I am looking for most effective method/product to use on my wife's rx400h interior carpet and mats. it is ahs/light grey and it show dirt/stain very well. i have tried woolite's carpet cleaner with brush and got okay result but still not satisfied. what product can i use to restore carpet and floormats without spending days and $$??

 

Its probably better to do this during warm months but I usually spray it with water, spray some APC on there, agitate with a carpet brush, then rinse it off the mat with more water. After, I just wetvac all the water out of the carpet and let it dry. I vary the strength of my APC depending on how stuck on the stain is

 

For readily available OTC products, I have always found Tuff Stuff to be a great product for carpet/cloth seat cleaning. Very easy to use, and all you need to do is spray it on, scrub a bit with a carpet brush, and vacuum out. Carpets/seats do not get overly damp, so it works even where it's cold (like IL right now). Might need two shots at it for deeper stains, but it's always done right by me when steam/upholstery cleaning wasn't possible or cost effective.

Big Mack

 

A quality carpet care product should be able to help you break up those stains. I highly recommend the 303 Fabric & Vinyl Cleaner! You can use it at full strength safely for the tough build ups or dilute it 10:1 for the best value. Spray it on the affected area and wait about 1 - 2 minutes. If you can bring out some warm or hot water in a pan/dish, dip a firm bristle brush in it and then agitate the desired areas. This has helped me get rid of the stains and get the carpets clean again.

I HIGHLY recommend using the 303 High Tech Fabric Guard before winter to help preserve the carpets. Just mist it on the carpets and they are instantly protected from the worst build ups.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Greg @ DI

 

thanks Greg, can i use 303 Carpet Spot Remover on leather and vinyl also?

 

Here is a How-To thread that i just copied and pasted from my site. Good luck!





Items Used

Shop Vac
Bissell Little Green Clean Machine – LGCM
Folex Carpet Stain Spray
Oxi-Clean
2 Buckets
Interior Scrub Brush
Microfiber Towels

1. (Optional) This step makes the rest 1000x easier. Remove the seats out of the car. Usually it only takes a couple of bolts.

2. Give the interior a through vacuuming.

3. Pre-treat all of the stained areas with your folex spray. Make sure to give the areas a liberal spray so that lifting and removing the stains will be easier.

4. While the pre-treatment is working itself in, fill your 2 buckets with HOT water. Water from the tap will do just fine, no need to boil it.

5. Take one of the buckets with hot water and add 1 ounce of oxi-clean/16 ounces of water. Let the oxi-clean dissolve into this bucket, and leave the other bucket just plain with water.

6. While the oxi-clean is dissolving, take your interior scrub brush and scrub the pre-treated areas. Give them about 15-20 second scrub each area.

7. With your hands, or a small bottle, scoop out some oxi/h2o solution and pour it into the affected area. Work one area at a time. Make sure you get enough solution in the area, and then start scrubbing. Once you think you have scrubbed enough, scrub some more, and then suck up all of the solution with your LGCM.

8. Now take some of your water only, and pour that in the same area, then suck up the water with your LGCM. This is your rinse cycle. If the water coming up from the carpet is totally clear, then move on to the next area. If not, repeat step #7. solution/scrub/rinse until you are happy with the results. The water coming up from the carpet will most likely never be totally clear, but it also shouldn’t look like chocolate milk, you be the judge.

9. When doing your final rinse cycle, suck up all the water you can, your carpet/seats should be moist not wet.

10. When you are finished with all of the areas spray febreeze under your seats, and under your floor mats (if applicable)

When you are finally done you should have something that looks similar to this.

 

very nice write up jellie i also recommend removing the seats when the interior is in such bad shape that trying to work around the seats actually takes more time. the only thing i will say is to be very careful when taking the seats out of the car and putting them back in. the rail on the bottom of the seats can easily scratch the exterior of the car if you are not careful. you may want a second set of hands to make your life easier.

 

I use it all over the interior, especially the vinyl and plastic pieces. I generally do not use it on the leather/leatherette seats. I prefer to use leather cleaners on them but I have used this product to help remove some stains on seats before like ink stains, grease stains, etc.

I also use it around the home to remove stains from clothes, sneakers, etc. Can't say enough great things about it!

Greg @ DI

 

where do they carry 303 Fabric & Vinyl Cleaner locally? homedepot? lowes?

 

303 products are generally not carried at most local stores, but sometimes you can find them at specialty shops. For maximum value get the 303 Fabric & Vinyl Cleaner which you can easily dilute down 8:1. The 303 Cleaner & Spot Remover uses the same active ingredients and is just pre-diluted. The results are outstanding either way.

Greg @ DI

 

West marine and boat stores might carry 303.. Great product but hard to find..

 

Looking for 303 products, well you came to the right place. We have a huge selection of 303 and here's a link to them. http://properautocare.com/303.html

 

What do you guys recommend for getting stains out of the seatbelt without discoloring it?

 

We have one interior cleaner that we use for absolutely everything. Carpets, door panels, leather, seats, seat belts, headliners... literally everything.

http://www.glisteningperfectionstore...ttle%2C/Detail

Hit the seat belt pretty heavily with the cleaner, and agitate with a soft bristled brush to work it in. After that, you might need to hit it with the cleaner again to flush out the contaminants from the seatbelt and dab off with a Microfiber Towel.

Repeat as necessary, but that should be all that you need to get them looking nice and fresh again.

 

Thanks; I'll give it a try.