Carpet Removal For Cleaning?

[HipsterDoofus]

The light grey carpet in my 2004 RX330 has a yellowed, dirty appearance making it look almost tan / beige in color. It has been steam cleaned twice professionally and scrubbed down thoroughly with Resolve and a scrub brush once. It still looks quite bad relative to the rest of the vehicle (which looks almost new) but I thought the carpet was as clean as I could get it. On a whim, I threw the floor and cargo mats in a washing machine on warm with a mild detergent and voila they came out light grey looking practically new. So, I believe the carpet can come clean under the right circumstances.

I have done a lot of reading on detailing sites and they frequently mention removal of the carpet from the vehicle for cleaning. The sites indicate that removal of the carpet isn't much more difficult than removing the seats (i.e. surprisingly easy). I have looked around the interior at what I think would be involved and it looks like a far from simple job.

Does anyone have experience with removal and replacement of the carpet in an RX - for cleaning or otherwise? If so, can you please give me an idea what is involved?

[cduluk]

It will NOT be an easy job. You'd need to remove all of the seats, all of he bottom trim....

Take the car to a professional detailer. If they can't remove it, no one else can outside of the car either. It will probably need a re-dye.

[jgr7]

It is a project to remove the carpet from a car. I did it on an Accord that I have and you have to remove the seats the kick panels the sills below the doors the center console the covers on the side of the front center console. I had a service manual and it went good with the step by step instructions but it is a lot of work.

[HipsterDoofus]

Take the car to a professional detailer. If they can't remove it, no one else can outside of the car either. It will probably need a re-dye.

The carpet has been "steam cleaned" by two auto detailing shops. Both told me the carpet and mats were as clean as they would ever get. The fact that the mats subsequently came out night-and-day cleaner after their trip thru the washing machine causes me to question what I was told by the detailers.

Perhaps I need to find a better professional detailer / detail shop. I'm not eager to disassemble my new (to me) RX to clean the carpets.

[PK_3]

i'm watchin because I have a vested interest. It would seem the trick is to replicate what hapeens in the washing machine however you can , bucket of hot water and detergent?

However it would make perfect sense if the mats were a totally different weave/material made to be easily cleaned.

Regards, PK

[HipsterDoofus]

i'm watchin because I have a vested interest. It would seem the trick is to replicate what hapeens in the washing machine however you can , bucket of hot water and detergent?

However it would make perfect sense if the mats were a totally different weave/material made to be easily cleaned.

Regards, PK

The mats came out of the steam cleaning process looking equally as bad as the carpet. But it is possible that the mats might respond better to laundering than the carpet.

I've read some accounts (possibly in this forum) of people using dilute woolite or simple green in hot water, a scrub brush, and a wet /dry shop vac to perform a home spun hot water extraction on the carpet in-vehicle. That is something I would consider but I want to avoid creating mold / mustiness or other issues from wetting the carpet and the padding underneath in the vehicle.

[blk_on_blk]

I've pulled out full interior carpet before, and yeah, it's not an easy task... you've got to pull everything out. If you were to go to that extent, I would suggest just buying new carpet. Your current carpet may have been cleaned with something that yellowed it or stripped out some of the color. It's hard to say. How do the fibers themselves look? Are they worn and frayed looking? If so, that carpet might have seen some harsh wear and the only way to bring it back to like new is to replace it (redying worn carpet will bring the color back, but not the texture and it will give it an abraded look).

[HipsterDoofus]

Your current carpet may have been cleaned with something that yellowed it or stripped out some of the color. It's hard to say. How do the fibers themselves look? Are they worn and frayed looking?

The fibers themselves look to be in very good condition with little wear.

There are reports in another thread of lt grey carpet yellowing "spontaneously" in an old thread here http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...&pid=220023