ladybell Posted October 24, 2011 Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 I have read allot of information on how to detail the exterior and take car of leather but I would like to get some feedback on cleaning and detailing the interior. My best friend just got a used Ford and it has cloth seats. The dealer "shampooed" the seats and carpet so they claim but they did a subpar job n my opinion. The vehicle smells like smoke and has some stains on the seats and carpet. Does anyone here have any recommendations for cleaning these materials or how to get the smoke smell out of or off of the surfaces without damaging it any further? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingo Posted October 24, 2011 Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 Buy a Bissel Little Green steam cleaner. Get the one without the powered brush. Use pet stain cleaner in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal3thousand Posted October 24, 2011 Report Share Posted October 24, 2011 (edited) I have read allot of information on how to detail the exterior and take car of leather but I would like to get some feedback on cleaning and detailing the interior. My best friend just got a used Ford and it has cloth seats. The dealer "shampooed" the seats and carpet so they claim but they did a subpar job n my opinion. The vehicle smells like smoke and has some stains on the seats and carpet. Does anyone here have any recommendations for cleaning these materials or how to get the smoke smell out of or off of the surfaces without damaging it any further? Using a steamer like Dingo suggested would help. In my experience, to remove really stubborn chemical induced smells you need something that works at the molecular level. Vinegar has the ability to neutralize many odors. I would mix it 20/80 with water. OR 10% Vinegar / 40 % Alcohol / 50% water and use that as carpet cleaner solution. It will stink like Vinegar until it dries and airs out. The alcohol will assist with that. Once the vinegar smell is gone, so should the smoke smell. EDIT: I should include that I would only suggest this on cloth seats and carpet. NOT leather. Edited October 24, 2011 by cal3thousand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igcitng Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 Wet shampooing often makes the smells worse because it 'resurrects' them. So if they went over it with a shampooer they probobly did not get any of it out. Same as you never get the dog pee out of the carpet pad. I would go to a professional detailer. If it is cigarette smell that is going to be in and on every surface. The tar and tobacco float around and will be in the headliner and plastic and rubber surfaces. If she wipes down the arm rests or some other plastic piece I would bet the cloth will have a brown stain on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal3thousand Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) Wet shampooing often makes the smells worse because it 'resurrects' them. So if they went over it with a shampooer they probobly did not get any of it out. Same as you never get the dog pee out of the carpet pad. I would go to a professional detailer. If it is cigarette smell that is going to be in and on every surface. The tar and tobacco float around and will be in the headliner and plastic and rubber surfaces. If she wipes down the arm rests or some other plastic piece I would bet the cloth will have a brown stain on it. That's why you shouldn't be using shampoo. Shampoo is really a bunch of surfactants that help release the odor so it can be vacuumed up. And that may "resurrect" them as you put. That's where the Vinegar and Alcohol come in to chemically react and neutralize the odor chemicals. Here's a blurb I just found about Vinegar (it also contains information I did not know about Baking Soda): How do baking soda and vinegar remove odors? Actually, they neutralize odors rather than just covering them up. The secret is in their pH which causes a chemical change in the odorous compound. This chemical change might also help reduce the chemical bond of the compound to the fabric. Most odors come from compounds that are either acidic or alkaline / base. “Alkaline” and “base” are just different names for the same thing. It is necessary to understand pH to fully understand how baking soda and vinegar neutralize odors. What really is pH? Let’s get chemical for a moment. The term “pH” is an abbreviation of “potential hydrogen” and refers to the amount of hydrogen ions present in a solution. A hydrogen ion is a hydrogen atom that has either lost an electron (H-) or gained an extra electron (H+). So, pH is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution and varies from 1 (highly acidic) to 14 (highly alkaline or base). Pure water is neutral with a pH of 7. Vinegar is acidic with a pH of 3 and baking soda is slightly alkaline with a pH of 9. Washing soda has a pH of 11. Vinegar and baking soda help to balance pH levels by changing the chemical structure of odor-causing acids and alkalines bringing them closer to neutral. Because it is acidic, vinegar is more effective at neutralizing bases, and baking soda is more effective at neutralizing acids. If you mix vinegar and baking soda together when soaking smelly clothing, they will mostly cancel out each other. Edited October 25, 2011 by cal3thousand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igcitng Posted October 25, 2011 Report Share Posted October 25, 2011 Care needs to be taken with vinegar, it can damage a lot of surfaces. Vinegar is also a disinfectant. I use it to wash my wood floors and it puts a mean shine on chrome faucets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richy Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Steam cleaning is the most powerful tool for interiors. Nothing can survive steam. No germ, nothing. You are also using no chemicals so you get no resulting odors either. You just steam the surface and wipe dry with a micro fiber towel. Steam is great for getting stains out of carpeting too. It cleans leather well too. If you have a bad odor to eliminate from the vehicle, there is an extremely potent (but absolutely safe) product called SoPure by Carpro. It is available at Autogeek and eshine for US and Canadians. It is a fascinating product that is light-activated. I have recommended it to several people who have permanently removed odors such as old milk and fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingo Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 I bought some of that stuff before I realized the light thing. I had to use a halogen work light because of my window tint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladybell Posted October 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 Her used SUV was a rental so there are several scuff marks on the plastic surfaces in the rear. The interior is the light tan/beige. So is mine and I have some interior cleaner products but even on one of the scuff marks in mine, it doesn't help to remove it. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal3thousand Posted October 26, 2011 Report Share Posted October 26, 2011 (edited) Steam cleaning is the most powerful tool for interiors. Nothing can survive steam. No germ, nothing. You are also using no chemicals so you get no resulting odors either. You just steam the surface and wipe dry with a micro fiber towel. Steam is great for getting stains out of carpeting too. It cleans leather well too. If you have a bad odor to eliminate from the vehicle, there is an extremely potent (but absolutely safe) product called SoPure by Carpro. It is available at Autogeek and eshine for US and Canadians. It is a fascinating product that is light-activated. I have recommended it to several people who have permanently removed odors such as old milk and fish. Clipped this little tidbit to Evernote. I'm sure I'll need it in the future with a 3 YO milk drinker and I'll forget the name by then... Edited October 26, 2011 by cal3thousand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgieguy Posted October 27, 2011 Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 Clipped this little tidbit to Evernote. I'm sure I'll need it in the future with a 3 YO milk drinker and I'll forget the name by then... Great product. I actually sell all of the car pro products as well as 100's of other detailing products. If anyone needs something, or wants to get together a group buy, then send me a pm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cal3thousand Posted October 27, 2011 Report Share Posted October 27, 2011 Great product. I actually sell all of the car pro products as well as 100's of other detailing products. If anyone needs something, or wants to get together a group buy, then send me a pm. I'll have to take you up on this soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edgieguy Posted October 29, 2011 Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 I'll have to take you up on this soon Sure thing.... from Mothers to Migliore if it's out there I can get it. There's a great detailing forum that one of our members turned me onto call live2detail and it's very informative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.