Did you know you can use shampoo in the interior of your car? Well, you can! Sometimes you get stains and debris in your car that need a good wash. And some foul odors may occur if there is prolonged dirt and grime inside your car. And not for nothing, but a car interior could use some shampoo even without those dramatic signs. It is good practice to give your car a good clean every now and then.
When you turn to Our Town Car Wash and Quick Lube, we use a special carpet and upholstery cleaner to get into those tough areas and give it a good scrub. For more information about our various car wash and cleaning services, please contact us today. We will happily answer any questions you may have, as well as go over our various pricing options for this service. So do not hesitate to reach out today and give the interior of your car the shampoo it deserves!
When it comes to shampooing the interior of your car, there are a few methods one could use to get the job done. You can shampoo the upholstery or you can shampoo the carpet. Or both! Depends on what you want or needs to be cleaned.
Shampooing The Carpet
Work on one area of the carpet at a time
It is much quicker and simpler to focus on one area of the carpet at a time rather than doing all the shampooing at once. Because if you soak all at once, then areas will dry our before you can begin scrubbing.
Remove the floor mats
The floor mats need to be removed so we can get to the carpet. We will just clean the mats separately using all-purpose cleaners or carpet shampoo depending on the exact fabric of the mat.
Pre-treat heavy stains on the carpet
Of course there may be some stains that need extra treatment. Problematic stains like tar or oil may not be removed sufficiently by simply using carpet shampoo. When this happens, we will use a cleaning product that is specifically geared toward treating it before we shampoo the rest of the interior of your car.
Spray the carpet with the shampoo
When we spray the car interior with the shampoo, we apply an even spray along each area of the carpet. And then work the compound into the carpet using a durable brush. If there are areas with tougher stains, we will use some excess shampoo on those areas. However, we will not over-apply the shampoo, because carpets tend to be moisture-resistant. So if soaked, then they may develop mildew, which is not ideal!
Soak up excess moisture as you work
As we are working on cleaning the interior carpet, we will make sure the application is done correctly and there is not any extra shampoo or moisture on the carpet. After we scrub the shampoo into the carpet and allow for ample time to sit, we will make sure to scrub any extra moisture out of the carpet. We do this by firmly pressing a clean, dry towel along the freshly treated carpet and continue until most of the dampness is removed. Once this is complete, we allow time for the carpet to air dry with the windows and/or doors open.
Shampooing the Upholstery
Mix special upholstery shampoo into a bucket of water
When shampooing the upholstery, you can use the same shampoo you use for the carpet. However, we will use one that is designed just for upholstery, since it does a better job cleaning and that’s the main goal here.
Focus on one area at a time
Same as doing it with the carpet, we will focus on one area of the upholstery at a time. This maximizes our time and makes the process more efficient.
Scoop some of the foam up with your brush to work it in
When you do the mix for the upholstery, there is often an excess of foam. So in order to not waste any of the cleaning solution, we like to lift the foam onto the bristles of the brush. We aim to get as much foam as possible onto the brush and as little actual water as possible. We then transfer the foam onto the upholstery fabric and firmly scrub using the brush. For the best results, we use as little as possible to cover the upholstery.
While we work, the foam in your bucket lowers, which means we may need to re-agitate the soapy shampoo water periodically to create more foam.
Remove excess water with a dry terry-cloth towel
When the scrubbing is complete, we then press the towel into the upholstery firmly and move it along in straight, single-direction lines to wring excess water out of the seats and into the towel.
Allow the remainder to air dry
Most of the moisture from the scrubbing will naturally air dry. To prevent mold or mildew from forming, we will leave the windows rolled down or the car doors open. This improves air circulation. If this is going slowly, we will bring in a fan.