Ok, so I installed a new headliner, I have new seat buns and leather covers that will go in soon. I'm thinking of keeping the original carpet as it's not torn or worn. But I want to clean it all goo. What have you guys used to clean it? How? Scrub like hell?

 

we had some stuff we used at G.M. called work out in a spray bottle that would get the office carpets clean in the body shop used with a steam cleaner.

 

That was my other idea. I have a steam type cleaner with a brush. But it doesn't sucks the junk out. Just blows steam on stuff and it has a brush I can attach. The type your talking about actually sucks all the dirty stuff, which I am interested in.

 

Works best if you can remove it, than clean with a carpet cleaner or scrub with cleaner and a garden hose than let dry in the sun. Good luck it will be worth it. I have removed and cleaned many over the years.

 

well it's time to but a wet and dry shop-vac to go with your steam cleaner rinse well

or just rent one better money spent with the shop-vac

 

ok found work out but looks like you have order it not ment for carpet but it will get anything out just did mine looks like new

 

I wound use a steam cleaner with a wand attachment. I have a Bissell Powermaster and these work fantastic on auto carpet. Do not oversoak it and do not brush the hell out of it. Go slowly and use the Bissell soap in the purple bottle.

 

I just remembered I ended up with a bottle of Chemical Guys upholstery cleaner. I tried it on a carpet spot and it worked well. Otherwise those drug store/parts store carpet spray foam in aerosol cans always seemed to work well. But that could get expensive- I'm thinking a mild laundry detergent solution and a bristle brush. Use the spot remover for the bad areas.

I also have some expensive citrus cleaner concentrate that cleans everything... Basically I think it's all hard work with a little bit proper soap selection.

 

The bristle brush is a bad idea. It will make the fibers look "worked". Test some products and let them do the work. Zep spot remover, available at Home Depot, is a great product for small grease spots and such.

 

I owned a carpet cleaning company for many years (mostly commercial). The Corvette carpet is made up of Nylon and polypropylene, which means its non vegetable and thus inert. Which means it doesn't rot or mildew. The best results come from removing the carpet and laying it in the sun. Pre-spray the bad spots with a non-residue cleaner such as Simple Green, or some of the spray carpet cleaner products Laundry detergent or diluted dish soap will also work if you have the carpet out, just make sure it doesn't contain bleach. Work the spots with a wet rag, use only a brush as a last resort as it may damage the carpet piles. Rinse off with a garden hose, repeat if necessary. The pre spray loosens the dirt or stains, and the garden hose removes it, which is the aim, just make sure there is no soap or detergent residue left on the carpet as it will attract soils (its sticky). Now the important thing here is to make sure the carpet is fully dry before re installation. The sun will actually brighten the carpet and kill any odor causing bacteria missed in the cleaning. Rinsing and thorough drying is the key. The carpet fibers and backing are plastic, and water doesn't hurt plastic. Wool fibers and hemp backing are a different matter, but almost nobody uses them anymore. Is also a good idea to test your cleaner on a small unobtrusive area just to make sure. Carpet cleaning machines work too.

 

I have a '85 with blue interior and Simple Green worked great for me also.

 

If you like, you can dye the carpet with vinyl and fabric spray you can buy at the auto parts store. I have done two carpets before and they look new again.

 

No scrubbing necessary. When you work w/fleets, you figure out the FAST way to do things, that also works.

Pull the carpet, lay it out, wet it, throw some laundry detergent at it, then POWER WASH it to get all the dirt and soap out. Let it dry, reinstall and it will literally look like brand new carpet. All thick, soft, lush looking.

 

Some of you guys are saying to pull the carpet. Which I think that would be the best way. But it also looks like a pain in the *** to do. That means console, seat frames, lots of stuff needs to be pulled.

 

Seats come out in about 2 minutes, each. Wicked easy. I think the E brake handle would have to come off. The rest of the carpet will pull out from under trim. The rear cargo area has some small "darts" IIRC holding the rear/top in place. Rear speaker grills would have to come off, and roof mount trim. I'd think 45 minutes and you could have every scrap of carpet out of the car.

You can get is clean in the car....but you can make it look NEW, if you pull it.

 

your seats are out anyways the tracks come out with four nuts and two wingnuts on the drivers side for the jack handle. And best to clean there too. I did not pull mine just steam cleaned with (workout) and rinsed many times. There is no way yours is worse than a bodyshop office. disconnect your battery leave the doors and move a fan around.

 

Having seen your car, I would choose to clean it in place because your carpet isn't all wrinkled up like some C4's and all it mainly needs is the footwell areas to get freshened up. Of course it won't be 100 percent on the high wear areas, but that's what Lloyd's mats are for.

 

I'll keep that in mind. I have had good luck with spray washing wands and putting floormats in the laundry, but I will be careful with the cleaner carpeting on vertical surfaces. I have used a brush on the floor areas, but those are always covered with a floormat.

 

You will need to pull the seats anyway to clean the carpet properly, so might as well get in there - just 4 bolts. First take the seat pads out by undoing the clip at the front of the seat pad. The only thing is to figure out where the seat position needs to be to get to each bolt. If you have electric seats you need to think ahead on this as you will be pulling the motor connection lead.

Taking the carpet out is easy, just need to remove a little trim, including the center console and the plastic plates that run down the door frames (easy), and I think the sill covers. This gets easier the more you do it.

I cleaned mine in place with a little Bissell steam cleaner. If you take your time sucking out the lovely brown goo, it's easy.

 

Don't need to take the seat pads out. Not much to "figure out", either;

*Run the seat all the way forward, tilt the seat back forward, remove rear nuts.

*Tilt the seat back, back, run the seat all the way back, remove the front two nuts. Unplug electrical, remove seat.

2 minutes.

Don't need to remove door sill...carpet "pulls" out from under it fine. Rear "wall" and front floor are separate pieces....don't need to remove the door frame trim for floor carpet either. Of all cars, the Corvette is about the EASIEST car to remove carpet from, b/c it's all hacked up into little segments that are easily removable/replaceable. Most cars, a single piece of carpet extends from the firewall to the trunk.