I'm putting this in the interior section b/c the same methods are used to do mats and carpeting that is badly stained. I have a throw rug at my back door at the garage and it gets very, very dirty and stained. It was so bad this time, I did not know if I was going to be able to save it or not. Good testing procedure for your floor mats though...because if I could get the stains out of this bad boy, most floor mats will be easy compared to this. BEFORES: The Process: I did not even bother to vacuum it first since it was already a bit wet. I just went straight to power wash. The crap that rolled out just doing that was disgusting. After rinsing it so the water ran clear, I applied Magestic Solution Extractor plus mixed 10:1. I let it sit for 10 minutes after agitating it with a stiff scrub brush. I then started to use my steamer/extractor. I had put A LOT of soap on it so it filled my tank with bubbles and the vacuum was not as effective. A trick for this is to add vinegar to the recycle tank, but to be brutally honest, I could not be bothered so I just vacuumed it with my shop vac. I steamed it first. I was not thrilled at the outcome so I then hit it again with soap but this time I used Zep high traffic lane cleaner and again applied it heavily. I agitated again and let it sit for 10 minutes while I smoked my cigar. This process was not easy for me to do as I had to get up and down off my stool. My knee is recovering slowly and not as fast as I would like. Anyway, after dwelling again, I steamed it and vacuumed again. I hung it to dry and photographed it once dry. I was pleased with the outcome...it's not perfect but it was so bad I honestly didn't expect it to come back 100%. AFTERS:
LoL. you beat me to it. I was going to say the same thing when i seen the afters and went back to look at the before picture. Nice work!
Dom...I thought of you when I posted this...glad you got to see it. Sorry about being so lazy with not using the extractor. All I would have had to do is go get some vinegar...I just didn't want to get up off the stool again...I just reached for the shop vac and used it instead.
nice save man! It was like a game scrolling through, what is it going to be...as the image got a little better each pic, haha. Dont you have a table or something outside you could of put the carpet on so you would not have to get up and down and stress the knee?
Nice save Richy! I'm surprised that the MS stuff didn't do as well, but I think I might know why, or at least have an idea why. You said you had the carpet really wet from the power washing first, right? That's a difference between the approach you used and the approach I use with MSEP. I dry brush, then vacuum, and *then* soak the carpet with EP. I wonder if EP would have worked better for you on a dry carpet. Anyway, just a thought. I've got a bottle of the Zep stuff on the shelf, I just haven't used it yet.
Karl...I was trying to remember your process to use the MS. I couldn't have duplicated it here as the carpet was already wet from walking on it from outside in the snow for a few weeks. I will remember what you said (or reference this thread again) when I get another victim that is in dire need of stain removal. Has Ken started carrying MS yet...what's taking him so long?
Hey Karl...I used the MS stuff again today on my wife's salt-stained carpets and it did a bang-up job!! Did it the way you recommended.
