Well, since all of our cars are like 12+ years old I figured some people must have some good advice on getting the interior clean. Throw in your suggestions for the areas listed.

Vinyl - The obvious Armor-All
Carpet- Thinking of renting a steam cleaner, I also heard powdered laundry detergent is good as a soap.
Seats - Anyone know of a good mild seat cleaner that wont bleach

I searched and didn't find anything to terribly informative, I'd like to hear some fellow EFers experiences.

 

believe it or not i've heard that actual shaving cream works for carpets/seats and most fabrics. I've tried it a few times and it comes out pretty good. Its just soap after all.

 

My interior is stripped!!!!

 

a bowl of water with vinegar in will get rid of grime/oil/crap in now time, to get rid of the smell of vinegar after just fit an airfreshener,

good stuff!

 

http://www.prowax.com here try this place

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Civic138 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://www.prowax.com here try this place</TD></TR></TABLE>

Cool, thanks for the link.

Anyone have any experience with those steam cleaners that you can rent from furniture stores etc.?

 

Pull the carpet out and pressure wash it. Nothing works better. Then hang it out to dry. Once dry get some carpet spray dye and make it look new again. Place back in car, and voila! new carpet! For the vinyl/plastic use a water based solution to shine it up and protect it. Armor all=crap. For the seats, you can also pressure wash them too, but you have to be really careful not to rip the fabric. Do it lightly. Or you can take it to the car washes that have the steam cleaners. Those work as well.

 

I like the idea of pulling out the carpet becuase my seats are out of the car right now anyway. Whatdya suggest for vinyl cleaner that is water based?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FOMULA91 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My interior is stripped!!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>
haha im sorry

 

Well, you know I'm not sure if you can get it in stores. Who knows though. Maybe checker auto or auto zone carries such a product. If not, you can pick some up from any auto detailing shop. Just ask if they have a vinly shine that's a water based solution, and if you can buy some off of them. If they say no, ask where you can buy it.

It's good stuff. When I detailed cars, we used this stuff called Shinola. It was like 10 parts shinola and 90 parts water when you mixed it. So a quart lasted quite awhile. We actually bought it by the 40 gallon drum.

Actually, if you can't find it look for some Leather Restorer/Lotion. That will work a whole hell of a lot better than armor all. And all you have to do is wipe your interior with a wet rag every couple of weeks or so after you apply it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Cleaning my old *** interior!</TD></TR></TABLE>

You might want to look into colonics.

 

i used regular spray bottle fantastic on everything (to cut through all the ****), then STP yellow bottle on all the plastic, it came out really clean and shiny.

i also found the matte black Vinyl Coat spray paint matches up with the stock black color our cars come in very well

when i added an EK armrest i used that paint and it doesnt look out of place at all against the center console, which i didnt paint.

if your carpets really nasty or worn out in spots replacment sets arent too expensive. i know your thread is about cleaning, im just saying it might be something to consider.

 

Yeah, my carpet isn't to worn out or anything....just rank and dirty. I'll look around for a couple products and let you guys know how it turns out, It'll be a spring break project.

 

my mom just got this steam cleaner from QVC and it works wonders on seats if your too lazy to take em out like me , it does a really nice job too! ill throw in some pictures sometime this week of my setas .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CRX_Control &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if your too lazy to take em out like me </TD></TR></TABLE>

Come on man. It takes maybe 2 minutes to take each seat out.

 

that's great, i had some old lady look at me funny because i took my seat out at the car wash (don't remember why)

 

does any one know how to get out lipstick, bleach, and dog crap?

 

steam cleaning is the only solution. You wouldn't believe the crime that comes out, looks brand new and smells good too

 

Where can a guy rent a steam cleaner at? Are they like the big vacuum looking things?

 

Home Depot rents them

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by davens &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You might want to look into colonics. </TD></TR></TABLE>

lol

hooked on colonics worked for me!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by spankjelly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Vinyl - The obvious Armor-All
Carpet- Thinking of renting a steam cleaner, I also heard powdered laundry detergent is good as a soap.
Seats - Anyone know of a good mild seat cleaner that wont bleach

: </TD></TR></TABLE>

No
No


Armor-all is bad stuff, never use oil based products, use water based(mothers) it will let your plastics "breath" and not crack.

Lots of soapy water and a high horse shop vac(I use 6.5hp) and for the saop use dawn dishsaop, its the best degreser out there.

Man you know I know all there is about cars
I used to detail in fargo

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kid-honda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

No
No


Armor-all is bad stuff, never use oil based products, use water based(mothers) it will let your plastics "breath" and not crack.

Lots of soapy water and a high horse shop vac(I use 6.5hp) and for the saop use dawn dishsaop, its the best degreser out there.

Man you know I know all there is about cars
I used to detail in fargo </TD></TR></TABLE>

Man your *** needs to be back in fargo so you can detail my beautiful blue interior!

I've heard to use water based interior products...that makes a lot of sense.

I'll try the shop vac route to avoid renting anything and see how it works.

 

Pull that carpet and hose that **** off. 100% better than steam cleaning. You won't leave any moisture under your carpet this way. You must let it dry first of course. Before you pressure wash it, you will want to spray some degreaser on it too.