Carpet cleaning recommendations?

Interested in any advice myself.

 

I have tried shampoo machines before - did not make any visible difference. Last week getting tires for a car and while waiting watching a detailing shop next door - the employee was cleaning a 60's Cadillac using a steamer. Man the dirt was peeling of like no tomorrow. He did the carpet, seats, dash. It was blowing out dirt from even the tiny narrow dash joints. He has the steam nozzle in one hand and the shop vac hose in the other. It would appear steam cleaning works and even on the most delicate fabrics.

 

Just in case this helps anyone. My trunk/boot was a complete mess and looked more like my tool chest than somewhere I would carry my dinner jacket. I stripped out all the carpet and tried various fabric cleaners and sprays with no success. Then looking at how my overalls emerge from the washing machine I soaked the sections of carpet overnight in Persil which worked a treat. A mixture of soaking and scrubbing with a short bristle scrubbing brush yielded large amounts of dirt and sediment in my soaking bucket. The resulting carpets are never going to win awards but the trunk/boot now looks clean and original (and fortunately my dinner jacket is black!)
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I have a "Little Green Machine" from Bissell that works pretty well. It's an older version so I'm not sure about the newer ones.

There's also a product called "Folex" that is my go-to carpet cleaner.

 

I agree with Graham above. Bite the dust and take it all out for a thorough cleaning and inspection. I use a wool cleaning detergent, let it soak for a while then semi hot water and a good brush. Hereafter a HP cleaner (from long distance) with plenty of cold water. It is unbelievable how much dirt that can be released from a +30 yeas old carpet. When finished the carpet can be inspected and, if in acceptable condition, re-installed.

Best, Peter

 

The next time you have the carpets cleaned in your house , have the guy do your car. We have our carpets cleaned every few years. The carpet cleaner comes in a van with some sort of a cleaning machine in the back of the van. This last year, when he came to clean our carpets, I had the 308 sitting in the driveway with the seats out. While my wife wasn’t looking, I asked if he wouldn’t mind doing my car. He smiled, said no problem and was done in 10 minutes. Great job and the little woman never knew the difference.


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I've tried a Mytee Extractor not unlike the link here. It's amazing how much dirt comes out of carpets - even after just 1 year.
I do all the cars every Spring to get the winter salt out.
But I've found if I take my mats out, use TIDE laundry detergent, a Porter-Cable 7636 with scrubber brush and lots of water, the mats come out darn clean. Followed up with ScotchGuard . You can't do that with rugs in the car. Though I imagine soaking the carpets and using laundry detergent isn't the best "gentle touch" method available. Hmmm, woolite?

 

Since this thread is still active, I will throw in an endorsement for those who have issues with odors in their car interiors. When I bought my 308 GTS, the price was discounted due to an interior odor of mildew, presumably due to some past issues with moisture. There is a product called Puroclenz, usually used by dealers and, surprisingly, not very well known. It is basically a chlorine bomb which does do a far better job on car interior odors than other products I have tried. As such, it does no cleaning, just deodorizing.

 

I clean my carpets with any laundry detergent I have at the moment. Once I was driving my dog to the vet, and he peed on my carpet (the dog, not the vet). Needless to say, I had to replace the carpet entirely... couldn't wash off the stench.

 

Guess what? It happened again, and I can't just keep on buying new carpets lol. I hired carpet cleaners in London, I had to try because it costs much less than the new carpet. I didn't have much hope because it seemed to me that the service is too cheap. I was wrong, and I am glad that I was wrong because now I know what to do if it happens again.