These mats from a Lexus wagon were some of the most disgusting I have ever seen and normally I would of recommended the client just get new mats but they just wanted them to be as clean as possible. So I used a pre-spotter from Chem-Spec and allowed that to dwell several minutes while I fired up my steamer and filled up my extractor with clean rinse water. Just before steaming I sprayed the mats down with another Chem-Spec product called "Traffic Lane Cleaner" and brushed the mats thoroughly. Here is a before picture of the drivers mat. Kinda disgusting eh? The wet areas you see are the pre-spotter being allowed to dwell. After a thorough brushing with a carpet brush I then hit the carpets with my steamer and extracted almost immediately with only clean rinse water. I had to steam and extract each mat about 6 times until I was getting clean water up with the extractor. Here are the results. Here is a close up view of a BEFORE of the Lexus tag. These areas can be very tricky to get clean. I had to brush the area very carefully so as to not fray the stitching. Once again the area was steamed and then extracted and when done correctly the results can be amazing, like night and day. Now the same steps can be taken and instead of steaming just blast the mats with a pressure washer and then extract until only clean water comes up. With mats this filthy though there may be some permanent yellowing which can be seen in the AFTER picture. To further enhance the looks of the mats (and/or carpets) they can be dyed which will take care of any left over stains. Anthony
Great work Anthony. I love to use the steamer/extractor combo. The right chemicals with the right machines yeild awesome results!
Hello and thanks everyone for the positive feedback. We have 3 steamers in use. The one I used here is from Steamax. A great unit which costs around 5 or 6 hundred dollars. The cost seems high but I have been using a steamer now for years and can't even begin to think how I managed before without one. The Chem-Spec products came from Chem-Spec as a "Thank You" of sorts for allowing them to interview and film Ron and I cleaning the interior of a car. Just recently started using some of the products and while they are mainly geared towards commercial carpet cleaning their "pre-spot" and Traffic Lane Cleaner works really great for oil and grease type grime. Typically about 90% of dirt in carpets is plain ol dirt but it's the grease and oil (perhaps the other 10%) picked up from shoes in parking lots that build up on carpets and mats and cause these types of eyesores. A regular APC degreaser isn't the best choice for carpets but rather a dedicated cleaner specifically made for that purpose. Anthony
Looks good. I had some mats the other day that were FILTHY. I have NEVER seen any as bad. I broke out the pressure washer, and it came out as mud. Very thick mud. lol.
