Cleaned the carpets in my ratty old car

[kaos]

So I picked up a shop-vac on the day-after-thanksgiving sale, and have been itchin' to do some carpet cleaning with it ever since. Finally had a positively gorgeous day on Tuesday here, and I was even off that day. (what luck)

I've decided to pretty much turn my old beater car into an experimental platform for detailing. Since it would be my first time doing carpets, it was time to get this old beast cleaned up a bit. :cool Here's what we had to start with:



I really thought there'd be more evidence of the King-size coke from BK that ended up on the passenger-side floor about a year ago, but you can mostly just see the ring an inch or so up from the bottom, and some general discoloration.



Here are the mats. I knew there wasn't much hope for that driver's side mat, but figured I'd see what I could do.



Everything got vacuumed, in the process determined that I need a better carpet attachment (something other than the 'car nozzle'). It worked fine for most stuff, but where there was ground-in gravel and such from years of neglect, it really needed some more agitation.

Then went to GSR's carpet method. Used some 303 at about 10:1 to spot-treat stains (pretty much spot-treated the entire driver's side mat ), let it soak in for a bit, then broke out the oxy-clean with a brush. That stuff really works good. Next time I need a better method of getting it onto the carpets though. Perhaps I'll have to go pick up a cheap pressure sprayer. Or just a little houseplant watering can. Went to extract with the shop-vac, and this was where I became really glad I picked up that car-detailing attachment kit from Home Depot. The 2.5" car nozzle that came with the Craftsman vac wasn't really shaped very good for extraction. The 1.25" Rigid car nozzle, however, is great. Makes a nice seal onto the carpet to really suck the water out.

The results:






The mats dried farily quick sitting out in the sun, but the carpet itself took forever to dry. Actually had to wait till the next day to put the mats back in. Perhaps I need to go over it a little more when extracting? We'll see how it goes with the truck. Probably should've hit that drivers side mat with the 303 at full strength, but I didn't feel like being out there ALL day just doing carpets... heh

The carpets were also pretty stiff when they dried. Do you guys ever use some kind of fabric softener or something as a final step? I think that would be a nice touch if doing it for someone other than just myself.

All in all, a good experience, and really brightened the old beast up. :rockin

[dalmore]

looks like whatever you used on the drivers mat was a little too strong!!

How much did you get in tips? I'll bet there were a couple of dollars in loose change under those seats!

[tubafeak]

It really helps if you rinse the carpets before you extract. That way you are extracting just water. The crispness of the carpet is due to dried oxy clean residue. I have a spray bottle filled with water that I use to spray the mats before I extract. Try it, it should make your carpets softer.

[rollman]

Don't ya think its time to bury that drivers side mat. I think it gave you the best years of its life

[kaos]

Yeah, but the whole car's just about done for, really... The only reason I even bothered cleaning it was, like I said, as an experimental platform.

Heck, a few weeks ago the little wear bar on the brakes started squealing. I've got lifetime pads on it, so they would've been free, but I didn't want to risk twisting the head off a guide pin bolt like I did once, so I just pulled the wheel, bent the wear bar out, and reinstalled the wheel. It's still got some life left, and it's a rivetless pad, so screw it. This car ain't gonna last much longer, anyway. The rust hole behind the passenger door will soon be big enough to fit a bowling ball in. Every horizontal surface has massive clearcoat failure. The synchro is shot in 4th gear, so have to either match rpm just right or skip from 3-5. Drivers door hinges are bent a little so it doesn't seal quite right. Windshield is pitted so bad it looks like I'm driving into a snowstorm when there's an oncoming car at night. Horn doesn't work. Spring just went out on the gas cap door, so now I have to open the trunk, pull the release cord there, then use something to pop the door open. Well, I'll just stop there. It's a beater car. 'nuff said. It works good for it's primary job, which is getting me to the employee lot at the airport and sitting there for 4 days.

[G35stilez]

Very Nice work. Glad my regimen could give you a bit of help.

Did you try the 303 full strength at all?


Regardless, they look a helluva lot better.

[vdubbya]

Maybe we should all chip in and you can get some new floor mats. LOL :hippi