Cleaning a soiled Tan Interior

[Reddi-Eng]

My MkIII has light Tan seats and door/side pannels. These have become ingrained with dirt over the years and need cleaning. The problem is everything I've tried to remove the dirt has not worked.

I've tried a variety of proprietry Automotive products, household kitchen products and various bathroom cleaners all to no avail.

The only thing that has managed to remove the grime on a test area is celulouse thinners I don't think this is a viable solution to the whole interior

I've seen a number of products for leather interiors but my seats a "plastic"/vinyl and I don't know if these would be effective.

So, what do you knowledgable lot recommend?


As an aside when I first tried this I had no problem cleaning the squab of the drivers seat but have since discoved this has been recovered at some time with a different material.

[Waylison]

Hi

I've found in the past that bicarb on soda with some vinegar and used with a DAMP cloth good, but not tried it on a light coloured interior. It's important to use only a damp cloth and not lots of water as this will cause the vinly to crack over time.

A quick search of interweb brought back this:
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Remove all loose debris.

If you're cleaning the vinyl upholstery in your car, first remove any loose debris by thoroughly vacuuming the upholstery fabric in your car.

Clean your vinyl.

Never use chemicals or abrasive detergents on vinyl fabric. This can not only damage the fabric, but can permanently dull the shine of your vinyl. Gently remove dirt and stains by using a soft cloth barely dampened with warm water and the suds from a mild, neutral soap. It's important that you use as little water as possible since water can cause the vinyl to crack. You can use a bristle brush to gently clean stubborn stains that general cleansing doesn't remove. If you have really tough stains such ink, cosmetics, or shoe heel marks, try gently rubbing the area with mineral spirits.

Protect your vinyl.

You can buy special vinyl protective finishes at some hardware stores that will help to resist staining and protect the vinyl fabric from damage from exposure to the sun. It also may reduce the incidence of cracking. If you're concerned about preserving your vinyl upholstery, this product is an excellent investment.

Repair any flaws in your vinyl.

Sometimes when cleaning your vinyl upholstery, you'll notice small tears or cigarette burns. The best way to repair these fabric flaws is to purchase a vinyl repair kit which has everything you need to repair vinyl fabric flaws. One site that sells these at a reasonable price is http://www.healanything.com.

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But really the only way is gently and often to remove built up layers.

Hope that helps

Wayne

[Reddi-Eng]

Hi Wayne

Your web extract contained...

by using a soft cloth barely dampened with warm water and the suds from a mild, neutral soap

Problem is this does not remove any of the stains and I suspect its becuase the extract also contains...

You can buy special vinyl protective finishes at some hardware stores that will help to resist staining and protect the vinyl fabric

and perhaps someone has applied something which has sealed the stains in.

I'll give your " bicarb on soda with some vinegar and used with a DAMP cloth " a go, I know vinegar is good for cleaning glass.

Watch this space for progress.

[Waylison]

Hi Again

Spelling failed me again

Should be Bicarb "of" soda!

If your seats have been protected then that would explain why thinners seems to work because it's cutting through the protection! Most of these products use Methylated Spirits as a solvent so you could try that also on a test area to see how it goes.

Also - there are a lot of these 'hand car washing' places springing up around the country and some offer valeting services at very reasonable rates, may be worth giving one of those a go.

Good old black vinyl, even dirty it looks clean

Good Luck
Wayne

[trippdl]

Hello Derek-

If you have already used the celulose thinners, it may be time to call out the big guns, and re-dye the whole thing...

In my mis-spent youth, I had a job spraying vinyl dye on car interiors. We started by using a 'special cleaner', which was actually neat celulose thinners of the cheapest 'spray-gun cleaner' grade, then masked off everything that was not to be sprayed, and shot vinyl dye to build up the surface. On of my specialities was Cadillac interiors and especially headliners. Cadillac used to start with vat-dyed leather for the seats, then spray vinyl dye over the whole assembled seat. After a few years of use (in Atlanta, with the windows closed, and the A/C on recirculate) a smoker's car interior would have migrated from white to beige - a re-spray was the only way to go, and it left the car looking almost new inside. I can't recall the brand name of the product we used, but there were several brands available to the auto detailing trade. I seem to recall one of these as 'Marhide'. The use of celly thinners not only removed the old grime, but gave the material a 'tooth' to improve the adhesion of the new finish; I would expect that the areas you have cleaned will get dirtier faster if you do not respray and reseal the surface. I used to be able to do two or three cars a day, so it is not too time consuming, nor expensive. The alternative, of having the seats re-trimmed, is a big wedge of cash - when I wanted to have an interior done in vinyl, the trimmer pointed out that for very little more than the price of vinyl, he could do the whole thing in leather, as most of the cost was in labour. He did a stunning job (ex Aston Martin man, nothing less than a Gilbie deserves) but I've seen whole Gilberns going on eBay for half the money...

[Greybags]

Hi Derek

I have aquired a tan rear seat assembley for my estate and

a. It needs to be black

and

b. It is so dirty it is almost black..

I have scrubbed it well with warm water and good old Decasol, as it doesn't leave a film, and then intend to spray it black ..

I am using VHT Vinyl Dye, which supposedly dyes the vinyl unlike some of the others which are paint and sit on the surface and can be rubbed off ..

Got it all clean now and rebuilt so will be recolouring it later in the New Year when the temp is up to the required 70 Deg.

The VHT stuff gets very good reviews from the custom boys..

Grahame

[trippdl]

[quote="Greybags"]

"later in the New Year when the temp is up to the required 70 Deg."

[quote]

Is that July or August?

[Greybags]

More a case of waiting for a day the wife goes out and then I can spray it in the kitchen


Grahame

[Reddi-Eng]

I had thought about dyeing the who interior but I quite like the tan (or I would if it was clean)

As I was out in the garage with the camera this is what it looks like now....



Will have to give it a go with the Bicarb and Vinegar.

[Greybags]

Derek..

That looks more grey or Off White that Tan...

Here is a picture of the Tan rear seats I have just finished remaking with all new woodwork.



Soon to be Black when I can aquire the kitchen for a morning..will post further pictures then

Grahame

[Reddi-Eng]

Perhaps its Ivory then but whatever it is its dirty.

[trippdl]

Derek, those seats have passed the point of cleaning. It looks from the photo that the greenish stains are from chlorophyl from algae growing on them, and the staining will have penetrated into the vinyl itself, rather than being something sat on the surface. Get out the celly thinners to give the surface a tooth, and start spraying.

Have a look at: https://www.usautomotive.co.uk/store/sc ... ategory=59

It looks from the picture that Dove Grey might be the closest, the Buckskin Tan might be too far in the yellow direction, but would go well with a black exterior. The black dye (or penetrating colour spray, as they term it) would certainly cover best, but having has a black velour interior in the red Mark III, I felt as though I was in a coffin, so would rather see a livlier coloured interior, LOL.

dlt

[trippdl]

Even better than the above link, this one is to Woolies (the trim spacialists, not the defunct five and dime merchants):http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-118-vinyl-renovation.aspx

They have a three step process of cleaner, surface prep and colour, and they list several standard colours, including Magnolia and Biscuit, and they can even have the dye colour-matched to the existing fabric, if you can spare a scrap from where it wraps around a panel.

[Reddi-Eng]

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out the links but have several more pressing mechanical/electrical jobs to do first. I'm more keen to keep it running and reliable.