Cleaning Upholstery and Carpet

My upholstery in my truck needs cleaning. No spills or stains just a little dirty. It was covered for the last 8 years with camo waterproof seat covers. I did it to protect it from all the dirt I get on my hunting and fishing trips and from the wet and muddy dog. The covers did a good job but the seats are still a little dirty. I took off the seat covers yesterday and don’t plan to put them back on. I’ll also clean the carpets.
I’d like some suggestions on quality products to use and tips and techniques in using them.

(If this is going to be a big hassle I may have a pro do it. I contacted one mobile detailer who will completely detail the interior including seats, carpets, everything for $275. He has a 5 star rating and all reviews are outstanding and he comes to your house.)

 

Really depends what he's including for 275! Find out exactly what he does. That seems steep for an interior job w/ all cloth.

 

$275 is outrageous!!
Find another detailer even if it means dropping your vehicle off at his shop.
My guy does deep cleaning of carpets an upholstery for $150.

 

It's hard to bring up pricing on a national forum because $275 isn't the same everywhere and detailing is not the kind of service you want to pick the lowest bidder on. An extractor is the tool that will do the job and good ones aren't cheap. At the same time you don't want someone that doesn't know what they're doing even if they have the most expensive extractor because there is a balance of how saturated you want to get carpet and upholstery. Too wet and all the water doesn't get sucked back in which will eventually mold and you end up with a greater problem than some dirty fabric.

Not sure what tool rental places you have around there, maybe rent one?

 

I live in north central California, everything here is more expensive than most other parts of the country. A lot more expensive.

 

My sister friend got a quote for $650 for a interior cleaning, and shampooing.

 

You could buy a Little Green Machine, shampoo, scrub brush or drill brush for around $200, and do it yourself. The next time the truck needs a cleaning you'll have all the supplies you'll need.

 

Dang. Is the interior that bad?

 

I'd pull both front seats and the rear seat.
Pull the covers off and take them to a laundry mat and put both front covers in one machine, the rear cover in another.

Then vacuum what you can off the carpet and call Stanley steamer or another company to come out and do the carpet.

Clean the door panels, dash and plastics yourself.

Gonna be a hell of a lot cheaper than $275.

Hell, we have a company here in the Carolinas called "zerorez". They use natural ingredients that are animal friendly with no residue.
They due home rooms for $100.

Surely someone wouldn't charge you $50 to do your carpet.

 

This is an 11 year old truck. The upholstery has never been cleaned before. It was covered for at least 8 years so it not very dirty. I’m getting a new paint job on the truck and just want to get the inside looking good too. I will probably never clean it again as I don’t see me keeping it more than 5 years. It’s sounding like paying a couple hundred $ for equipment and supply’s that I’ll probably never use again I’m probably best off to just pay a pro to do the whole interior and be done. I was thinking of doing it myself if the process was simple and inexpensive but that doesn’t sound like the case.

 

I would atleast call around a few more detail shops.
That sounds hella expensive.

 

Years of dog fur and slobber, everywhere.

Plus the shop might be trying to take advantage of her because she is a girl. She just walk out without saying a word.

 

I have a Hoover spin brush house carpet extraction machine with stairs and upolstery attachment. I've used that on cars many times. For tight spots a spray bottle with the same solution, a brush and some rags. If you have a wet dry vac with some small nozzles that's great for extraction too.
Drill brush is a great idea too.
I don't have kids or dogs so my vehicles don't get really bad but nothing wrong with a good cleaning.

 

Before I got my Little Green Machine I used to use the aerosol carpet cleaner with the brush attach to the can. Then I use some rags to remove the cleaner and embedded dirt.

I used to use a spray bottle full with water to flush the cleaner and dirt out of the carpet then suck the water with a wet vac. Similar to what you do.

The Bissell Little Green Machine with Proheat is a good machine for around the car and house. It was the best $75 I spent on Amazon.

 

I mostly use the Hoover but it's an upright cleaner and is heavy to lug outside. Does ok but doesn't have heat. I'm sure the green machine is easier to handle.

 

Does you Hoover look like a upright vac or is it a big commercial machine?

The Little Green Machine is light weight and portable. My only issue is, I wish the tanks were bigger.

 

Mine is like an upright vac but you can disconnect the nozzle to the floor, turn off the brushes and attach a hose and all like the little green. The tanks are definitely bigger than the little green since it's made to do wall to wall carpet also and that was why I bought it years ago but it's been used in cars and on home furniture too. I think there is a pro heat version of my machine. I'd probably still buy that if it needed a new one vs the little green since it's so useful for cleaning my own carpet.

 

The Little Green Machine wasn't design for cleaning large areas of carpets, only spot cleaning. The only reason I purchase it because it was a great sale price, and to clean pet messes. If I wasn't ripping out my carpets I would purchase the upright carpet cleaner for the large areas.

Forum member danielsthomas57 did a great job cleaning his truck with a upright carpet cleaner. Pictures are in the "What have you done to your 2nd Gen Tacoma today" thread.

 

I bought a bissel spot clean pro and so far have only done my passenger seat after removing it. Seat looks maybe a 6 out of 10 before cleaning it. I ended up going thru 4 tanks of solution and extraction til the water coming out was starting to get clean. It was the darkest, nastiest water I had ever seen. Seat looks 9 out of 10 now and the fabric feels much fresher to the touch. I'm looking forward to doing the rest of the interior. I used a coupon on Kohls and bought the machine for $135 new shipped to my door.

 

I usually spray the cleaning solution to the seats, scrub with a hand held brush, then use only water though the Little Green Machine for the rinse.