Road Salt in Floor Mats and Carpet

W

wizardofahs

New member
Here's the nicest car i've detailed to date... a 2000 Caddie DTS (no it doesn't have night vision... at the time they purchased it the dealer didn't have one with that option) wasn't ever really waxed... paint was failry good condition. Also a warning on the pics... the garage is VERY VERY messy... and the car was driven a bit before i could get some pics (didn't have my MF and QD to clean it up before i snaped them). Does anyone have tips for the wheel wells... or on the tires.. i used the gel on the side of the tires.. it looks good. But the flat part of the tire (that touches the ground) is very dull and dust and greyish brown. Does anyone have a way to keep them black and looking similiar to the sides? I tried the gel on a different car.. after driving it all the gel just wore off. Thanks for the advice!

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quick addition... this was my first time using good products... i dawned, clayed, dawned, then used Klasse AIO for the first time...and 3 layers of SG for the first time. Followed with a #26 topper.
 
Was wondering what everyone use's to remove road salt from carpet and floor mats. Have a detail coming up with two snow plow trucks and the carpets are full of salt! I heard of a product but unable to find it (Salt Away ?). Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Spray Awesome (non diluted) onto the carpets and let it dwell 5-10 minutes. Next, mix 1 ounce Awesome to each gallon of warm water into a bucket and get to scrubbing

Next step, wet vac. Then rub like crazy with terry cloth towels, then vacume again. After all this, turn the heat on high using the floor option

Be sure and keep an eye on the temp gauge to make sure the car is not over heating and the key doesn't get locked in there

Have fun :-B
 
What I have done and works for me on really soiled floor mats is spray meguiars APC diluted 50/50 half apc and half water, sprayed that on let it soak and scrub with a brush and powerwashed everything out starting from top to bottom. then wet vac dry. if you dont have a wet vac I used to use a water blade car dryer to kinda squegee the mats. I would never use it on the paint though. I used to use this method befor I got a extractor. if you dont have Megs APC, and are limited to over the counter stuff, Resolve works very good too. I have not tried Awesome like what was mentioned above but I would bet it works like a charm too.
 
The best way to remove salt or calcium chloride from any surface is to neutralize it. Cheap way is to make a soloution of tap water and white vinegar. Vacuum mats to remove all gross soil and then soak with water and vinegar. 4-6 oz per gallon of water. Scrub and let sit for 10 minutes and the rinse with a pressure washer or flood rinse and extract. If there is any slight odor from the vinegar you can extract with a neutral cleaner, carpet cleaner or APC. This same soloution also works great on hard floors (use 2-3 oz per gallon on hard floors).
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There are special products that do the same thing but they are chemically identical to the above.
 
JSFM35X said:
The best way to remove salt or calcium chloride from any surface is to neutralize it. Cheap way is to make a soloution of tap water and white vinegar. Vacuum mats to remove all gross soil and then soak with water and vinegar. 4-6 oz per gallon of water. Scrub and let sit for 10 minutes and the rinse with a pressure washer or flood rinse and extract. If there is any slight odor from the vinegar you can extract with a neutral cleaner, carpet cleaner or APC. This same soloution also works great on hard floors (use 2-3 oz per gallon on hard floors).
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There are special products that do the same thing but they are chemically identical to the above.
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Thanks JSFM35X, the previous reply's are good but per the owner of the trucks said he and his co workers did the same thing last year as those posts and still had the white calcium stains left after the carpet dried.
 
I have a foam cleaning products for do it yourselfers. It is easy to overwet a carpet if you don't have professional equipment. All auto stores will carry foam carpet cleaners. Just spray it on, agitate it, let it dry and vacuum it out.
 
They sell products specifically for neturilizing salt. I have seen in the auto section at Wal mart. Your local office/carpet cleaning retailer will have gallon jugs.
 
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