Upholstery cleaner

Whether you're just washing the car, into detailing in a big way or enhancing your 406, collect and share hints and tips here.

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FarmerPug
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Upholstery cleaner

Post by FarmerPug »

I seen a video on youtube of car seats being cleaned with a carpet cleaner and it seems to do a very good job of getting out the grime in the seats and carpets
I want to clean the seats in the 305es, they could do with a freshen up but there are too many seats to drop off at the valeters there is a cp hire nearby which has a karcher carpet cleaner

I rang them up and they mentioned being careful because the carpet cleaners can leave the seats damp and to consider steam cleaners, but looking at the carpet cleaner it seems like it gives a much more thorough cleaning

Whats the best thing to use here? I dont mind damp seats they lift out relativley easily and i can leave them in the living room to dry off.
gumby6371
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Re: Upholstery cleaner

Post by gumby6371 »

As it's not a daily driver (yet) I'd go with the wet cleaner, the problem occurs when you leave the seats in a closed up car as they take forever to dry.
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PeterN
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Re: Upholstery cleaner

Post by PeterN »

I have a bottle of upholstery cleaner called 'Decosol'. I have had it for more years than I can remember but I got it out a little while ago and used it on the conservatory furniture which was very grubby and it brought it up a treat. I don't even know if they still make it but it works very well.

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FarmerPug
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Re: Upholstery cleaner

Post by FarmerPug »

The seats themselves dont actually look too dirty, well the ones i have out of the s5 do they had mice sh*t on them which needs cleaned up, but generally i want to wash out 30 years of whatever crap has ended up in these seats and watching any application of carpet cleaners on seats it looks like the cleaning solution goes in and is sucked back out through the seat to give them a good cleaning.

My worry is that the seats will get drenched but if they are just left a bit damp then an electric heater would surely dry them out?
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lozz
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Re: Upholstery cleaner

Post by lozz »

*Get some 'Star drops. its as cheap as chips,

mix it up in abig bucket..and use the Foam off it..not the liquid.
and you will find it cleans seats up as good as new.

it leaves a nice fresh clean smell, and it leaves no stains behind.

If your doing the Roof lining too, don't soak it.. as it will dry out and 'go saggy.
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Welly
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Re: Upholstery cleaner

Post by Welly »

I've got a 'George' wet & dry vacuum cleaner which sprays the soapy solution onto the fabric and hoovers it straight back up so it kinda goes 'through' the top layer of material lifting the dirt. I've always had good results with it except the vacuum 'head' can be difficult to get into small corners etc. nice feature of the machine is being able to spray-only the work piece before switching the vacuum on.

You can buy a soap solution suitable for wet vac's that doesn't foam too much and is kind to material.

One caution is that I believe some stitched fabrics can suffer with rotted stitching if they get too wet for too long? my advice would be to use a machine and get the seats out in the sun to dry as quickly as possible outside.
Cars in my care:
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