seat cover question

[4SPEED]

my wife drove my 03 GT (with slate cloth seat covers) with a wet bathing suit and has now spotted the seat cover. Does anyone have a proven way to remove the wet spot stain?

the stain is from pool water, not salt water

[garner49]

The old chlorine bleach on the seat delima...
Probably just going to have to live with it, as the bleach as taken some color out of the cover. Almost anything you can do could cause more discoloration. Keep a towel in the car for next time...

[soonercruiser]

Biggest problem is probabe "ditto"...pool water likely has enough chlorine to actually bleach the color.
You could try the normal fix for a water spot, just to see if that tones it down a little.
There are plenty of past posts on this subject.
What I do is..
1. Use a liquid carpet cleaner, very diluted, and wash the whole section. Toning down a water spot requires blending into the whole section. You cannot simply treat one small spot and get an acceptablle result.
2. Then after that dries mostly, I place old sheets around the seat back and console, isolating the section to be cleaned; and spray a foam carpet and upholstery cleaner.....letting it dry; then vacuum all the dust away.
3. Maybe even rub that whole section again with a "damp" rag if the spot is still easily visible.
Granted, I've only had water spots to deal with. But, it has worked for me!

[Candyman]

Hey their 4SPEED,

Any time you get chemical compounds mixed in with water which wound up staining a clock seat is a really tough one to correct! The very best shot at getting it completely out would be to take it to a Professional Detail Shop and have them chemically clean it, and then use a steam water extractor to pull the contaminants out of the material. Its not the cheapest thing, but by far not the most expensive either. I used to charge $130 - $150 to clean and etail the entire interior, clean and properly extract every stain, add commercial grade heavy duty fabric / upholstery protectand that would resist any staining for up to a year, clean and dress all plastic and simulated components, clean and dress any leather, run my de-ionizer which sanitizes the air which eliminates most smells like cigarette smoke, cigar's, or other odors which required abatement. Si in the end, you do get a lot more for your money than just lifting a simple stain if you choose to go that route. Like I say, you will have the best chance if its done by a professional with the right tools and equipment to get the job done right.

If you still would like to try to lift some of he stain on your own, here are a few things you could try, and see how it looks. Keep in mind this is without seeing the actual seat itself so I am only guessing at the condition, color, and so on, but here are some things that might help you lift the stain on out of there.

First thing you should do is grab a Wet/Dry Shop Vacuum, and a soft bristle brush, a bowl of lukewarm water, one once of Dishwashing Liquid, and s clean white Towel. First dry brush and vacuum any and all loose material to ensure you don't make the stain worse by driving it down further into the fabric. Add the dishwashing Liquid to the warm water in the bowl and agitate to a sudsy solution. Next take the white towel, lightly dampen it using just the suds (use as little water as possible) set the towel over the stain, and pat down. Never rub the surface as it could push the stain deeper into the fabric rather than help lift it. After the material lifts onto the cloth, finish up with a thorough vacuuming of the area. These steps may need to be repeated a few times to lift some of the stain out.

WARNING: Always try to avoid using water as much as possiblewhenever cleaning any kind of upholstery, or carpeting! If un-extracted water is left in the Foam Rubber used in manufacturing seats, it can lead to mildew, and eventually ruin the seat all together!

If Dishwashing Liquid does not work, here are a few more things to try that are often used by Detailers to try to remove stubborn stains.



1. One teaspoon of Dishwashing liquid, and one teaspoon of Viniger in a regular cup of warm water

2. Petroleum Jelly: AKA Vaseline

3. Isobutyle: AKA Rubbing Alcohol


Go easy, work slowly and meticulously, please let me know how it works out. and if need be, I will try to see what else I can think of to try to get it somewhat better for you.

Candyman