Author Topic: How to treat dirty 2nd (3rd) hand interior  (Read 2183 times)

Offline scanesare

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How to treat dirty 2nd (3rd) hand interior
« on: 11 June 2018, 08:58 »
Morning,

We have just acquired a new *used* car in the family that despite being mechanically fine unfortunately (and clearly) has not been treated to the same level of cleanness and care as my Clubsport... Now as a first step I went through the entire interior with a standard vacuum cleaner and then generous amounts of GTechniq i2 Tri-Clean on practically every surface. Still, there are a couple of light stains on one seat (standard foam and car textile, no leatherette, alcantara etc) that persist and a touch of the previous smell, nothing too obnoxious but still something which is not "yours" (if i make sense here) let alone some persisting dirt/sand in the carpets that did not go away with that standard vacuum cleaner I used as it seems to have penetrated deep inside the carpets.

So what should my next steps be to bring the car to an almost "like new" state? With my limited knowledge I would have thought steam cleaning and so I asked a guy I know who is way more crazy about detailing that I am and he suggested using his professional textile vacuum cleaner over the steam cleaning as he argues that you have to suck the dirt out first. I am thinking maybe a combination of both? Or maybe a good textile cleaner like a spray with a brush and manual work could also do the trick? Haven't ever dealt with a an interior at this state before so open to all suggestions.
« Last Edit: 11 June 2018, 09:13 by scanesare »

Offline Booth11

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Re: How to treat dirty 2nd (3rd) hand interior
« Reply #1 on: 11 June 2018, 18:58 »
Morning,

We have just acquired a new *used* car in the family that despite being mechanically fine unfortunately (and clearly) has not been treated to the same level of cleanness and care as my Clubsport... Now as a first step I went through the entire interior with a standard vacuum cleaner and then generous amounts of GTechniq i2 Tri-Clean on practically every surface. Still, there are a couple of light stains on one seat (standard foam and car textile, no leatherette, alcantara etc) that persist and a touch of the previous smell, nothing too obnoxious but still something which is not "yours" (if i make sense here) let alone some persisting dirt/sand in the carpets that did not go away with that standard vacuum cleaner I used as it seems to have penetrated deep inside the carpets.

So what should my next steps be to bring the car to an almost "like new" state? With my limited knowledge I would have thought steam cleaning and so I asked a guy I know who is way more crazy about detailing that I am and he suggested using his professional textile vacuum cleaner over the steam cleaning as he argues that you have to suck the dirt out first. I am thinking maybe a combination of both? Or maybe a good textile cleaner like a spray with a brush and manual work could also do the trick? Haven't ever dealt with a an interior at this state before so open to all suggestions.

I’d try something like this on the fabric seats, in conjunction with steam cleaning or a wet/dry vac -  to clean and remove odours.  I use the cat specific one at home and it’s very effective.  I know other car enthusiasts that have usecitintheir cars to deal with kids being sick in cars and it both removed the stains and counters the odours too.

This is a general one.

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/cat/cat-litter/cat-cleaning-products/antibacterial-stain-and-odour-remover-with-byotrol
« Last Edit: 11 June 2018, 19:00 by Booth11 »
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Offline scanesare

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Re: How to treat dirty 2nd (3rd) hand interior
« Reply #2 on: 12 June 2018, 09:17 »
Ok I'll have a look at those products for cleaning pet stains then. Side comment: one thing that I don't like about those strong antibacterial cleaners is exactly that feature though. I used the i2 Tri-Clean as I had it available but I really want to limit their use to the minimum so I'd probably look into a standard cleaner instead. Will need to see what's available in Sweden.