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Best way to clean interior carpet?

E

Emerscape

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Boston, MA
My dog (a newfoundland) has turned my XJ into a stinkbox. I've pulled out the rear cargo area carpet and thrown it away, but the smell still remains. I'm taking the XJ down to my mom's house this weekend for a couple days and will be replacing my cloth seats with a set out of a 00 limited. Since I'm pulling the seats, I was thinking about pulling the carpet as well. From what I've read on here, the best way is to wash it down with a power washer. Any suggestions on what kind of cleaning detergent I should use?

I was thinking once I've got it washed and scrubbed, to take the wet vac and get up as much water as possible before hanging it out to dry for a day. Do you guys think this will be enough time to let it dry? Also, should I wash the jute too or just do the carpet?

Thanks!
 
Replace it !! You will never regret.

This is what I did...

Before

18127c96-38a8-4be1-ae43-90cfa1fe814e.jpg


After

bdfd03e1-32a7-40b2-a911-3e6f1b147003.jpg


You will find some more pics. here at the end of the thread:http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=997379&page=2
 
With the weather we have had this summer I doubt you would ever get to really dry out. Last week was the first 5 days in a row without any rain. I would say replace it too and get a cage for the dog.
 
just take it out and hurculine it and never worry bout it again. Thats what I did anyways..
 
money is tight and all the carpets I looked at are around $300. I was thinking about renting a carpet cleaner from the local rental place and using that on the carpets. thoughts?
 
Throw some oxiclean and some purple power in a bucket (mix with appropriate water) and scrub it with a brush. Put it on a clean tarp to do this so the jute backing doesn't get nasty. Then hose it off. If you have a pressure washer you can use that. The top side will dry in a day in direct sun, but I don't know about the jute. I would not scrub the jute it will turn into a stringy mess. If it's nasty, I would probably rip it off and throw it out. I got rid of mine, but replaced it with closed cell foam, so I don't know how much it will affect interior noise levels to get rid of the backing but keep the carpet.
 
lilredwagn said:
Throw some oxiclean and some purple power in a bucket (mix with appropriate water) and scrub it with a brush. Put it on a clean tarp to do this so the jute backing doesn't get nasty. Then hose it off. If you have a pressure washer you can use that. The top side will dry in a day in direct sun, but I don't know about the jute. I would not scrub the jute it will turn into a stringy mess. If it's nasty, I would probably rip it off and throw it out. I got rid of mine, but replaced it with closed cell foam, so I don't know how much it will affect interior noise levels to get rid of the backing but keep the carpet.
Click to expand...

I wonder what a good alternative backing would be, I don't know how foam would work long term with the heat over the cat. They must sell jute though, and with the already cut carpet it should be faily easy to trace out a replacement. Maybe some of that reflective sound proofing just over the cat area then foam.
 
Remove the carpet. +1 on the Oxiclean. Follow with the rented steam cleaner. REPLACE the jute with Dynamat. Great insulator (sound and thermal). I used it in the motorhome and the the race car.
 
The pressure washer and purple clean worked for me, but make sure everything is dry before you put it all back in. If you think it smells now, put it back in wet and let it set for a few days.:puke:
 
About once a year I pull the caret out and clean it.
Oxi works well but Simple green is my favorite!!!!

I highly recommend taking out the carpet no matter what chemical you use, it lets the carpet dry thoroughly both top side and under.

If you do not let it dry all the way through it smells like old dog and then it's miserable in the fall / winter when you can't get it out and dry all the way through.

If needed put the seats back in and duck tape the wires away from your feet, but get the carpet completely dry before reinstalling.

Also, with it out you'll be able to see and fix any rust or surface rust starting form old wet carpet that never dried out from the winter time......


my .02
 
how long do you think it will take to dry? I'm good with using the rinse and wash method, do you think that a shop vac will remove enough water for it to be dry in 2 days? It's a pretty powerful vac, can't remember the HP on it
 
I replaced mine for $125 shipped to my door, best mod i have done.

but other then that i did use a rug doctor on my old 4 runner a few years back and did it three times and it came out pretty damn good.
 
I got a replacment interior from a wrecked XJ for $150. I got all the seats, carpet, console, sunvisors, & grab handles.

It's easier to replace then try to clean.
 
I always just took the seats out and used an upholstery attachment on a carpet shampooer. But then I ripped it all out and Herculined it, because using a garden hose is easier.
 
Here's what I do. Has worked like a champ everytime, and I've had some nasty spills/stains.

First, before you start soaking everything, rip off that stupid jute backing. All it does is get soaked and retain moisture. The carpet is backed with rubber, so it will be fine without it. This takes a little time but is well worth it.

Next, get out some laundry detergent and a bucket. Mix up a bucket of soapy water. Throw in whatever else you want (stain stick, oxi-clean, etc). I use about a cup full of detergent per 5 gallons of water. Hook this up to your pressure washer and use the soap nozzle to give it a good coating. When it's covered in soap, scrub. Follow with a high pressure rinse using the medium nozzle. Once ALL of the soap is gone (no more bubbles form from blasting) you can spot treat whatever stubborn stains you have. Treat and scrub those, and rinse again with the pressure washer.

Once you do a final rinse, leave it in the sun for about a day, vaccum when it's dry to stand all the fibers back up, and re-install. Will look 100x better.
 
I work at a honda dealership in the detail dept. we use, an all purpose cleaner (kleenzal sp?) and household carpet shampoo, moisten the carpet with the all purpose then spray the carpet shampoo and scrub then vacuum. if they are really bad we have an extractor machine that is basicly a pressure washer with a built in vaccum but it soaks everything, so we tend to avoid it if possible.
 
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