the gas pedal. once they get to a point, and it doesn't take long, you simply cant get the light gray color back. I can use 5 different very strong APC, carpet cleaners, stain removers with different brushes and all, then extract with the Mytee over and over and the color will only lighten up so much. the water can be coming out totally clean but the carpet still shows a brownish color on the light gray background. you simply have to explain to your customer that "that spot is actually very clean, having been extracted very thoroughly, but the color will never be the same".

also keep in mind often times the wear you put on the carpet by using heavy cleaners, brushing hard, then using an extracting machine can be worse than the discolored spot itself. brushing hard can really change the look of the fibers in the carpet sometimes, some carpet more than others.
 
I avoided brushing hard. I did try some tarminator, that helped a little. Carpet didn't get any color back but there was some brown transfer on the towel. I then proceeded to let some OPC dwell on it and hit it with the steamer and that also just transferred some brown to the towel and ever so slightly lightened it.

In the end I made some pretty good improvement but it wasn't coming out I guess. Thanks for your replies. I wanted to make sure that I could safely say that some stains like those just don't come out. Now I know that next time I don't have to waste all the effort trying
 
Guys, some stains are just permanently set. Thinking that you are able to remove every single stain from even heavily neglected vehicles is setting yourself up for disappointment on a regular basis. A LOT of stains just can not be removed, no matter the process or chemical used.
 
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