Cleaning original mohair upholstery

Thodge

Thodge

Senior Member
I have just bought a car with original mohair interior that is complete but is definitely showing its age. It’s also smelling its age. I’d like to drive the car some to give it a shakedown and see whether or not it needs to go right into restoration or not but I’d like to make the interior a bit more livable first. Is there anything I can do to clean the upholstery without damaging it any worse?

Then the next question is, does anyone have any recommendations for a good upholstery shop in the northeast than can sew patterns from scratch. This isn’t an A, it’s a ‘31 Hupmobile so it’s not like you can go out and buy a kit anywhere. It will be a big job and it would probably be best to get on somebody’s waiting list sooner than later.
 
Allen's Auto Trim, 27 Howley St., Peabody, Ma. may be able to do such a job for you. They've been in business longer than I can remember.-and that's a long time!
Another is "Columbia Auto Seat Covers", in Lawrence, Ma. is very good. The father did my '30 Buick interior in light blue mohair that I purchased from a fabric place in New York, N.Y. way back in 1972 or'73. The dad has passed away but his son's work at the place now I understand.
 
Last edited:
With regard to making it a little more 'livable', we typically use a steamer to loosen dirt and then blot it out with towels. The steam will swell the fabric which often times is enough to blot (-not wipe or scrub) the dirt away. As far as smells, it is likely any liquids (urine, chemicals, etc.) has soaked down into the cotton, so the steam will never get that low. The only way to address that would be to disassemble the fabric at the seals and re-tuft with clean cotton.

If the interior is still there, -even as remnants, then you or the trim shop should be able to use the existing panels and covers as patterns. Otherwise what we do is just use panel board to pattern and template the vehicle. Reach out to me if your trimmer is struggling to find correct materials when making the new interior. Also, don't be sticker shocked on what a new interior will cost.
 
Not that this will do you any good but it may help other people who are reading this, but I use tape to remove dog hair.

I get some satisfaction out of doing my own upholstery work. I do use the old upholstery as a pattern. If you are starting without any experience it helps to start out with some simple projects such as some throw pillows. I bought a nice sewing machine from https://www.sailrite.com/.
 
Thodge - I had the same issue with original mohair upholstery. What I was trying to do was get dust and dirt, not do a deep clean. I already knew major upholstery work was necessary to repair the extensive damage from rodents making a nest of the upholstery, but I wanted the car drivable while I assessed the mechanical condition. Amazing what 90 years of cigarettes and rodent pee can do to the smell of the interior.

I found that removing the seat cushions and thoroughly vacuuming under them, then repeatedly vacuuming the cushions themselves with the house vacuum (not the shop vac) and an upholstery brush (about 6” wide, with a short nap) really helped the smell. You might also vacuum the headliner and interior panels. I used the house vacuum because it seems to be a little gentler than the shop vac.

Brent has a good method if simple vacuuming isn’t enough.
 
Thanks for the replies. I’ll try some of the suggestions for cleaning. It looks like mostly just dirt on the majority of the panels. Surprisingly, the rodent damage doesn’t seem as extensive as I would expect.

The interior is about 99 percent complete so making patterns won’t be a problem. I won’t be sticker shocked by the cost of new interior, I expect it to be close to what I paid for the entire car. This is a big car and there’s a lot of upholstery in it. The fabrics and colors look very similar to what Ford used. It is a Murray bodied car so that likely has something to do with it.
 
Just a follow-up on this. I was able to get acceptable results by brushing the dust out of the mohair with a nylon brush and the vacuuming with an upholstery attachment. Much better. I wasn’t trying to work miracles here, it’s more “no-hair” than mohair at this point. But it looks much better and I can drive it without hanging my head out the window so I’ll call that a win.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_6330.jpg
    IMG_6330.jpg
    92.1 KB · Views: 49
nkaminar said:
Not that this will do you any good but it may help other people who are reading this, but I use tape to remove dog hair.

I get some satisfaction out of doing my own upholstery work. I do use the old upholstery as a pattern. If you are starting without any experience it helps to start out with some simple projects such as some throw pillows. I bought a nice sewing machine from https://www.sailrite.com/.
Click to expand...

Deluxe Fabricator? You just ordered one, and decided to teach yourself? My grandfather was an upholsterer, but there was really no equipment when he passed almost 30 years ago.
 
Thodge said:
Just a follow-up on this. I was able to get acceptable results by brushing the dust out of the mohair with a nylon brush and the vacuuming with an upholstery attachment. Much better. I wasn’t trying to work miracles here, it’s more “no-hair” than mohair at this point. But it looks much better and I can drive it without hanging my head out the window so I’ll call that a win.
Click to expand...

I bet that will be a fairly nice car when you get an interior.

How much you figure for an interior? My guess is close to $5,000
 
Gene F said:
I bet that will be a fairly nice car when you get an interior.

How much you figure for an interior? My guess is close to $5,000
Click to expand...

It definitely has potential as long as I don’t get bogged down with hard to find parts. I’m figuring the interior will be well north of $5,000. When you consider that’s about what an uninstalled Fordor kit is going for. Today I counted 34 individual trim pieces that are covered in mohair, not counting the seats, cloth headliner and 2 carpet sections. It’s a big job.
 
Hello, can’t offer much that hasn’t been mentioned already, but would like to say Thank You for saving a piece of history. Too often these cars get cut up and rat rodded to scrap.Was a nice original 1928 Hupmobile around here but last time I saw it was poor quality red white and blue paint job that looked like it was rolled on , bucket seats and other abominations, making it a rat rod owner said , and he certainly did!
 
I have an appriciation for streetrods, and even have one. However, too many times they end up with bad choices, or never finished. And this ratrod thing that has boomed the last 10 years or so...what a waster. I have yet to see a ratrod that I did not think was just a mess.

A lot of the higher end classics (like Packards) the guys that can afford those cars are dieing-off. A lotof the higher end classics are going to moderate in price, and be more difficult to sell when the time(s) come.

Thodge's Humpmobile is a nice find.
 
It would be a crime to not keep a car like this original. The fact that it survived 93 years with only a basic body-on respray amazes me. The situation was just like Gene F described. The previous owner had the car for many years and had the engine rebuilt shortly before he passed. As a result, I bought this car for the same money that Model A in the same condition would bring. I was looking for a slant window town sedan and this found me instead. Couldn’t pass it up, I’m a sucker for a straight eight and mile long hood.
 
It would be a crime to not keep a car like this original. The fact that it survived 93 years with only a basic body-on respray amazes me. The situation was just like Gene F described. The previous owner had the car for many years and had the engine rebuilt shortly before he passed. As a result, I bought this car for the same money that Model A in the same condition would bring. I was looking for a slant window town sedan and this found me instead. Couldn’t pass it up, I’m a sucker for a straight eight and mile long hood.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top