Carpet cleaning

[jaw444]

Today at the store i got a bottle of glass cleaner, it was this one:

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I put the bag of groceries in the floor in front of the passenger seat. When i got home i discovered the whole bottle of glass cleaner had leaked out and onto my carpet. Apparently the top was partly unscrewed. I had plastic mats over the carpeted mats, but they didn't protect anything. The carpet on the mat was soaked and the carpet under the mat was soaked.

I was able to hose off the carpeted mat until no suds came out anymore, but i don't know what to do about the carpet in the car. Tomorrow i'll take it to a car wash. I don't want it shampooed. I just want it rinsed. Not the whole carpet , just that one area.

Is the glass cleaner likely to do any damage to anything while it sits over night? Is there anything special i should know about car washes and cleaning the carpet? I never got my carpets cleaned in my cars before.

[paprius4030]

I really doubt glass cleaner will have any adverse effect. If the carpet is still wet you might want to use a wet or dry shop vac to soak up the liquid.

[jaw444]

Originally Posted by paprius4030

I really doubt glass cleaner will have any adverse effect. If the carpet is still wet you might want to use a wet or dry shop vac to soak up the liquid.

Thanks--that's reassuring. The weather has been very dry here for a while and the carpet was dry by this morning. I left the windows open. When i feel the carpet, i can't feel anything. I don't have a shop vac but maybe i should, you never know when you might need one.

I went to a car wash today to have just that one part of the carpet rinsed with water until the suds were out. I showed the guy the empty bottle of glass cleaner (in case he would want to know the ingredients) and told him what happened and what i wanted. He couldn't understand me, English was not really his language, he thought i wanted them to use what was in the bottle to wash my carpet with. I asked if i could speak to someone who could understand me. He got another guy, but he too thought i was asking them to use what was in the bottle to wash the carpet, which he said they could do. I was saying "Just rinse, no shampoo," and he was saying they had to use shampoo. but he didn't know what i was asking. Defeated, i gave up, deciding to see if the toyota agency could clean it. I went to the Toyota agency in the evening, they gave me a business card of the guy who does their detailing. But he thought it was OK if i just leave it, he thought the only problem would be if it was moist and mold grew on it. But it really is very dry here lately so i guess it's probably not a problem.

[sdtundra]

I use Meguiars Quik Out or this carpet cleaner called Folex. I spray it on, let it sit, then agitate with my fingers, and either let it sit or vaccum it with my wet/dry vac. My mats look new after 16k miles of hard abuse with just carpet, no plastic covering.

[pmanza]

I would strongly recommend that you invest in a small handheld carpet cleaner such as the Bissell Little Green Clean Machine. It is portable and you can clean your car interior as well as your sofa etc Also this gives you control over whether you use shampoo or just plain water to rinse.

Good luck with your cleaning
Fernsmom

[jaw444]

Originally Posted by sdtundra

I use Meguiars Quik Out or this carpet cleaner called Folex. I spray it on, let it sit, then agitate with my fingers, and either let it sit or vaccum it with my wet/dry vac. My mats look new after 16k miles of hard abuse with just carpet, no plastic covering.

thanks. That's good to know about.

[rigormortis]

i disagree. Toyota says not to use extraction cleaners on this car, because of all the electrical wiring under the carpets. Dry foam types are recommended. you can get a lot of liquid out of a carpet just by using a chamois cloth or towel and just standing/jumping on it, and getting a new towel, and repeating this process until it is finished.

you can also pay to have a detail shop clean the carpet with their cleaners.

there is always going to be liquid or stains in or below the carpet that you can't get out with an extraction unit.

i think the carpet has some kind of stain treatment already, so rags and clean water and towels and maybe a wet dry vac should be good enough. a wet dry vac is going
to have more powerful suction then a little green clean machine

put the car out in the sun with the windows rolled down or the doors open so all that crap won't condensate all over the inside of the windows, too

[jaw444]

Originally Posted by rigormortis

i disagree. Toyota says not to use extraction cleaners on this car, because of all the electrical wiring under the carpets.

A whole 24 oz bottle of liquid went into the mat and carpet. The carpet felt soaked. I know nothing about what to do in such a situation. I rubbed it that night (night before last) with paper towels, briefly, and it made a lot of suds. I didn't like to see the suds so i stopped. I didn't realize i could keep doing that and eventually get it all out. Thank you for telling me that. I'll certainly do it if there's a next time.

Is it likely/possible that electrical wiring under the carpet was damaged by so much liquid?

What a nightmare for my car that i only had a week and wanted to take such good care of.

While at the same time, worrying that the new tires i had put on have damaged the TPMS system due to a problem with the new tires.

Dry foam types are recommended. you can get a lot of liquid out of a carpet just by using a chamois cloth or towel and just standing/jumping on it, and getting a new towel, and repeating this process until it is finished.

This is good to know, thanks.

you can also pay to have a detail shop clean the carpet with their cleaners.

there is always going to be liquid or stains in or below the carpet that you can't get out with an extraction unit.

i think the carpet has some kind of stain treatment already, so rags and clean water and towels and maybe a wet dry vac should be good enough. a wet dry vac is going
to have more powerful suction then a little green clean machine

This happened night before last. I left the windows rolled down all night, inside the garage, the weather has been extremely dry lately and the garage is not well insulated. By the next morning, the carpet felt dry, no moisture on the outside at least.

Do you think it's too late to try any of the above suggestions now that it feels dry? yesterday, i was tied down by my job all day and didn't have any time, but i did take it to the car wash but they didn't understand what i was telling them and i didn't want to take any chances with them. Then after work, about an hour before they closed, i took it to the Toyota dealer, and he gave me the detailing guy's card, but it was too late to do anything, and today, i have to go to work, too much going on, deadlines, for me to do anything, my job is a long commute away. I can make some calls at work, to the detailing guy, and maybe leave it tomorrow and rent a car, if that seems necessary. Is it too late to do that, or is it still a good idea? It won't be until Saturday that i will be able to leave it in the sun with the windows down. But i can at least leave the windows cracked in the parking lot at work. Tonight, after work, i can go to OSH or Pep Boys and buy a wet dry vacuum and work on the car this evening, just trying to vacuum out whatever is still in the carpe and beneath it. Is there anything i should know about that to avoid any damage i might unwittingly do to it with a vacuum? Just run the vacuum? the suction won't hurt anything under the carpet?

put the car out in the sun with the windows rolled down or the doors open so all that crap won't condensate all over the inside of the windows, too

Thanks much for the detailed reply, information and suggestions.

i just want my car to be ok and to be able to enjoy the newness of it. I still have to solve the tire problem that i posted about in other threads. I have to work on that either tonight after work if i can get to Discount Tire early enough, or Saturday.

i was really loving the car but these things are interfering. i want the car to be ok. What a great car! It's a joy to drive.