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My car 1996 car, which I bought last summer, has cloth upholstery. I've cleaned it several times with upholstery shampoo. It is better than it was, but it isn't as good as it could be. I'm just wondering what other people use and how agressively they use it.
BTW I've used a clay bar on car windows. It's brilliant for creating smear free windows. I've yet to use it on bodywork.
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Hi trilogy,
I use a liquid soap called star drops,it's an old fashioned product ,that I remember from my childhood ,50 years ago.
It's cheap to buy about ,about £1.20 for a litre.and can be bought in most supermarkets ,except morrisons ,
I put about 3 capfuls in a bucket that's half full of warm water.
I scrub the solution into the seats and carpets ,using a scrubbing brush on the carpets and a nail brush on the seats,the nail brush is less abrasive,
I then use a wet and dry vac to pull the dirty residue from the fabric ,If the dirt is more ingrained a repeat of the process usually works.
It's hard work but effective, as I need to clean the cars to a retail standard.
If you wanted to buy a wet and dry vac ,I would recommend one from wickes DIY .I bought one 4 years ago and it's still going strong.Great value at £30.00
As I said it's hard work but good exercise ,you wont need to use a gym if you clean cars !
Tony g
Edited by tony g on 14/01/2012 at 10:54
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Those Wet and Dry Vac's are superb, i got a Karcher from Tesco when they were on special offer at £30.
As for cloth upholstery i tend to stock up with the £1-a-pop Car Pride stuff from cheap shops and the Instant Valet combined with rough side of a kitchen sponge works a treat!
Ive concluded Halfords and AutoGlym etc is just the same stuff in fancy bottles.
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And when you've got it clean--- give the upholstery a good spray over with a waterproofing spray, especially if you carry children or teenage girls in the car. Lidl very occasionally have 'W5 Waterproofing Spray' in stock. The price is right, but they only seem to have it once a year, and the staff can't tell you when that is! I've just found a can of 'ScotchGard' in my local hardware shop, so I'll give mine another spray over when the weather gets a bit warmer.
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Hire a Rug Doctor with upholstery attachment from B&Q/Tesco/Homebase etc...
www.rugdoctor.co.uk/
I use alternative upholstery/carpet shampoo rather than their inflated prices.
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(Duplicate post)
Edited by Avant on 15/01/2012 at 21:48
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bicarbonate of soda. (or baking soda). Test on a small patch, although it shouldn't give any problems.
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a waterproofing spray, especially if you carry children or teenage girls in the car.
Or try house-training your children? I hear it'll serve them well through life. ;)
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Prior to having cars with side airbags, I've used a Vax with either Bissell shampoo or 1001 shampoo and obtained good results. Similarly Vanish carpet mousse has been quite good.
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I'll second the Vanish suggestion. No need to buy fancy upholstery stuff specially for cars; lot's of other furniture is made of the same materials (leather etc). My car seats are like a sort of suede-y materia and Vanish works ok. Autoglym on windows and the plazzy bits inside. Shiny!
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Hi,trilogy
Vanish,wet and dry vacs ,fabric guard.!
You could soon exceed the value of an old car in cleaning materials.
Probably best to see what you could acquire ,when the wife's not looking
Regards
Tony g
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For windows, rub cheap cellulose thinners all over, and be amazed what it brings off.
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Don't light up either, don't have a garage party. I've heard that the cellulose sprayers are having bad health problems now they're getting older.
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Thanks for all the suggestions. Clay bars are best for windows. Water is all I use as a lubricant. I don't think breathing in water vapour will be particularly harmful!
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