Water marks on the interior

C

carnage

New member
On the shade to cover the rear cargo area, I have brown water marks on the underside on the shade. The top is made from some kind of vinyl, while the other side is made from a different material. Almost cloth like.

Is there a way to remove the brown water marks with damaging the material or glue?
 
Could it be the dye from the vinyl that have stained the weave under it. Since you mentioned that it`s brown stained I`m wondering what kind of stain it is if it is water spots that`s of minerals useally. Then you can have some dirt looking like water spots. Do you have any idea of what this cover has covered? Or if it has been laying outside with water on the inside of it or something like that.

You could try a water spot remover which useally is not desolveing glue. Then it`s more about what happens when you start to aggitate the weave part of the cover if the glue is already brittle and dry. Likewise if you put a PW to clean with it can be to aggressive to this side. If the cover has been rolled up for a long time I think that it`s going to be very hard to get it really cleaned up.

I would start with a mild APC and spray on where it`s not visible when you rolling up the cover. And let it dwell so it don`t dries and rinse it off very thoroughly with the hose. Look if it`s able to be desolveing some of the dirt on the rinse water. Let it dry and you can blowdry it to speed it up a little. And look so you don`t make it worse and also if you get an improvement on the stains. If you see it works you can use a softer brush to aggitate it with or if you have an old wash mitt. You can saturate the section you are cleaning after the dwell time with more APC and use the wash mitt to aggitate it with in combo with a soft brush. Rinse it off and dry and inspect it. You can use a water spot remover on a test spot to see if it works for you. With all chemicals don`t let them dry and rinse them off before they do. Stay away from tar remover and the bug & tar removers and any other stronger solvents as they want to desolve the glue.

/ Tony
 
carnage- Any idea where the "brown" came from, like...what it was that imparted that color to the waterspots?

I`d probably approach it like a low-nap carpet or an oriental rug, using an extractor.
 
Perhaps, you have waterspots - under - the retractable cargo cover because of excess moisture directly under it, or somehow water/something wet, got somehow directly vertical from the cargo carpet area and hit the underside??

I agree with Tony, try a mild apc on 1 spot carefully and see what comes off on a white towel..

Good luck with this..
Dan F
 
The water marks are from when it raining out and more so when there snow on the roof, I open the cargo door, all the snow falls onto the cargo shade. I clean the snow off the shade but don`t wipe it dry. Then the water sits on the shade all day. Next day there`ll be ice. I know, I should keep a microfiber cloth in the SUV.

The brown water marks I guess it from what is in between the 2 material, black vinyl on top, some kind of white cloth on the bottom. My guess would be some kind of cardboard in the middle of the 2 materials, to grab onto open and close the shade. Then there 2 plastic pieces on the outer edge to lock the shade in the open position to hide what in the cargo area. From a Google search, It`s called a cargo cover.

I don`t know how to post pictures on a forum yet, if anyone is wondering.

Can APC damage the glue holding the material on?
 
Carnage- Thanks for explaining...I`ll spare you the obvious "don`t let it stay wet like that!" lecture ;) I`d still approach it like an Oriental Rug, with some kind of Interior Cleaner/APC and either the white cotton towel or an extractor. Fingers crossed that it`s something that will clean up.

I`d be careful with the Hydrogen Peroxide lest it bleach things whiter than you want (no idea whether that`s really a valid concern, but better safe than sorry).
 
Carnage,
Thanks for helping us understand how moisture got in there from the get-go..

Yeah, you need to really keep that cargo cover dry, whenever it gets wet..

I believe that the insert between the top and bottom of that cargo cover might be a type of fiberboard material, that could be soaking through and now you see what that looks like from the bottom, unfortunately..

What APC are you planning on using on the spots ? I don`t believe it will hurt the glue if you don`t soak the heck out of it and cause that board to absorb a lot of it.. But it also may make the issue worse, if it indeed is caused by too much moisture in the board..

I always like to approach these challenges with using something really small on a small spot, to see what kind of reaction I get..

You will always be better using something white, so that you can see what -color- is coming off from that test spot.. 1 - Q-tip even, but a small, white, clean, no dang fabric softeners, etc., in it, just a white clean, towel for application and removal, is what I would do if your vehicle was in my Shop..

I also vote -No- on using any type of hydrogen peroxide/ bleach on there..

You are making progress ! Keep going forward ! We are here to help !
Dan F
 
Accumulator said:
Carnage- Thanks for explaining...I`ll spare you the obvious "don`t let it stay wet like that!" lecture ;) I`d still approach it like an Oriental Rug, with some kind of Interior Cleaner/APC and either the white cotton towel or an extractor. Fingers crossed that it`s something that will clean up.

I`d be careful with the Hydrogen Peroxide lest it bleach things whiter than you want (no idea whether that`s really a valid concern, but better safe than sorry).
Click to expand...

I get a little lazy about my car, so things get neglected.

Since you mentioned rugs, how about Folex? It`s supposed to to mild.
 
Stokdgs said:
Carnage,
Thanks for helping us understand how moisture got in there from the get-go..

Yeah, you need to really keep that cargo cover dry, whenever it gets wet..

I believe that the insert between the top and bottom of that cargo cover might be a type of fiberboard material, that could be soaking through and now you see what that looks like from the bottom, unfortunately..

What APC are you planning on using on the spots ? I don`t believe it will hurt the glue if you don`t soak the heck out of it and cause that board to absorb a lot of it.. But it also may make the issue worse, if it indeed is caused by too much moisture in the board..

I always like to approach these challenges with using something really small on a small spot, to see what kind of reaction I get..

You will always be better using something white, so that you can see what -color- is coming off from that test spot.. 1 - Q-tip even, but a small, white, clean, no dang fabric softeners, etc., in it, just a white clean, towel for application and removal, is what I would do if your vehicle was in my Shop..

I also vote -No- on using any type of hydrogen peroxide/ bleach on there..

You are making progress ! Keep going forward ! We are here to help !
Dan F
Click to expand...

I believe the cover is water proof/resistance. I think the water is getting in through the seams, where it`s sewn.

The APC I was planning on using was Optimum OPC, Britemax Grime Out, or Meguiars D101. I don`t know which one or what dilution ratio I should start off with.

Instead of a Q-Tip, what about a cotton ball or a 2" round white facial pad? If things goes smoothly I thought about the Kiwi leather brush to agitate the cleaner, then wipe dry with a white microfiber cloth.

If water made the brown spots, would spraying the cleaner have the same effect? Even though I`m using a microfiber to dry.

When drying do a blot it the cloth or wipe dry, side to side motion?

Does drying have a be as delicate as possible, so the material does come loose?
 
carnage said:
Since you mentioned rugs, how about Folex? It`s supposed to to mild.
Click to expand...


I`ve never tried it, but I`m sure somebody here has.

I honestly don`t know how to answer your other Qs as it`s hard to know just what`s really going on. I`d just pick one area for a test-spot and try something.

The Q-tip would be very small so if things go haywire it should`t be a huge complication.

Blotting would generally be good but in practice I bet you`ll find that just takes way too long to be effective. I`d want to rinse the cleaner out. I suppose a damp cloth (I`d probably use cotton instead of MF) might do it, but I`m all about using extractors so I can`t really say.

No idea whether any liquid will cause the stains, but I`d tend to doubt it. Also no idea whether drying it with applied heat/etc. would cause damage.

It`s just really hard to predict what`ll happen with something like this unless/until you`ve done it.

 
Accumulator said:
I`ve never tried it, but I`m sure somebody here has.

I honestly don`t know how to answer your other Qs as it`s hard to know just what`s really going on. I`d just pick one area for a test-spot and try something.

The Q-tip would be very small so if things go haywire it should`t be a huge complication.

Blotting would generally be good but in practice I bet you`ll find that just takes way too long to be effective. I`d want to rinse the cleaner out. I suppose a damp cloth (I`d probably use cotton instead of MF) might do it, but I`m all about using extractors so I can`t really say.

No idea whether any liquid will cause the stains, but I`d tend to doubt it. Also no idea whether drying it with applied heat/etc. would cause damage.

It`s just really hard to predict what`ll happen with something like this unless/until you`ve done it.

[/COLOR]
Click to expand...


I just brought the cover in the house to work on it better, plus to warm it up a little, 40 degrees right now.

There`s no turning back if something goes wrong. I`m thinking of trying some hand soap first, mild approach, then Folex, last will be the APC. For some reason I keep thinking about the old cloth headliner that keeps on falling down.

For drying I`m thinking about blotting it dry with a microfiber cloth then put it near the baseboard heat overnight.

Hopefully it`s good enough, to get it clean without any damage.
 
carnage- I`d put it pretty far away from the baseboard heat source so it doesn`t undergo some kind of shrinkage. And I don`t think I`d use the hand soap, I`d just use a more diluted version of the Folex/APC..but that`s just me.
 
Accumulator said:
carnage- I`d put it pretty far away from the baseboard heat source so it doesn`t undergo some kind of shrinkage. And I don`t think I`d use the hand soap, I`d just use a more diluted version of the Folex/APC..but that`s just me.
Click to expand...


To late, I tried hand soap. It did nothing. I also tried a eco friendly APC, nothing. The last thing a tried was Meguiars D101 at 4 to 1. I tried it first with a Q-tip, cotton ball, leather brush, with no damage I then tried a soft bristle scrub brush. No damage from scrubbing. While scrubbing the foam stood white.

After I was done scrubbing I used a damp microfiber cloth with water for the final wipe down, followed by a dry cloth.

It should dry out just being in the house over night, instead of being outside. It`s drying kind of quicker than I thought without the heat bring on.

As it drying it look like it`s only a 15% improvement. I look better tomorrow when I put it back in the SUV.
 
carnage- Well, at least you`re not messing it up, but that "15%" improvement must be kinda disappointing. At least it`s all on the underside, which doesn`t show, right?
 
Accumulator said:
carnage- Well, at least you`re not messing it up, but that "15%" improvement must be kinda disappointing. At least it`s all on the underside, which doesn`t show, right?
Click to expand...

Since it`s been 2 days of drying. The water marks hasn`t gotten any better. It`s lighter than what I first started with. I wish I could remove more of the water marks.

Most important part is nothing got damage. Plus being on the under side of the cover no one is going to see the marks, unless they`re looking for something or straight at the water marks.

It was a learning experience on cleaning the cover plus I learn not to be lazy and wipe up the water right away.

Thanks to Accumulator and Stokdgs, for all the advice and everyone who answer my questions.
 
carnage said:
It was a learning experience on cleaning the cover plus I learn not to be lazy and wipe up the water right away..
Click to expand...

Funny how you can/can`t get away with different things...stuff you`d never expect to be a problem ends up being like this...live and learn.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top