So, getting the prius ready to sell. It has a light tan interior, and was purchased with some minor staining of the seats and carpet. Id like to make it better by a lot.
My normal method is to pull everything out, hit it all with castrol superclean and a concrete brush, followed by extensive use of the pressure washer with the 15 degree nozzle.
I dont want to do that this time. I want something i can do in place, inside the garage, and be good.
So, what do i do for the non nuclear option? Im not opposed to getting something from lowes or Amazon or something if i need to.
A small carpet extractor like this one should do the job.
In reply to Tom_Spangler (Forum Supporter) :
Is that the same thing I can rent from Harris Teeter or Lowe's? Or is it different somehow?
Cleaning detail in the middle of page 5 of my Prius thread.
Mine is just the least expensive Bissell Little Green Machine. A wet shop vac could be used also. I like the cleaner Tuff Stuff. I use a separate water bottle sprayer to add more water to the point where you think it might be too much water.
calteg
SuperDork
1/19/23 9:39 a.m.
My wife bought one of those little hand held Dysons, took me 2 months before I realized I can use it on a car. Typically I use Resolve carpet cleaner, some paper towels and that Dyson
during covid times I bought this used minivan and found a bunch of local businesses for cleaning interiors. For $100 someone came to my place, took the vehicle back to their shop, cleaned and shampoo'd everything and left it smelling like a fresh honeydew, returned back to my driveway.
Spray bottle with hot water & soap mix. Carpet brush to agitate. Wet vac the area. I've done on many cars with great success. Sometimes I have to go back and do a second round on very stained areas but it's surprisingly effective.
Don't be afraid to buy a bunch of cans of Hot Shot. That stuff works great. It's basically 16 oz of dry cleaning solution. Gotta saturate stuff or it gets blotchy.
So, this is the giod seat
I took the soap and warm water and shop vac method yall said. Only i used super diluted superclean.
This was the worst, and now look:
It aint showroom, but its no longer 16 year old Toyota. Good enough!
Judging by my earlier test spot, itll be even better when it dries. Its still pretty damp.
Call local carpet cleaning companies. Their machines are superior to the ones you rent typically, and rates are usually cheap. When I cleaned carpets we would do cars sometimes, and they usually looked great even when they were nasty starting out.
Couple of ideas for the next person who needs to do this cheaply:
- rent a home carpet cleaner extractor from your local supermarket or home store. They usually have an extractor connection for sofas. That works well on car carpet and seats
- bucket of warm water with a little bit of laundry detergent diluted in there and a nylon kitchen/ bath brush from the supermarket. Agitate / scrub lightly, use a damp microfiber cloth after to absorb the water and dirt. Clean the absorbing cloth frequently.
Just did this second method yesterday after watching a detailing video on YouTube. Did an excellent job on spilled coffee and general dirt on a light tan interior.
https://youtu.be/Y2yiBJSlnuw
There are "better " ways of doing this with car specific machines and cleaners but this will get it done. One of the key things is to not get the material too wet or soaked in water that will take days to dry out.
Simple Green, a rag and some elbow grease? I've always had good results cleaning car interiors with one of the vacuums you shove some quarters into and get 5 minutes to play with.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
I might be interested in your Prius.
In reply to yupididit :
Already shook hands with sleepy head. Sorry...
woops. guess I'm outed? Apologies yupididit?
I just use a shop vac as a "carpet extractor"
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
Crap. Sorry.....
nah, no worries... I was a little surprised more people didn't chime in on the build/ownership thread and starting a line while I was waffling.
Dusterbd13-michael said:
In reply to yupididit :
Already shook hands with sleepy head. Sorry...
Oh maybe I missed the thread or forgot lol
