I read about washing floor mats in the washing machine (it worked great), but how about the whole carpet? Just thinking about cleaning it after winter since im going to finish sound proofing anyways. I would think the carpet would be ok, just wanted to see if anyone has done it before.

 

i thought i read someone saying that it had a glued-on backing... that would probably combine with the overall size (like four square yards, all told?) to really tax a washing machine. at least in my truck, it's all one big piece, with various cuts here and there. i'd personally be leery of tossing it in the wash, even though i'd *love* to have it so clean.

 

Taking out your carpet requires striping most of the parts out, and the carpet is is about the size of a king size matress. It also has insulation on the bottom which would fall apart. I don't think it will work. That's why I herculined the interior , but that's not luxurious enough for most. I would look into a small carpet shampooer like the green machine. They work great.

 

physically impossible. look at my sound deadening writeup and you'll see how much carpet we're talking about

steam clean it, dibble!

bob

 

I do mobile auto detailing. We use a special carpet shampoo. We spray it on, scrub the crap out of it, then we vacuum it dry with a shop vac. Since you probably don't have access to the carpet shampoo, you can use regular laundry detergent like Tide. Put a little bit into a spray bottle, then mix with water. Spray the carpet, scrub with a brush. They have a meguiar's one at Pep Boys that will work well. Vacuum out the foaming suds, which carry away dirt and stains. Reapeat the process, the water will get many stains out. But be sure you get most of the soap out, or the stains will reappear. On the floor mats, we spray, scrub, then spray with a pressure washer to remove stains and dirt. Hope this info was useful.

 

Guess im not gonna do it, lol. Just wanted to know since im taking it out anyways

 

Take it out and take it to the car wash. Let it drip dry in the sun for a while and then take it over to the vacuums and vacuum it out . After that just let it dry out and reinstall it.

 

I've had a lot of success with renting a steam cleaner from the local hardware store or grocery store. It's the standard carpet cleaner, but you use the upholstery attachment. Worked great for me.

 

Agitator in the washing machine will kill your carpet padding.

Take the carpet out, put it on the driveway, vacuum it really well, use spot remover on stains, let is soak, use dishwashing detergent and wash and scrub with a bristled brush, rinse, hang up to dry. After it dries some, not all the way, use spot remover on remaining stains (the stuff that goes in the steam cleaner), then steam clean the mess out of it. Mine looked like new except for some age old stains and the faded color.

 

Like the people above said, spot clean and shampoo the carpet. A good spot cleaner that I like to use is Blue Corral. It works really good on most stains, dries, and is simply vacuumed out. but if you have a lot of dirt to get rid of, then bump up and rent an industrial shampoo machine.

 

our washing machine does not have an agitator, its one of those side load ones, i am taking off all the original padding for room for the new thicker padding