Muddy carpets. Sigh. Cleaning tips?

[DebandKevL]

I am going to replace the dealer provided beautiful but totally impractical (French Grey ie palest grey ) van carpets/mats with something more sensible for the wet muddy weekends we spend at race meetings.
But I would like to clean them before consigning them to the loft. Any tips? I tried carpet foam and a scrubbing brush but they are still dirty.

 

[ambulancekidd]

Only tip I can give is never try cleaning them until they're dry, sometime a light vacuum is enough, but otherwise a normal carpet shampoo machine, let them dry properly & if rolling them to store them, its carpet pile to the outside & never the the backing to the outside.

Good luck.

 

[Stealaway]

I still love 1001 carpet cleaner liquid

 

[Tombola]

Over the washing line and hosed /jetted mine plenty carpet soap came up a treat

then retreated with 3m protector put away and never to be used again lol...I have mats now

 

[DebandKevL]

Thanks all. Its chucking it down today, so will put the heater on to dry them out, good vacuum later and if we ever get some dry days, will clean them then.
Good tip about rolling them too. Thanks ambulancekidd.

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[raysalaugh]

I still love 1001 carpet cleaner liquid

cleans a big big carpet for less than half a crown.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Only tip I can give is never try cleaning them until they're dry, sometime a light vacuum is enough, but otherwise a normal carpet shampoo machine, let them dry properly & if rolling them to store them, its carpet pile to the outside & never the the backing to the outside.

Good luck.

I didn’t know that, mine are pile side inside, in the loft !

 

[Riverbankannie]

We have rubber backed mats mow too, a nice muddy brown colour

 

[Richard n Ann]

Spray a 5:1 Actiwash mix, leave for 5 minutes and pressure wash off.

Actiwash Super Concentrate 5 Litre | ashfieldvaleting

Actiwash is an industrial strength cleaner made from extremely powerful blend of detergents and solvents that can be used for most cleaning applications. It can be used on most surfaces but if in doubt you should try a small test area first. Actiwash is excellent at removing grease and grime...

www.ashfieldvaletingsupplies.co.uk

 

[Jamesh]

If it's any forum of oil or bitumen then I recommend swafega degreeaser used it on my minibus when I got it as it had been used as works transport for a engineering firm! Nothing would touch the stains in the seats and plastics except this stuff. Amazon product ASIN B003TEMZ70

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[Rapido925M]

Is it safe to use on CARPETS? No mention in the link.

Gordon

 

[Jamesh]

Yes I've used it on my carpets after I had some tyres in the back that left some black marks.....
Perhaps not on Wilton carpets but nylon ones aren't harmed by it!

 

[dash300]

cleans a big big carpet for less than half a crown.

Thanks for the ear worm!

 

[March Hare]

We've got a domestic-grade Rug Doctor carpet cleaner machine. It has a great hand cleaning tool which would be great for your carpets. The machines you can hire from the supermarket are the same.

From experience, rugs and carpets come up best if you can remove all of the dirty cleaning water from the carpets. It leaves them almost dry and you don't get any of the tide marks as the carpets dry.

 

[DebandKevL]

We have rubber backed mats mow too, a nice muddy brown colour

Were your IH motorhome carpets a lovely pale grey too? Not sure what to do about the press studs in the floor though.

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[donkey]

We have rubber backed mats mow too, a nice muddy brown colour

You think "I will buy mud coloured rugs that will not show the dirt" but hey-ho the mud does a Covid change to black, white or grey!!!!!!!!

Geoff

 

[Emmit]

I still love 1001 carpet cleaner liquid

For less than half a crown?

 

[Stealaway]

Just buy some cheap rugs from Dunelm. These were a fiver each - so cheap you afford to buy new ones ever year

 

[TheBig1]

Pull the originals out and hang them to dry fully. A good beating gets the worst of the grit out. Then thoroughly hoover, 2 or 3 times. Then and only then wash with a proper machine. As many passes as needed till the water coming out is clean

Then buy the industrial cotton, and rubber backed mats. Cut to size and shape. After a muddy weekend, let them dry and shake them outside. These can be cleaned with a pressure washer.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Were your IH motorhome carpets a lovely pale grey too? Not sure what to do about the press studs in the floor though.

No they are a lovely pale beige/biscuit colour.

Our press studs are in a bag waiting for us to fit them . IH had to replace our floor due to rainwater leak tracking in the rear doors. When we took the van for the repair, we left the carpets at home so they were unable to place the studs to match.
However I had the mats down before this and I just cut a small hole to match. The cheapy rubber backed ones are easy to cut with scissors.
3 of these fit the main habitation area, one more across the step behind the seats (I just cut slits in it to allow access to the step cupboard) and 2 smaller ones for the footwells and 1 smaller one between the seats. The small ones have doubled as kneeling mats to get underneath and as step mats in dry dusty park ups.
I find them light and easy to handle and take them out and give a good brushing with a small hand brush that lives under the cab step overhand in the doorway.

Amazon product ASIN B00FYSMT6Q

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[timetochill]

I still love 1001 carpet cleaner liquid

Cleans a big big carpet for less than

 

[ambulancekidd]

I didn’t know that, mine are pile side inside, in the loft !

My family had always been involved in carpets, my grandad was boss of a huge carpet factory & my dad worked for a guy called Cyril Lord who was behind 1001 carpet cleaning product in the 1960s.
If you think about a carpet store, the carpets are never pile side in.

 

[Gaston aires]

I still love 1001 carpet cleaner liquid

1001 cleans a big big carpet for less than half a crown.

 

[Riverbankannie]

My family had always been involved in carpets, my grandad was boss of a huge carpet factory & my dad worked for a guy called Cyril Lord who was behind 1001 carpet cleaning product in the 1960s.
If you think about a carpet store, the carpets are never pile side in.

Cyril Lord ! A famous name from the past.
I thought they were pile side out so you could see them better

 

[Gaston aires]

This is luxury you can afford by Cyril Lord

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[The Old Man]

Over the washing line and hosed /jetted mine plenty carpet soap came up a treat

then retreated with 3m protector put away and never to be used again lol...I have mats now

I was on a site with low wooden fences between pitches.

It was a hot summer day when I hung the carpets over the fence and jet washed them, rinsed them off and left them to dry.

All done in a morning.

There was no one on the next pitch!

 

[Puddleduck]

The other alternative is to ask at a country store if there is an equestrian rug cleaning place.

A horse will roll in mud and grass and goodness knows what else so their rugs gets ingrained with muck. Specialist cleaners get rid of all this!

We are also lucky in that we have a specialist cleaner not too far away that do carpets and rugs.