Any good way to clean crusty carpet?

[GM Guy]

Hey all,

The project 01 being an ex cowboy rig has alot of funk going on.

Is there any good way to clean crusty carpets and seats (back seats had kids and dogs. yuck) or is a guy forced to unbolt and remove it all, drag it out of the cab, and power wash?

On a non- power seat, I assume its OK to wash it, but on a power seat I need to explore ways of cleaning that dont get it too wet.

Do those carpet cleaner things that you can rent from stores have a wand that you could use to shampoo and clean the interior carpet?

Looking for ideas, any and all appreciated!

 

[JayTheCPA]

I have a Bissel as I clean the house carpets twice a year. A home carpet cleaner is not all that much money (about the price of a Walbro FRC10) and the cleaning solution is commonly available at the big box hardware stores. As an alternate, ask around to see if somebody has a unit that you may borrow, decide whether you want / need one, and learn whether it will get the truck clean.

To answer the question, the wand (at least my Bissel's) does work for cleaning car seats and the carpet. When I am doing the house's carpets, I pull out the floor mats and do them as well. Best method is to pre-soak the seat / carpet with hot water & solution and then suck out the solution after a minute or two.

Toward the ex-cowboy ride, depending on how much crud the carpets have in them, might wind up better-off by just yanking and replacing.

For example, when I got the Burb it actually looked nice but got serious cigarette funk after a couple weeks. Attacked the carpet with the Bissel's wand which in turn only pulled deep crud up to the surface. Two attempts later and I decided to just yank all of the carpet and start over. Another benefit to starting over is putting down sound deadening material


Consider doing a test area to see whether a section of carpet cleans well and decide on the path from there.

 

[Ed HD]

Best thing with carpet is to remove it, power-wash it, then get a stiff bristle brush and some laundry detergent and go to town scrubbing it, then power wash again and let dry. Seats, you'll need a carpet cleaner/vacuum that just works on the surface, then let them dry really well. Power washing them is going to get into the foam and you'll have a headache on your hands. That and you'll gunk up the seat mechanism, mechanical or electric.

 

[Will L.]

I did that 01 suburban we sold a couple months ago. I took a couple big garbage bags and covered the dash, and disconnect negative battery cable just incase the seat electronics got it. I have a 2500 psi Honda pressure washer, and a made a short length handle for it. I had spilled Diesel engine oil in the back. Kids spilled soda on carpet everywhere. All the mate were so bad I just threw them away. That thing was tore up!

About 45 minutes with the pressure washer. Then used a wet/dry shop vac to pull out the water. That took 1.5 hours. Worked great. Best that truck has looked in 10 years. I left it open to air dry the rest of the day. Next morning I reconnected the battery cable when I jumped in and it didn't fire- oops.

Only thing I would do different is borrow or rent a second shop vac and have my kid do one area while I do the other.

 

[Ed HD]

That's one way to do it, the proper way is to remove the carpet from the vehicle, lol...

 

[Will L.]

Haha yeah- I never been good at coloring inside the lines. I figured what could it hurt if no electrical was on at the time. They steam clean in houses without removing- mine just splashed a little.

The mini handle I made was a copied by my friend - he put a clear plastic thing about the size of a half a basketball In front of his handle. He just moves to one spot, sprays, release trigger, move again. The pipe fitting is in a rubber grommet so it can move around inside it to aim the spray. He made it for his house- plush white carpet and 5 boys.

 

[NVW]

Total waste of time GM Guy, a young Cowboy like you is just going to get it all crusty again. But I get it will at least be your crust.

 

[schiker]

For seats I would use something like Tuff Stuff or similar upholstery cleaner that is like dry cleaning. Turtle wax Ice interior cleaner is decent too. The key being a stiff brush and thick absorbent terrycloth towel. Use enough to get fabric just more than damp not soaking wet. Let chemical work some lifting stains brushing action from different directions light scrub action and blot light rub action with towel. Clean let rest / dry some and repeat not soaking wet into foam.

 

[GM Guy]

Thanks for the advice guys, lots of thinks to think about!

@NVW, no cows here, and blacktop is less than a mile away, and our dirt road used to be paved, so it has a heck of a base.

I might be the only farm kid that has pickups with spotless undercarriage's, doing all my own maintenance makes me really hate dirt and grit falling in my face. I like to keep the cabs similar to the outside too.

All the farm ground is around the house, so we only really have one or two "farm trucks" that routinely see dirt roads.

Does the location also explain why I love 2wd? lol

As far as seat funk, all I need to worry about is my love for our local mexican restaurant.... :O lol

 

[tanman_2006]

Pull the floor, buy rubber flooring and add sound deadening. Just get new seat covers from GM or Seat Saver Covers if you don't mind covering it up after a cleaning attempt.

 

[Steve83]

I just use a garden hose & PurplePower on the carpets.

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For bucket seats, peel & wash:

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For bench; same as the carpet:

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