Cloth seats stained

[daisyxbaybee]

This has probally been posted so many times before but, I have tan cloth seats and they are stained pretty good. Im not sure what its stained from, but any ideas or know hows on how to get the stains gone?

[Smileybug]

I'd love to know the answer to this. My grey cloth seats are stained really bad...that way from the PO. Dealer steam cleaned them but it didn't do anything. I tried to used hand held cleaners but no luck. Any other thoughts?

[daisyxbaybee]

Mine is from the PO too but good thing is I'm the second owner.

[Palmettoguy]

Originally Posted by Smileybug

Any other thoughts?

Yeah, buy/install black leather seats

[Smileybug]

If I could find any fairly locally I would...I'm on the hunt. But all the ones I've found here are too far away and shipping would be rediculous for the entire set

[Smileybug]

Originally Posted by daisyxbaybee

Mine is from the PO too but good thing is I'm the second owner.

I'm the 2nd owner as well. Been dealing with the staining since '05 though. Boo.

[Tico4Life]

How bad are they stained? My truck has grey cloth seats and I have two boys ages 7 and 5 that every year manage to garnish my rear seat with everything from soda pop to melted candy in a hot summer day (my truck is black so u can imagine how hot it gets) Every summer I take out the seats and wash them with my bissell llittle green and they end up pretty clean. It is a whole day job, as I said I remove the seats off the truck and spray, scrub, rinse and repeat. I suck as much water out with a shopvac and then let them dry outside.
I've been able to remove coffee stains, candy and "mistery stains", it is painstaking and hard work but it pays off. I don't think a shampoo at a detailer or carwash would do 1/2 the job I am able to achieve.

[BUGSTUFF]

I've had good luck with VW's All-Purpose Cleaner (sorry, don't have the part number handy), diluted to the correct concentration with (and this is important) distilled water.

[emma2049]

UGH! Same problem, been through all the threads about cleaning...I'm second owner too, and I really haven't abused these tan cloth seats. No one eats, drinks or pees (!) on these seats but they are stuffed. It's so annoying. I don't want to be OCD about them, but I'm meticulous about my car and yet even the rain can render them ugly. It's so frustrating! I've thought about seat covers (even bought them, but they weren't a great fit, so I sent them back), I've thought about having them detailed (but did it, drove away damp, three days later they were back to big water stains), bought and used Resolve carpet spray. Nothing doing.

I'm so mad about these darn seats. Nothing I do makes them look good, and when it rains they stain. Furious!!!

[daisyxbaybee]

They aren't to bad mainly on the back seats.

[h_2_o]

I've been thinking about this a lot about the cloth seats anyway. Since they make kits to add heating to seats you have to remove the outer cloth. Has anyone tried actually washing the cloth in a washing machine. You probably would want to hang dry it and not use a regular dryer. I'm really curious if that would work or fix this problem.

[4SEVEN3]

I have the grey cloth interior and have stain issues from the PO. I scrubbed them one good time last summer, and will hot them again this summer sometime with Charlie Soap. My fix is some high quality sheep skin seat covers. There not cheap, but they look and fit awesome, they keep ya warm in the winter, cool in the summer and hides the ugly stains.

[BUGSTUFF]

I washed the covering from the back seat bottom in the washing machine, then dried on the delicate cycle. Came out perfectly. But, removal and replacement was a bit labor-intensive. But it can be done. Front seats would really be a ton of work.

My son works as a porter at out local VW dealership. They use an interior cleaner product from J and R Automotive in Elmhurst, IL. From the can:

"Cleans Velour, Cloth, Carpets and Upholstery"

"Gently Foams Away Soil, Dirt and Grime"

"Will Not Soak Into Fabric"

"Leaves Surface Clean And Dry"

J and R Automotive, Inc.
889 North Larch Avenue
Elmhurst, Illinois, 60126
Phone: (630)941-1950
Part Number - JRM506

No website found - sorry.

Remember, whatever concentrated cleaner you use, whether it be in a steam cleaner or spray bottle, make sure you mix it with distilled water (or you will get rings).

[lil.smartie]

Laundry bleach applied evenly over the seat & left to dry. Smart's have seats that stain with rain drops so we've got good at that one! In the UK we use ACE laundry bleach.

Kate

[mikk]

all sounds like too much effort

i rub in some carpet/upholstery stain remover and let it sit for half an hour, then use a rug doctor (with upholstery attachment) with hot water and the rug doctor upholstery mix in it. hot water without any cleaning products in it often works well for the final rinse too.

the worst stains just require pressing the nozzle on the one spot for a long time (a minute) while it squirts and sucks water through the fabric.

the seats come up looking new

[SMG]

Beetes with leather seats are being wrecked daily. Go find a leather interior, best thing I ever did. Cloth sucks.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by mikk

all sounds like too much effort

i rub in some carpet/upholstery stain remover and let it sit for half an hour, then use a rug doctor (with upholstery attachment) with hot water and the rug doctor upholstery mix in it. hot water without any cleaning products in it often works well for the final rinse too.

the worst stains just require pressing the nozzle on the one spot for a long time (a minute) while it squirts and sucks water through the fabric.

the seats come up looking new

That's called water extraction method, also what Tico4Life is doing with his Bissel unit. However, professional detailers use commercial models that heat the water much hotter. Even good, better, and best models in the pro realm. To read more about this, go to Carpet cleaners & hot water extractors, carpet shampooer, auto carpet cleaning machine, carpet extractors, carpet cleaning machines, carpet cleaner, , from my favorite detailing product site, www.autogeek.net . Water extraction is also the proper way to clean your carpets, and what the pro's do. Once clean, a surface sealer like Scotch-Guard will help maintain them. Probably better products than Scotch-Guard for this today, but since I haven't owned a vehicle with cloth seats in many, many years I haven't have the need to know, or the occasion to use one.

MORAV

[vainbuthonest]

Originally Posted by Tico4Life

How bad are they stained? My truck has grey cloth seats and I have two boys ages 7 and 5 that every year manage to garnish my rear seat with everything from soda pop to melted candy in a hot summer day (my truck is black so u can imagine how hot it gets) Every summer I take out the seats and wash them with my bissell llittle green and they end up pretty clean. It is a whole day job, as I said I remove the seats off the truck and spray, scrub, rinse and repeat. I suck as much water out with a shopvac and then let them dry outside.
I've been able to remove coffee stains, candy and "mistery stains", it is painstaking and hard work but it pays off. I don't think a shampoo at a detailer or carwash would do 1/2 the job I am able to achieve.

I may have to try this with my cream seats. They are a mess! What kind of cleaner do you use?

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by vainbuthonest

I may have to try this with my cream seats. They are a mess! What kind of cleaner do you use?

J hasn't been around all summer. I suspect Bissell upholstery shampoo. Basically I believe this is just a consumer version of hot water extraction cleaning equipment. Commercially, the more you spend for this equipment, the better the job, and typically with the professional equipment you don't need to remove the seats. This is what car detailers use. Also do the carpets with the same equipment. When you see Dealers, with used cars for sale, and the carpet has a back and forth triangular pattern, that is what has been used.

I think www.autogeek.net sells some of this type equipment.

MORAV

M.

[Stlbug]

I have a bissel little green pro heat turbo machine.It works great! I had a stain that would come back every time it got wet. It doesn,t anymore after useing the bissel, with their cleaning solution too.