Best interior car cleaners?

[orland]

Finally got my camera working again so I took a couple of picture of the inside of my car.

1.) What's a really good carpet/upholstery cleaner?
2.) What's best to use for getting the spots off of the hard plastic part in my car?
3.) Don't have a picture of it, but is there any way to get the rubber part at the top of the windows to stay outside of the window instead of rolling up inside? I've pulled them out before, but they always keep sucking in.







The third one, if you aren't able to see, is the same problem as pic #2.

[Sponsor]

[whynotthinkwhynot]

Purple cleaner. It's sold under many brand names and can be bought at Wal-Mart (evil oppressor of small business) or auto parts stores. I've seen Coastal and Castrol brand names. It's sold in gallon containers that look like anti-freeze for about $6. You'll need a spray bottle, and you'll want to mix it down 1:4 with water. Then use a rag to wipe it, and a vacuum with a brush to clean up the excess. That stuff cleans everything- including your best friend's puke stain off the carpet when you decided to mix vodka and Tahitian Treat. The only thing it doesn't do is windows. There is a warning on there not to use it on windshields too. For everything else, it will clean it if mixed properly, directions are on the back.

[gtferrari]

armorall cleaning wipes work great on all surfaces. they contain no oil so you can use them on fabric and headliners. its got the purple lable on the container.

[orland]

Thanks guys I'm gonna go get some today.

[A7xschecter6661]

If that doesn't work get them steam cleaned, check craigslist for upholstery/car cleaning. My dad is a carpet cleaner so luckily I can use his 10 gallon portable cleaner whenever I want and when I detail cars. He said he used to do cars all the time but doesn't feel the need to crawl all around in cars due to his back.

Somebody around you has to do it, even with how clean your interior looks. You would be amazed at how much brown sludge would be drained out of the machine if you got it cleaned properly. The last customer I detailed a car for almost puked when I showed them the bucket of shit I sucked out of their seats and carpets. And it was a 2008 with tan interior and the interior looked clean so I felt like I was wasting my time at first.

The brown water in the bucket definitely did not look like it came from the car and it proved the process worthy.

this is what I mean

[mikebontoft]

that's how I felt about my toyota I did yesterday.... felt like I was doing nothing because it looked so clean but it came out like this:




I admit, I keep using other people's equipment but my parents had a bissell proheat 2x a few years ago which I loved until it broke. then they bought a hoover steamvac. hate it. Now my mom just got a proheat 2x and that's what I used. still love it.

They make those Bissell proheat (little green machine if you don't get the automotive one) portable machines, I want to get one for the car... they are $90 in store but I've found them for around $50 on ebay. they are heated as well. I like them anyway.

[orland]

Thanks for the tips guys.

I actually used Bissell pro heat for pets after the Purple had sunk in.
It got the water stain out of my seat! Finally!

I'm going to have to the my carpets again, maybe even dilute it less this time.
Did 10:1, but didn't let it sit too long because I wasn't sure what it was going to do.

Still can't get the stains out of the pic #2 spot.
It's really upsetting because it isn't a good look, and I feel its stained into the plastic.

[rangerbay]

Try a magic eraser. It works great on boat plastics!

[orland]

Originally Posted by rangerbay

Try a magic eraser. It works great on boat plastics!

I looked it up, and it seems pretty legit.

Someone also mentioned that Target has a brand, which you get 4 for the price of 2 Magic Erasers. I have so many of those spots it may be worth it to try those first.

Bunch of car cleaning Saturday, possible Sunday!
Every time I get in my car I don't see a disgusting interior I've trashed throughout my ownership, but an opportunity to make things better/cleaner!

You guys are great.

EDIT: Plan on ordering the K&N filter soon too, now time to figure out how to get to my air filter!

[bugman]

orland, buy some fabric protector like scotchgard. I used to clean carpets for a living and cleaned my car and used that to protect the carpet and seats. Once I spilled some pop on the passenger side floor while driving and watched it roll around on top of the carpet until I could stop and clean it up.