I do a fair amount of driving (54,000 in 29 months of ownership) and most of it with the windows either completely down or at least part-way down. Anyway, the other day while I was cleaning the interior and I happened to look up toward the top of the B-pillar where it meets the headliner. What greeted my glance was the nastiest gray/black grime I'd seen in while! It made brake dust look good! I had a damp cloth hanging from my back pocket (don't we all?) and gave it a slight touch. Bad idea, all that did was make it smear. Best way to remove it I found was with the bristle wand on the shop vac moving it fore and aft, lightly.

Both sides were equally dirty, I attribute to road grime, wheel spin and open windows. Tonight I snapped this pic of the mirror covers and with a little CSI style thought process, you can see the splatter pattern produced by the wheels.



Just thought you'd like to know.......

 

yeesh... sounds nasty. thanks for the forewarning.

Hey look at the bright side, at least you have been able to adaquately use your windows. I picked up my MINI in Nov. and I've only used my windows three times, very sad.

 

I have had the same problem. Ride with the windows down and its gets all black and gray up at the corner where the pillar meets the roof. Havent really messed with the healiner caues i dont want it to smear. But the plastic part i use a mr.clean eraser's....they work pretty good . As far as the headliner goes i might try cleaning it when i have some decent weather outside.

 

STOP SMOKING and keep the windows UP

 

Dont Smoke. Think its just from raod dirt coming in through the window while driving.

 

"Smokey" may be a "smoker" ...?

 

My handle of "Smokey" comes from "Smoky the Bear" and my old job of flying helicopters fighting wildland fires.

Peace out

 

I just used 303 Cleaner and Spot Remover It worked great on my IS300 Headliner i was very worried about the headliner being hard to clean it brought the dirt to the surface wiped it clean and did not disrupt the fabric covering. I had a pepsi pop explode all over the headliner from the heat and dry let it sit there about 6 months before i tried to clean it... Worth a shot?


http://www.303products.com/main.php?...ge=spotremover



-Joe

 

what's the thought on using Scotchgard auto on the headliner. I found a can over at Pep boy's and was thinking of using it for the carpet and headliner. I also noticed they have a scotchgard carpet, should I get the carpet one too, or will the auto do just fine.

second, if okay to use on the headliner, would it be possible to spray it on something first then wiping the headliner down. I'm not sure how sucessful I would be at spraying the headliner down without getting it all over my eyes and i my nose.

 

The worst thing you can do is rub or wipe the area,use a dabing motion to lift the dirt,and those lint rollers for clothes work too,just don't press hard.
I motor with my windows down at -15F and colder.The heat is free,and more than abundant,plus the heated seats help

 

Imagine what that soot has been doing to your 'do (not to mention, but here goes, your ears and cheeks and the smiles of your backseat riders). Does this mean that MINI folks who drive with their windows open bathe more often? Following the tenor of posts we get on NAM I ought to ask what the recommended frequency is for bathing a MINI owner.

 

I have a Jun.'03. 33000 mi. Windows always down except while raining. A couple of weeks ago I was shocked when I noticed the Dark grey film from front to back. Vacuumed entire headliner, spotless. I was afraid it would look like some carpet does,stroked one direction then the other. I initially tried tape blotting, useless.

 

Well, what's the final idea on how to keep it clean? Keep your windows up?

 

Windows up. Better yet trade your no milage Mini For a convertible one. Me, I own a vacuum cleaner and i'm not afaid to use it.