Cleaning Original Upholstery

M

mnguy

Senior Member
Has anyone been successful cleaning water stained original upholstery?
Looking to improve original 1931 Brown Small Check.
Thx!
 
mnguy said:
Has anyone been successful cleaning water stained original upholstery?
Looking to improve original 1931 Brown Small Check.
Thx!
Click to expand...

Yes.

I have a professional upholstery steamer that I also use for cleaning older soiled fabrics. Clean and vacuum the fabric first. Have clean cloth towels that are absorbent. Those big box store Terry towels don't work well IMO until they have been washed several times in fabric softener. Use Spray & Wash Pretreatment lightly and allow it to work on the embedded dirt. Next, steam a small area. Then use the towels to blot it dry. Reapply the steam, and/or the Spray & Wash and steam. If you have an extractor, that works well for quickly drying the fabric however you need to use the towels to transfer the dirt from the seat cover to the towel. Try not to rub the fabrics as it tends to grind the dirt into the fibers. Repeat as necessary until it all comes clean.
 
BRENT in 10-uh-C said:
Yes.

I have a professional upholstery steamer that I also use for cleaning older soiled fabrics. Clean and vacuum the fabric first. Have clean cloth towels that are absorbent. Those big box store Terry towels don't work well IMO until they have been washed several times in fabric softener. Use Spray & Wash Pretreatment lightly and allow it to work on the embedded dirt. Next, steam a small area. Then use the towels to blot it dry. Reapply the steam, and/or the Spray & Wash and steam. If you have an extractor, that works well for quickly drying the fabric however you need to use the towels to transfer the dirt from the seat cover to the towel. Try not to rub the fabrics as it tends to grind the dirt into the fibers. Repeat as necessary until it all comes clean.
Click to expand...

Fabric softener uses silicone to give that soft, fluffy feel to laundry. Silicone repels water - just look at how water beads off a car polished with a silicone polish for example. Washing without a softener will leave the towels hard and "scratchy" but they will dry better than the soft ones. I prefer them!
That said, you are correct in that cheap towels need to be washed a few times before they absorb water at all well. Most laundry detergents have a softener built in anyway so there is no benefit in adding more in this case.
 
Gary WA said:
I would check with a local upholstery cleaning company like Stanley steamer!!:)
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I would much prefer doing Brent's procedure myself rather than trusting a commercial cleaner.

Have visions of the Stanley Steemer-type guys going after it like a bull in a china shop then retreating behind their disclaimers after the process went bad.
 
I removed my seats ( cushions only)and dropped them off at the detail shop. The shop owner appreciated that being that he didn’t have to rush to get the car out and could take his time when he had it. He did use steam
 
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