Cleaning the carpet

[5speedz34]

As some of you already know the sunroof in the Grand Prix has leaked for a long ass time.

 

While a buddy and I had the sunroof assembly out, we had a tarp over the roof and closed in the door to keep the rain out. Well the tarp leaked into the door and the interior. The floor got wet, for the 100x time.

 

I pulled the seats and the carpet this week, and I want to clean the carpet as best as I can. I have access to a steam cleaner but I don't know much about it. I pulled the carpet in the lumina a few years back and tried cleaning it with one of those carpet cleaners with the scrubber on top and that sucked.

 

I'm looking for some way to clean it easily. There is alot of salt build up in the carpet also, there is salt stains etc. Also, I need to clean the insulating carpet that is glued underneath the molded carpet, and I need to reglue it, what can I use for that?!

 

EDIT: I changed names to the pics

 

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v291/5speedz34/Carpet/

^Just view it all there.

 

Whats the best way to clean it?

 

 

 

^You can see the salt build up here, the white stains.

^Rust from the salt.

^See the left of the carpet, that is under the rear seat and clean, I want the rest of it to look like that.

 

EDIT: I changed names to the pics

 

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v291/5speedz34/Carpet/

 

[slick]

Take off the insulation from underneath, throw the carpet in the bed of your truck, and go to the carwash. Seriously, it works, I've done it. The high pressure will work out damn near all of the crap.

 

Then hang dry it for a day or two.

 

After it is completely dry, use 3M spray glue on the bottom of the carpet, then re-apply the insulation.

[Addicted To Boost]

x2 on powerwashing the carpet- it works awesome. Then, steam clean the carpet with a carpet cleaning machine and a strong mix of carpet/upholstery soap to get the remaining crap outta there... it will also smell good afterward.

[5speedz34]

x2 on powerwashing the carpet- it works awesome. Then, steam clean the carpet with a carpet cleaning machine and a strong mix of carpet/upholstery soap to get the remaining crap outta there... it will also smell good afterward.

 

If I do the carwash thing (most likely) I'm going to use soap so that'll clean it. The steam cleaner *I think* is just a steam cleaner. Grocery stores around here let you rent ones for carpet, should I try that?

[turbojohn]

Those are extractors. You can basically do the same thing with a wet/dry vac, I think I seen a hose in one of your pictures. Spray it wet with a garden hose and suck it up with the wet/dry. I would spray the stains with simple green and then pressure wash it like others suggest. If that doesn't give you the results you want, use the shop vac and hose to wet it with. I've read elsewhere where people suggest using diluted fabric softner after cleaning. Mist it on and let dry.

[Addicted To Boost]

x2 on powerwashing the carpet- it works awesome. Then, steam clean the carpet with a carpet cleaning machine and a strong mix of carpet/upholstery soap to get the remaining crap outta there... it will also smell good afterward.

 

If I do the carwash thing (most likely) I'm going to use soap so that'll clean it. The steam cleaner *I think* is just a steam cleaner. Grocery stores around here let you rent ones for carpet, should I try that?

Yep, thats exactly what I'm talking about- get one of those Rug Doctor carpet cleaners machines from the grocery store they work great!

[boulevard]

I like the car wash idea myself. Use the "tire and engine cleaner" first. Then "high pressure soap" using the wand from top to bottom. Hang the damn carpet on those floor mat holders if possible. It's gonna get extremely heavy when wet. This should work best. But I do recommend hand scubbing it with a tire brush.

[GP1138]

Get a long handled brush (you're gonna get dirty here) and scrub it really good, with soap from the car wash, after you've pressure-washed it. Then, after you rinse all the soap out, then take the handle of the brush, and press it and run it down the carpet to squeegee the water out of the carpet. Then hang it up to dry.

[1990lumina]

Don't even try to wash or clean that insulation..just replace it. It'll fall apart if you do anything to it. I know this because my Dad's Suburban had the rear carpet out last year and that insulation fell apart when being wet. I glued it back with 3M glue though and it held fine.

[wildbill]

I would power wash it for sure. It might be a hassle to try and vacuum it with one of those machines from the supermarket. Do you have one of those old school do it yourself car washes in your town? The ones around here have clamps or (whatever you call them) mounted on the walls for washing floor mats. You should try those first It should cost you less than a dollar. Just my two cents.

[boulevard]

I would power wash it for sure. It might be a hassle to try and vacuum it with one of those machines from the supermarket. Do you have one of those old school do it yourself car washes in your town? The ones around here have clamps or (whatever you call them) mounted on the walls for washing floor mats. You should try those first It should cost you less than a dollar. Just my two cents.

 

That sounded similar to my post.

[Q-Ball]

Been there and done that!

[Psych0matt]

I would power wash it for sure. It might be a hassle to try and vacuum it with one of those machines from the supermarket. Do you have one of those old school do it yourself car washes in your town? The ones around here have clamps or (whatever you call them) mounted on the walls for washing floor mats. You should try those first It should cost you less than a dollar. Just my two cents.

 

That sounded similar to my post.

 

instead of doing that, go to the carwash and use some "tire and engine cleaner", and then high pressure soap. rinse it out good . they should have mat hangers that you could hang it up on, cuz it's gonna get wet. Maybe even try a tire brush.

[boulevard]

I would power wash it for sure. It might be a hassle to try and vacuum it with one of those machines from the supermarket. Do you have one of those old school do it yourself car washes in your town? The ones around here have clamps or (whatever you call them) mounted on the walls for washing floor mats. You should try those first It should cost you less than a dollar. Just my two cents.

 

That sounded similar to my post.

 

instead of doing that, go to the carwash and use some "tire and engine cleaner", and then high pressure soap. rinse it out good . they should have mat hangers that you could hang it up on, cuz it's gonna get wet. Maybe even try a tire brush.

 

Everybody's a god damn comedian I tell ya'll! ha ha ha...

[ns87]

IIRC that car has about 200k. The carpet looks much better than I expected! It should clean up nicely

[5speedz34]

IIRC that car has about 200k. The carpet looks much better than I expected! It should clean up nicely

 

The car has 195k at the moment.

 

I pulled the insulation off the bottom (it needs to be replaced). I took the carpet to the car wash, and cleaned it with the "high pressure rinse" and some simple green. Scrubbed and rinsed for 45 minutes on it and it came out pretty damn good. I need to clean the underneath also since salt was crystallized there.

 

Right now its on my patio on top of some lawn chairs drying. To bad its supposed to rain off and on the next 2 days. I'm going to vacuum it tomorrow or the next day then spray it down with some febreeze and call it a day! Hopefully it doesn't take forever to dry with the weather we are having.

[5speedz34]

EDIT: I changed names to the pics

 

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v291/5speedz34/Carpet/

 

UGH, here are some pics today, still dirty and I think it lost some coloring!?

 

[5speedz34]

Ohh and I used simple green to clean it.

[turbojohn]

I've used simple green a few times on different carpets, pressure washed them also and didn't notice any discoloration. Maybe the carpet looks lighter without the dirt I'm going to do the carpet in my '90 TGP soon. I'll see if it takes any of the color out of it. Can't be any worse then it is now

[Addicted To Boost]

Maybe the carpet looks lighter without the dirt

I was just going to say that

[slick]

Can't look at the pictures at work, but like I was telling you, you can't expect 13-14 year old carpet to be like new once you totally clean it. You can use a packet of rit dye, and re-dye it, but simply cleaning something won't make it like new.

 

If you do use rit dye, mix it with water and salt for the best adhesion, and scrub it with a scrub brush to work it in. Black was NEVER a color option, only Charcoal, which is a dark grey.

[5speedz34]

bumps

[1990lumina]

That came out pretty good IMO

[5speedz34]

That came out pretty good IMO

 

Does it look faded?

[ns87]

it doesn't look faded to me. As for the dirty spots, any spray on and vacuum off carpet cleaner will take care of some of that in my opinion. I used a Bissell Carpet Cleaner: Self Cleaning Formula from the dollar store: lol and it worked fine. Spray it on, let it dry, and vacuum well. It looks much better than before either way