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Cleaning Cloth Interior

7K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  Willy599 
#1 ·
Hello,

I'm trying to clean up my cloth interior, not that it's overly bad had it from new and now on it's 4th year. It just has a couple of marks from dirty boots, and rugby kit.

I have a wet vac and a yellow drill brush, is it safe to spray some fabric cleaner on the seats and let it dwell for a minute then hit it with the yellow (medium stiffness bristle brush ) drill brush and then suck it out with the wet vac?

Leave it for a week then hit it up with some fabric coat?
 
#2 ·
I would not recommend using a drill brush on the seats, on carpet it will be fine.

if you planing to add a fabric coat its worth once youve wet vac'ed the fabric cleaner out spray some plane water on the fabric and suck that out to, that ensures youve removed as much solution as you can and the fabric coat will have a better bond
 
#3 ·
I have honestly not found anything better than a steam cleaner that is better for cleaning fabric, upholstery and (p)leather and uses nothing but water.

You can sometimes find the Karcher one I use for as little as around £50 and it is also great around the house so SWMBO will be pleased for a change.
 
#5 ·
I have honestly not found anything better than a steam cleaner that is better for cleaning fabric, upholstery and (p)leather and uses nothing but water.

You can sometimes find the Karcher one I use for as little as around £50 and it is also great around the house so SWMBO will be pleased for a change.
I've got a cheap amazon steamer and wouldn't say I'm in love with it, I love it for leather but not really cloth, what one do you have? and is there an attachment I should be using?

I would not recommend using a drill brush on the seats, on carpet it will be fine.

if you planing to add a fabric coat its worth once youve wet vac'ed the fabric cleaner out spray some plane water on the fabric and suck that out to, that ensures youve removed as much solution as you can and the fabric coat will have a better bond
I've a drill with adjustable power and a clutch so it can't really get to damaging speed, thanks for the clean water tip!

The BEST thing I have found for cleaning fabric is the 'Tornador' air gun thing. It mixes water/cleaning solution with air and blasts it out in a tornado like storm. I'm not joking when I say that I've never seen anything get dirt out of carpets and fabric like this thing.

I usually spray on some APC, scrub it in then use the Tornador with clean water to blast the dirt out. I should say I don't have the genuine Tornador branded attachment. I have a much cheaper copy from Amazon.

Downside being that you need a high flow air compressor with a large tank to be able to use one. This makes it expensive and takes up space.

Best easy method is just to use an APC of some kind diluted with water, spray on and scrub with a gentle upholstry brush. Wipe off with a wet microfibre and repeat until the dirt is gone.

Then allow the seats to dry properly. Easiest way to do this is leave the car running with the heater on max. Make sure to leave windows open a crack all round to allow moisture to escape.You can speed this up with a hair dryer if you want.
I actually forgot about the tornador! I have one sitting in my basket on Slimsdetailing just never committed! I already have a 25L compressor so it's not too bad for me, does it not just blow the water into the middle of seat foam?
 
#4 · (Edited)
The BEST thing I have found for cleaning fabric is the 'Tornador' air gun thing. It mixes water/cleaning solution with air and blasts it out in a tornado like storm. I'm not joking when I say that I've never seen anything get dirt out of carpets and fabric like this thing.

I usually spray on some APC, scrub it in then use the Tornador with clean water to blast the dirt out. I should say I don't have the genuine Tornador branded attachment. I have a much cheaper copy from Amazon.

Downside being that you need a high flow air compressor with a large tank to be able to use one. This makes it expensive and takes up space.

Best easy method is just to use an APC of some kind diluted with water, spray on and scrub with a gentle upholstry brush. Wipe off with a wet microfibre and repeat until the dirt is gone.

Then allow the seats to dry properly. Easiest way to do this is leave the car running with the heater on max. Make sure to leave windows open a crack all round to allow moisture to escape.You can speed this up with a hair dryer if you want.
 
#8 ·
I’ve found the Tornador gets everything looking clean, but the stains come back, as they’re not being extracted.

I’ve gone back to wet vac.

Spray and agitate your solution with a brush or drill brush. Then use the wet vac with just warm water.

If you have a sensitive area (like a headlining or a heated cloth seat) don’t use water, just use the vacuum to suck as much liquid out.

Tornador is awesome for nooks and crannies, seat rails, and all around the dash. Any plastic or pleather, leather, engine bays. Basically any non-permeable surface.

If you’re using it inside the car, you need a face mask. Just leaving the doors open isn’t enough.

Good luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
#9 ·
I've found the Tornador gets everything looking clean, but the stains come back, as they're not being extracted.

I've gone back to wet vac.

Spray and agitate your solution with a brush or drill brush. Then use the wet vac with just warm water.

If you have a sensitive area (like a headlining or a heated cloth seat) don't use water, just use the vacuum to suck as much liquid out.

Tornador is awesome for nooks and crannies, seat rails, and all around the dash. Any plastic or pleather, leather, engine bays. Basically any non-permeable surface.

If you're using it inside the car, you need a face mask. Just leaving the doors open isn't enough.

Good luck.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Use both, Tornador and wet vac :)

But in all the times I used mine I haven't had any issues with repeat stains? The design of the Tornador blasts the dirt out and it coats the inside of the funnel, which is why you have to rinse it out in a bucket often.
 
#10 ·
I've found the Tornador gets everything looking clean, but the stains come back, as they're not being extracted.

I've gone back to wet vac.

Spray and agitate your solution with a brush or drill brush. Then use the wet vac with just warm water.

If you have a sensitive area (like a headlining or a heated cloth seat) don't use water, just use the vacuum to suck as much liquid out.

Tornador is awesome for nooks and crannies, seat rails, and all around the dash. Any plastic or pleather, leather, engine bays. Basically any non-permeable surface.

If you're using it inside the car, you need a face mask. Just leaving the doors open isn't enough.
Use both, Tornador and wet vac :)

But in all the times I used mine I haven't had any issues with repeat stains? The design of the Tornador blasts the dirt out and it coats the inside of the funnel, which is why you have to rinse it out in a bucket often.
Thanks for the advice chaps, have been watching a few youtube videos as I 'patiently' wait for mine to come on Monday. It'll be mainly used for the weird places like seat rails where I can't quite reach, as it'll probably only be used for my car interior as I seem to be one of a few people that prefer cloth to leather!

I don't use any tools on headlining's it's reserved for a good handjob :lol: with delicate microfibre use. Luckily working on a Range Rover atm so I can really test it out on that as it has very deep imprints on plastics which hold dirt extremely well!

Will report back soon!
 
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