Cleaning car interior (vehicles, best, seats, truck)

[LittleDolphin]

Have any tips on great, effective upholstery cleaner?? New/used car we just got has what looks like coffee stains on the tan seats, floor mats, etc. Would like to detail it to look better.

Thanks!

[cats234]

Is it leather or cloth?

[whiteboyslo]

For coffee stains in cloth or carpet, try some of the foaming upholstery cleaners sold in the parts store with the brush in the lid. Power Out works well, as does Blue Magic. I was able to take out 10 yr old coffee stains on light grey carpet with one of those guys!

Mike

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by LittleDolphin

Have any tips on great, effective upholstery cleaner?? New/used car we just got has what looks like coffee stains on the tan seats, floor mats, etc. Would like to detail it to look better.

Thanks!

A more-reputable local detailer...assuming there are some in your town / city...will get that out, and everything else, for about $150. At least that is the cost in the Pacific NW.

$150 is what it is: some don't want to pay the money on-principle. I'm personally not interested in a full day or at-minimum afternoon of stoop-labor with chemicals and my shop vac w/various wands inside my car. The best interior job I've done on my almost-8 y.o. truck has been 75% the job detailers do.

$150 starts to seem like a bargain, yearly or every-other. I watched them remove the chocolate milk and mocha coffee stains from the GF's carpet mats last year, that had been on there for half a year or more. Dunno how they did it, but away it went. And afterward the car smelled like humans might want to inhabit the interior again.

[Electrician4you]

Simply Awesome cleaner. Sold at 99 cent only stores. That stuff works

[LittleDolphin]

Originally Posted by whiteboyslo

For coffee stains in cloth or carpet, try some of the foaming upholstery cleaners sold in the parts store with the brush in the lid. Power Out works well, as does Blue Magic. I was able to take out 10 yr old coffee stains on light grey carpet with one of those guys!

Mike

Thanks, Mike, that sounds encouraging...guess I'm too cheap/broke to pay for professional detailing...think I'll try this first..I'm a hard worker willing to work!

[trbstang]

I've just used hot water with just a little bit of carpet cleaning soap, and my shop vac with a carpet cleaning end on it and gotten out almost all liquid stains on my past several vehicles. I use chemical cleaners on grease or other grime that the hot water will not remove.

On our last vehicle, an Eddie Bauer Explorer with the beige interior, I got that thing almost spotless before we traded it in. My kids spilled a couple of sodas and other stuff on it and it looked horrible. The dealer was amazed with it, and did not even have to do anything to it before putting it on the used car lot.

So if you have a shop vac, even a cheap $20 one will work, I would try it first, and then use the cleaners after all the water you vacuum up is no longer dirty. I usually fill a 32 oz cup with the hot water and slowly pour it on the seat or carpet while scrubbing it with a brush, then immediately vacuum it up. If you don't saturate it too much, the water will almost all come out with the vacuum and pull out all the dirt.

Good luck on it. A clean car really makes a difference!

[don1945]

Originally Posted by Electrician4you

Simply Awesome cleaner. Sold at 99 cent only stores. That stuff works

Awesome cleaner is, well.........Awesome ! I buy 4 or 5 everytime I am at the dollar store and use it on lots of stuff, even our garage floor. The fumes are murder, so I wear a mask to keep from coughing, but it sure does the job.

I am about ready to detail my newest daily driver, and that is what I will be using.

Don

[00molavi]

I have used shaving cream with a brush on interior carpet/cloth seats with good results. The foam stuff the car stores sell has been the same.

[erric17]

I like using the Tuff Stuff. It works great in removing stains and dirt on different kinds of surface/material.