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I found a great way to clean headliner/carpet!!

7K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  cdmccul 
#1 ·
I've got 250,000 miles on my 99 Intreid ES. I thought the only way to get the grease and coffee stains out of my carpet and headliner was to have it professionally cleaned. My wife suggested I try ChemDry Carpet Stain Extinguisher. Amazing stuff!! It works!! If anyone wants to hear how to use it, let me know.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I got it at Home Depot. And I'll have to explain how I used it tomorrow. It's too bad I didn't take a snap shot of the carpet before I cleaned it (so I could show a before and after photo). I'll include some pics so you can at least see how it looks after I cleaned it. The carpet was full of spilled Cokes, espresso coffee and oil spots (11 years of dirt). I also had a couple of small grease spots on the headliner that came off without a trace. I paid $6 for the package that contains a carbonated cleaner and a chemical cleaner for tougher spots (which for me was enough product to do the entire car).
 
#6 ·
check it out once it drys completely... i thought i had the greatest carpet cleaner in the world when i pulled out my carpet to clean but it just looked amazing cause it was uniformly moist. Once it dried the usual spots came back. I'm interested in your headliner technique... mine really needs a cleaning in the back where it "dips" just before the back window...it looks like it collects every bit of exhaust/smoke/dust
 
#7 · (Edited)
Make sure you have plenty of light so you can see what you're doing. I used white paper towels to blot or soak up the cleaner. The trick is to avoid rubbing! Spray the cleaner on the spot, wait 30 seconds, then use a clean "white" paper towel to soak up the cleaner. Keep turning the paper towel so you never touch the carpet with cleaner you pulled up. Use the carbonated cleaner first, wait until everything is dry before you decide to go over stubborn areas. Practice on your carpet before you attempt to clean your headliner. Don't rub the headliner!!! You will damage the fibers!!! The carpet will take a lot more abuse from rubbing, but it will show frayed fibers if you start rubbing to much. I had some chocolate shake and Skiddles that were ground into the carpet. I sprayed the carbonated cleaner on it, loosened the gunk with a white nylon brush (very gently) then soaked up the fluid with a clean paper towel. Any grease or dark oil spots required the chemical cleaner...same technique (don't use the nylon brush unless you have thick gunk that won't come out). I used the chemical cleaner to remove grease spots on my headliner with no problems...just had to be very gentle with it. I'll post some pics tomorrow.
 
#9 ·
why no rubbing? just did my headliner, came out great... used a little watered down degreaser (recommended by the detail bay here at the dealership) There is no way just dabbing my headliner with a paper towel would get it clean, i HAD to rub, lol. No frayed fibers since it's the first time i've ever cleaned it... i can understand with multiple cleaning and constant rubbing it could fray the fibers but they still look like new after just one cleaning no worries. thanks for the inspiration!
 
#17 · (Edited)
The second shot is the drivers side where you can see the area in the upper right where my foot has worn thru the carpet. Also this flash shot has revealed areas that I missed. The worn area on the right all the way back to the seat was not cleaned and there are a couple of small spots toward the seat I can remove. So I'll clean these areas this weekend and post another shot. I should have followed my own advice and made sure I had plenty of light when I did the work.
 

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