Cloth Interior Cleaners

[Strum]

I have a 1993 Camry that is going to need some major cleaning of the seats and interior ceiling. Seeing that there are a lot of you that have detailed your cars, does anyone have any recommendations for products to possibly use?

[geoff5093]

I've actually been wondering the same thing. I know there are spot removers for stains and such, but i'm sure both the OP and I are looking for a general cleaner to clean the entire cloth area.

[Strum]

Geoff, that is basically what I am looking for. Spot removers tend to leave a spot (although clean) and doesn't really blend in well. I am looking for a good overall cleaner that will noticeably remove dirt. I've tried the spray, scrub and vacuum products and I am not impressed.

I figure there has to be people out there that have done detailing that have come across products that impressed them.

[Quicksilver300]

This may or may not help, but I had access to my sisters steam cleaner for a while and man did that thing work. Even made my floor mats look brand new. I think you can rent them, definitely seen them at home depot. You can buy one, but theyre not cheap.

[Strum]

Originally Posted by Quicksilver300

This may or may not help, but I had access to my sisters steam cleaner for a while and man did that thing work. Even made my floor mats look brand new. I think you can rent them, definitely seen them at home depot. You can buy one, but theyre not cheap.

I own one and plan on using it when the weather warms up (don't want my seats to freeze). It has brush attachments and that should help.

The Camry that I need to clean was in a fire a couple of years ago and received smoke damage to the interior. The rest of the car received no damage, but the insurance company "totaled" it and gave me a check. They were going to tow it away and I ended up buying it back for $200. Unfortunately it has sat most of the two years since the fire, but still is in decent shape (see Gen 3/4 Fuel Pump and Fuel Tank Removal II), but needs cleaning and some mechanical work not related to the fire. I've started it and taken it for short drives so I know it's a strong runner and I would hate to toss away a 6 cyl.

[marc780]

sounds like you have a bit of a challenge ahead of you. I dont know anything about cleaning up burned up cars (im surprised there was enough left of the car to still drive it) but in 1990 i was renting a room in Van nuys, CA - and the house caught fire while i was away on new years eve. The fire dept kept my room from burning up and none of my stuff got burned, but they sprayed so much water that what the smoke didnt ruin, the water did!
The point is this, i tried to salvage my clothes and mattress but there was no cleaning the smoke smell out of it. I washed my clothes literally, 10 times and the smoke smell would not come out! So i trashed everything.
So im thinking if you want to get the smoke smell out, dont go for any half measures in a can, because they probably wont work - remove the seats and steam clean the seats and do the same/ or replace to the carpet when you can. You may want to steam clean the headliner too (not sure what effect the steam would have on this though!)

[Strum]

Originally Posted by marc780

sounds like you have a bit of a challenge ahead of you. I dont know anything about cleaning up burned up cars (im surprised there was enough left of the car to still drive it)

We had two cars in the garage at the time:





As I noted, the Camry was limited to smoke damage, but the Highlander had melted fenders, mirror casing and the entire interior had to be replaced (carpet, headliner and seats).

I have kept the windows on the Camry open whenever possible and the smoke smell is actually gone, the headliner has been cleaned, but it is somewhat "spotty" where some sections ended up cleaner than others.

Here's a shot of the interior of the garage




About two weeks before the fire I sold this:

which was parked where I had the Camry parked.

[geoff5093]

Originally Posted by Strum

About two weeks before the fire I sold this:

which was parked where I had the Camry parked.

Wow, you are lucky to have sold that before the fire! It still sucks though that your other two cars were damaged, but then again thats what insurance is for.

[Strum]

Originally Posted by geoff5093

Wow, you are lucky to have sold that before the fire! It still sucks though that your other two cars were damaged, but then again thats what insurance is for.

Yep, it sucks alright, but it's one of those "at least no one got hurt" kind of things. I was hoping that they would total the Highlander, but because it was new (2004) it was cheaper for them to change out the bumpers, gut the interior, and paint the whole exterior. The interior of the Highlander was never the same, probably one year after repair, the drivers window will go down, but not up, the CD player stopped working, the heat and air only come out of the upper vents, no matter what the setting is.

A little strange side note, in order to raise the window, the Highlander has a feature that you can raise the window from the outside by putting the key in the lock and holding in the counter clockwise position. I have no clue what this feature is for, unless they knew there would be a window issue.

[wtftoy]

steam cleaners works! sorry about your car strum, I don't even have a garage to park my car in so its alway outside and some idiot hit my driver side door; benting it pretty badly. Still not fixed and its been over 2 years. I rather spend my money on the mechanical side before I worry about looks.