Hey everyone,
The latest dumb thing I've done is to leave a container of laundry detergent in the boot after my last laundry run a couple of weeks ago. Naturally it ended up upside down, and the cap didn't hold in the soap. I noticed it yesterday. I don't remember how full it was when I last used it, but I'm guessing that at least a quart and a half of detergent dumped into the right side of my boot carpet, turning it purple (!). I figured out how to pop that section of carpet out to remove it from the car, but after many sponge treatments, blotting with towels, and suds aaaalllll over the driveway, I can't figure out how to get it clean.

I took it to a car wash where they tried to powerwash it, but the guy there told me that because of the foam attached to the bottom of the mat, it would probably never dry out, and I'd end up with mildew etc. in my car.

So, for now it's on the back porch, and after 24+ hours, it shows no signs whatsoever of drying out, and it's still soapy as hell and partially purple.

I could care less about the color, but does anyone have an idea of how to clean and dry it?!

Many thanks,
Chris

 

Ok this may sound weird,but go to a laundry mat,where they have big tumble dryers,put your carpet in there with some old sheets or something and let it tumble on low heat till it is dry.Then you may have a chance of scrubing out the soap over time.Like a long time.But it should be dry and not mildew.Get it dry first,then worry about what it looks like.
OTP is not the only thread worth reading here

 

I would keep the water running through it to get the soap out. Soap-goo is hampering the drying. Then a hair dryer will help.

I have had this carpet totally saturated with water before and dried it out in a day. (It was summer) I used a hair dryer and was helped by hot sun and a warm driveway which might not be available now, but it IS possible.

 

I wonder if rinsing the soap out with hot water will help?

 

BradB, any advice on getting stains/odor out of carpet in front? I had a terrible incident on Sat. night-a kid on a bike with his two dogs ran right out in front of me causing me to slam on brakes and spill a crock pot full of cocktail wieners in sauce all over the front passenger side floor .
Can you get the carpet out to clean with a commercial cleaner? I am afraid I will smell the sauce(bbq sauce and grape jelly)for a long time.

 

That's a lot of soap; I'd recommend running water over it for hours if you can. Taking out the water content without removing the soap will leave you with oily buildup that will foam if you ever spill it again. Once you do that....

A while back, my sunroof was open and I got caught by a Georgia thunderstorm. By the time I ran out to my car to close it, there was so much water it had pooled on the seats (I have leather), not to mention the lake formed in the footwells. I went to my friend's house, who has a garage, and we came up with a plan to get all the water out as fast as possible to prevent mildew. We parked my car in his garage (I don't have one) with the windows open and the garage door closed. Then we positioned two box fans to blow air at high speed through the car - one on the roof pointing down, another at the side blowing in. Then he took his de-humidifier and put it in the garage. Every two hours or so, we'd go in and empty the water from the de-humidifier. 24 hours later, it was bone dry, and I haven't had a problem since.
-Cor.

 

MiniBanker,
A couple things you can do, A couple good carpet cleaners I have had good luck with are Woolite Heavy Traffic Carpet Cleaner. And Restore Carpet Cleaner. Both available at local stores. Better than both of those is THIS. 303 Carpet Cleaner. I am amazed with this stuff!

After you remove the stain then let use Arm and Hammer baking soda powder to remove the odor. Sprinkle it in the carpet. It will soak up the smell. Let it sit as long as it has to. Sometimes it takes overnite. Sometimes a couple days. Vacuum up and refresh as necessary.

Also, what works...really works, is THIS. Odor remover.

I really suggest that people keep this stuff on hand. Because when you need it, you need it NOW!

 

I would also try dry cleaning it! Just a thought.

 

Thanks for the responses, guys! That's very encouraging to hear, BradB, that the piece CAN be dried. I guess I'll just try to get creative with getting the soap out. It's pouring here today; wish I had left it out in the rain before I came to work. In any case, I'll check back in after I've made an attempt or two at it.

Cheers,
Chris

 

It's already got plenty of soap, no need to add more Seriously just keep rinsing it, maybe work some of it in with hand or cloth, but water will disolve the soap out. Leaving it in the rain probably was a good idea It is foam bottomed so no need to worry about it being wet while it air-drys.

 

Same thing happened to me....liquid laundry detergent spilled in the boot. Probably not that much, though. Anyway, I rinsed it and it did actually air dry. Good luck!

 

Maybe try those drive in car washes and use the rinse cycle from the high pressure hose to rinse the carpet and then lay it flat someplace to dry. I was thinking maybe put a bunch of towels down inside the car and lay the carpet on top. Let the car sit in the sun and check the towels every few hours to rotate to a dry side,that might expedite the drying time, until everything is done. My 2 cents.

 

I know that many of you have probably spent the whole winter wondering about whether or not I ever got my boot carpet clean. Well, I took the following steps:

1. Ignored all of the great advice that people took so much trouble posting here for my benefit. (Well, I didn't ignore it exactly, but I didn't act on it!).

2. Left the piece out on my back porch (roof over it, but sides open) for the entire duration of the snowiest Boston winter in recent history. Leaned it up against the house, and let it get buried and reburied in snowdrifts, let it fluctuate between +40 and -10 Fahrenheit. Pretty much forgot that my car ever had a mat in the boot. Didn't look in that direction whenever on the back porch.

3. Noticed one day that the mat is looking pretty clean (!). Upon closer inspection, not only was all of the soap out, not only was the mat dry and the correct color, but it actually held up amazingly well to the elements. I put it back in the car.

4. Waited a month or so, and then wrote this post!

End of saga. Movie rights negotiable.

 

Which makes us all wonder: Where was the wiener in the car? All over the boot carpet because of the hard braking or in the driver's seat for carrying a crock-pot of wieners and sauce in a MINI in the first place??? Isn't that what they make mini-vans for?

 

You could have just got ther boot tray and then it would have been protected.


Art

 

I have the same problem with my boot carpet. I'm not sure how to pull it out to dry it. I have a 2003 Cooper. Am I going to have to remove the rear seats?

 

Find a local detailer with a Hot Water extractor. I had a customer spill 6 cups of coffee on his cloth seats, and it took longer for my extractor to heat up to 220deg than it did to actually suck out and clean the coffee mess which was resolved in about 10 minutes.

 

I bought a small spot cleaner shampooer for projects like this.
Cost was like $60.00 but it really did the job.
Great for cleaning cloth seats, floor mats also.

 

I had something similiar happen to me in my Audi tt. A casserolle that completely spilt due to someone pulling out in front of me it was either he hit me or I pull over on to the side.... whewwwww...it was close.Anyway I used a wet dry vac and a good carpet cleaner.Worked great

 

Hi i know this is an old thread but hopefully you can help. I lent my car to my brother in law and surprise surprise he managed to spill paint in the trunk!!!

My question is how do you remove the carpet from the trunk area to allow you to then clean the carpet?? In my mini there are 2 big bolts holding down the carpet and they are not screws which I can unscrew. Does anyine know how to remove these without damaging them. I was going to use force but suspect that may break or damage them and I want to be able to use them again after to fix the carpet back. Any ideas?

 

Hi dear today I have to say something relating to your topic which is that If you want your carpets really clean just go out and purchase "Liquid Tide" with bleach that is safe for all colors.its best cleaner for for carpets I recommend you after self use and i get tremendous results from it you must be use it for carpet cleaning....

 

I have to suggest your best carpet cleaning product which cleans your carpet as you want ..

 

May i know which carpet cleaning product is the best , i also need some information on it to get the right product to clean the carpet well.

 

May i know which carpet cleaning product is the best , i also need some information on it to get the right product to clean the carpet well.