Removing salt from carpet

[hawkwind]

What is the best way of removing salt from the carpet? I was going to try my steamer on it but wondering what everybody else uses.

[dr_sarcasm]

Hmmmm...I just use warm water and a brush (oh, and I dab the spot with dry towels).

Has always worked for me (this car, the car before this, and the car before that...).


dr_"nothing like being on your hands and knees...for an hour or two"_sarcasm.

[03bluP5]

I will be cleaning the huge salt stains soon as well. In the past, I've used Bissell upholstery cleaner - beige can with an angled brush head. It's worked well and made the job easy.
I'm concerned about the quality of the carpet in the P5. In fact, it doesn't seem like carpet, at least not the loop carpet I had in my Accord - reminds me of the felt I used in school projects many moons ago. So I'm concerned that scrubbing it vigourously may damage the fibres.
Anyone else share this concern?

[5alive]

The floor mats in my P5 are not impressing me either. It kinda pisses me off that the drivers side does not have a rubber section where you put your heel for the pedals, that part of the mat is already looks badly worn and I've only had the car for about 2 months! Anyone have any suggestions for a good fit aftermarket mat?

[P5 Rally]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (5alive @ Mar. 20 2003,1:38)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">The floor mats in my P5 are not impressing me either. It kinda pisses me off that the drivers side does not have a rubber section where you put your heel for the pedals, that part of the mat is already looks badly worn and I've only had the car for about 2 months! Anyone have any suggestions for a good fit aftermarket mat?[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Crappy tire has a large selection of mats......all universal, but some are nice and thick and will stand up to any abuse. The only thing that will fit really well is OEM rubber mats!!

[jali-p5]

go for those diamond cut mats that someone's trying to arrange a buy for..... http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif ........super strength there.....or you can just buy one of those metal heel thingy's they sell at walmart for &quot;suping up&quot; your interior......hehehehe

[03bluP5]

Picked up a large can of Turtle Wax carpet cleaner with brush head @ Crappy Tire yesterday (and Mobil 1 on sale!http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif. Plan to use it in April and will post results. I'm sure it will work fine, and it apparently deodourizes too.

[shrews8]

Anyone know what the best way is to get the salt out?

[CulRidr]

Post #2 seems to cover it for a simple fix...

[shrews8]

I'd like some more input.. ;)

[andrew2]

Shampoo/steam cleaning worked pretty well for me...

Before:
http://ocdetailing.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/before-5.jpg
After:
http://ocdetailing.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/img_5308.jpg

[andrew2]

^ sorry for the mass pictures

[soopa]

Boiled water, scrub brush and elbow grease...works everytime.

[andrew2]

^ I mix the elbow grease with the shampoo.

[ProBoy]

I use shoe polish in a dabber bottle for the salt stains that are in the carpet. Then brush it to make it look better.

Learned that from a detailer. Apparently that is a dealership trick as well as a detailer one.

[dead_cactus]

I've always used hot water and scrub with a bristle brush and it works perfect.

[CrazyCaker]

Get Weathertech mats.

[e2wJunglist]

Post #2 seems to cover it for a simple fix...



also remove your seats and carpet and do it outside the car. (More input for shrews) :p

[Cool_Steve]

I'll do it for a small fee. :p Shampooer, multi-purpose chemical, scrub brushes, I got it all. Now, if everyone put a nice fat piece of plastic under the floormat like myself (covering the entire drivers floor), to keep water and whatnot from going under and staining the carpet, you'd never have to worry about salt. I shampooed my floors five years ago, drivers area still has zero salt today. ;)

Prevention is key.

[shrews8]

^How small of a fee? lol

[Cool_Steve]

^Well, I doubt you'd want to drive all the way from Newmarket to Kitchener for detailing. I'm sure there are shops closer to you that will do it.

[thuzil]

I have used water and a shop vac. A couple of rinses with water (scrub for the heavy stuff) and extraction with a good shop vac (mine is a rigid from Home Depot) and you are good to go. They sell a nice detailing kit for the rigid vac too (about $90 for the vac and $50 for the detailing kit).

[psulja]

You can get "salt eraser" from CT. It's a foam that you spray on and let it sit for a bit and then wipe it off. Seems to do the trick but it doesn't smell the greatest. $10..

Or you can mix water and white vinegar 50/50 in a spray bottle, spray it on and let it sit, then wipe/dab it away.

A steam cleaner doesn't really do the trick for the edges, these two work well for the edges of mats or corners on the inside of the car.

[robvon29]

I used to do a lot of car detailing and am pretty OCD about keeping my car clean...
Floor Mats - Much Easier
- Take them out of the car and use pressure washer on low be careful NOT to use a high pressure setting as it can damage your floor mat.
- Allow water to saturate the mat and then work out the bad areas.
- Dry with either a wet dry vac or like me my local spray and wash has a dryer system (dangerous on paint perfect for floor mats)
- I follow with a nice household, foaming carpet cleaner like Bisel which leaves the carpet smelling fresh. Make sure you scrub lightly and vaccum often as this process lifts dirt you never knew existed in the carpet fibres :puke:
On Interior Carpet
- Fill spray bottle with a little soap and water, spray generously and allow to sit a few minutes.
- Scrub with a good brush, toothbrush can help too.
- Again vacuum often
- Follow with Bisel or the like again vacuuming as you bring up dirt.

You should be good now, it's all I've ever used to get really bad stains and salt stains out of carpet and I've done some horribly dirty cars...REMEMBER to run the heater at your feet if you want to dry the carpets out fully