Cleaning your beige interior (not the leather)
 

I've searched through some posts and the detailing sticky but can't find the best answers to how to clean the beige interior.

The headlining is not Alcantara and I can best describe it as "fabric". And it has the odd dirty/grubby mark on it that really bugs me.
But then when I cast an eye on the horrendously filthy seat belts I feel almost nauseous!
And there are other bits of fabric trim like the interior pillars etc that could do with a scrub.

Has anyone tackled a dirty light-coloured interior and had success? Especially cleaning those surfaces that tend to absorb liquid and ultimately stain?

Any cleaning products? Carpet cleaner? Steam cleaning? Anything spotted in and used from Halfords or online?
Or is anyone a professional detailer?

Thanks in advance.

Dean

Its "Twist" (not Beige!!) :p Of course, it looks Beige.....

Like you, I havent found a way of cleaning the headling fabric except by VERY careful spot cleaning using carpet shampoo dabbing it on with a microfibre cloth and removing with a dry clean one. I have never tried big areas (fortunately i dont need to) but am sure that whatever you do will put a stain on it.

Pretty much in the same predicament as you Dean, with the light coloured interior. Seatbelts I just avoided, as have no idea how to deal with them, and the plastic trim around the doors just seem to hold the dirt. I tend to clean the leather, doors, dash and centre console, and hope no one looks at the other bits.

I've done the doors, console and dash myself on my TWIST (+++) interior and am now at the seatbelt and headliner stage.
The headliner isn't that bad and I don't tend to look there that often so I could perhaps overlook that...
But the seatbelts? Urggh!!
I can't stop thinking about the germs and what must have been a thousand grubby, sweaty hands rubbing and grabbing at the fabric. They stand out like a sore thumb :(
I'll be popping to Halfords tomorrow and will be scouring the shelves (not literally, I'm not that anal) for something that might do the trick.
Of course I don't want to "wash" them in something that is going to damage the fibres and the integrity of the belt.
If I come up with something that works, I shall report back in true A8PartsForum style.

There used to be a Turtle Wax interior shampoo product which came in a spray can with a built-in brush on the top - I think its a yellow can. That may still be available, and was quite good for jobs like that if you could vacuum it up afterwards as the brush was quite soft.

I made some space btw... ;)

hi I've had good results with the seatbelts in the past i pulled the belt out all the way and attached it outside the car. applied foaming upholstery cleaner from halfruads leave it a minute then power wash both sides (not steam clean) leave them stretched out until dry.
worked for me. was a tip from a car valeter
cheers Dave

My go to product for cleaning fabric are baby wipes. They are gentle and work most of the time, and don't tend to leave any residue. +++

After my last post, I was out at the car and decided to have a proper look (with my glasses on!) at the headlining and seatbelts, as well as the seats, to see how bad they were.

In my case, the headlining, especially round the drivers door is pigging. :-(

The seatbelt is pretty manky as well, but I'm most annoyed by the state of the drivers seat, which is my own fault. I've been doing quite a bit of work around the house and have been disposing of tons of rubble, whilst wearing my working clothes. Trouble is, I was then getting in the car with them on... so guess what I'll be trying to get done before Friday :( Was so annoyed, I didn't even check the other seats, but can only hope they're nowhere near as bad.

For Seatbelts, Pull belts out fully or until a clean section emerges,clip with clothes pegs or Bulldog Clips.Place belts in bucket of warm water with washing powder using nail brush or similar to scrub them.
Wipe belts with damp microfibre and towel dry.
It's wise to cover front seats with plastic in case of a spill.
Be careful that belts are fully dry before releasing pegs/clips or you will have mildew/mould in a few days.
For obvious safety reasons, solvents etc. should not be used on seatbelts.

For leather I use Dodo Juice Leather cleaner, it is the most effective one I used (and I've spent far to much on this kind of stuff :rolleyes: ) you will need to use a conditioner, I use Gtechniq L1 Leather guard, but in my experience there isn't too much difference in conditioners.

For fabric cleaning I use Chemical Guys Lightning Fast, it is the most effective one I used for removing stains, but it also caused a dramatic better effect on the red carpets of my S2000 which looked fine before. I haven't got any experience with it on seatbelts and headlinings though, I never clean a headlining unless there are really obvious stains since getting it wet can promote sagging.