What's the most ******** thing I can use on vinyl to clean it up REALLY good? I cleaned most of the mildew out of the ca rtoday, but it all didn't come off, I know I'm gona have to use a brush to get in the creases better, but there are other non-mildew stains from things sitting in the seat for a ver long time. Is there any way I can get the white vinyl back white again? White interior ****!
Meguiers vinyl PREP, not cleaner... it' s used to prep vinyl for changing colors. I thought the seats in my '46 were dingy brown when i got it, I wanted them gray so I used everything to clean them before i changed color. I went to get the vinyl dye and the guy told me I had to use the prep first to get the vinyl clean. It turned out the seats were actually red!!! It's the only thing I've ever seen that will clean the top of the doors, where your arm hangs out and the armrests so they look like new!
Don't think I've ever seen the meguier's stuff before, did you get it at a chain or a independant place. I'm not sure who would carry it around here.
I've used a little bleach mixed with water with great results. Just use gloves, it's hard to wash off your hands. Leaves the vinyl raw though.
I will second the Simple Green. We used it on a vinyl interior Datsun we had. The owner had left the windows down all the time so sanils and other insects mad a home inside. After that we felt pretty good that it was sanitized and it looked tons better with no harm done.
I like to use Bleach White. The stuff you use for your whitewalls. Can't say what the long term effect is on the vinyl. Cleans the hell out it though......
If they are truly supposed to be white and not off white and all else has failed to get it gleaming white again, a couple of drastic measures you can do that I had success with. The seats looked like brand new and would never guess that they had been "reconditioned". I had white seats in a Mustang. I usually wore blue uniform shirts and after a couple of years of sweating through them, the blue dye eventually made it into the seats. Very very faint but it was noticeable. Never would have noticed had they been any other color I'm sure. Anyway, I used 99 cent carb cleaner. Its basically tolulene (paint thinner). I tried it in an inco****uous place on a rag first. Once I was sure it wasn't going to damage the vinyl, I worked on the whole seat working on the seams and s***ching first. I went through a roll of white Bounty towels changing often and squirting thinner on the towel and working a 3" x 3" section at a time. Once it was all done, I sprayed it with some stuff I had bought at Pep Boys called "7 in 1 Molecubond". It was in the spray paint section. Not none of the Mar-hyde ****. This stuff went on with good coverage and never flaked and never got sticky. Didn't take much. I didn't need to coat it heavy. If you don't paint it, you could just dress it with Son of a Gun after your cleaning. Nothing wore it off and I drove the car every day for another couple of years before I sold it. I found a link to a picture of the Molecubond so you'll know what the can looks like and a testimonial from some Cougar club. http://www.coolcats.net/stockmod/modified/interiorpaint.html
I will have to 3rd Simple Green. This stuff works the best and its safe (non-toxic) and pretty inexpensive and you can get it just about anywhere. I had a car with a white vinyl convertible top and it would always make it gleaming white. Plus it wont dry the vinyl out or have accidents like with bleach. Just use a nylon scrub brush and rinse it with water
Lighter fluid (naptha) is a great cleaning fluid! Great for removing tar or fresh paint from cured paint and stains in clothing. It is prettty agressive but works very slow, pretty much evaporating before it does any damage.
Use the Purple stuff Casterol (SP?) sells. That stuff rules. I'm gonna buy 20 gallons of it before they figure out it works and ban it....
I used a chemical from ATCO labs called Clean and Shine. Its was designed for boat vinyl for cleaning mold fish guts and other gunk off boat seats. It is extremely wicked.
Yup, Simple Green. I asked this same question last winter and someone on here suggeted Simple Green and it really worked. My interior was red and yellow but was supposed to be red and white. Simple Green made it red and white again. Use it full strength with a couple of different size brushes to get in all the nooks and craneys. Then spray with clean water and wipe with a clean towel. I found doing a small section at a time worked best.
OK, so here's the next question: What can I put on vinyl to keep it soft and not crack? The seats in my '37 Coupe were done in '59 and I hold my breath every time I get in it for fear that the old stuff will crack! I've cleaned them, but now how do I treat them to keep the vinyl plyable. I know a lot of naugha's gave there lives up, only to be made into seats, so I want to take the best care of them that I can. Any suggestions?
At the body shop I used to work at, we once got a '56 T-bird in that had been in a major accident. It had a blue and white vinyl seat in it, and it had all these little circles drawn on it with a number beside each one with a blue ink pen (use your imagination as to how they got there, think crime scene investigation) I got the job of cleaning it off the seat and I used Westley's Bleach-white. Probably not good for the vinyl to use that stuff too much over time, but it sure as hell cleaned those seats off.
I think thats Super Clean. Not sure if it's identical but it's a lot like Wesleys Bleach White. Both work great.
Don't forget about GoJo & hand cleaners on vinyl, they work. If it doesn't rough it up too much the GoJo with pumice works good.
I got the Meguiers at a body shop that sells vinyl "paint" The paint has been on my seats for over ten years and still looks good, i beleive it's because of the prep stuff.
SIMPLE GREEN!!!!!!!! Here is my foolproof cleaning method... Simple Green....anything I care about not damaging the finish Purple Power/Stuff...anything grease and/or oil caked I do'nt care about killing the finnish on.
The simple green kicked *** today, seats came out amazingly white. The back seat still has some yellow areas from where there were cardboard boxes sitting in the seat, I guess I'll have to try something stronger to get those out (if they'll come out at all). Heres some pics, The first few are of the seats and one of the door panels, with only half of them cleaned and th eother half like they were. I had already cleaned them once with some mildew remover prior to this. You should be able to see at least one of the yellow areas in the pic of the rear seat, heres a shot of the front seat after I gave the entire thing a good once over. I'll scrub them down one more time next week since I ddint' have time to keep cleaning until the paper towels didn't turn black anymore. ou can see I had to hurry a little more on the drivers side so it's still a little darker than the p***enger side. What do you guys think I shoudl use to try to remove the yellow spots? Bleche White? A little bleach?
I usually use the simple green, and scrub it with a fingernail brush. You know, the one they sell in auto parts stores for getting the grease out from under your nails. Anything meant for scrubbing skin should not be too harsh. It also works well on smoke and nicotine stains. Slonaker
I used an interior detailing brush that was a buck at wally world.....worked awesome. Not sure ho wclean the headliner will come out since it's cloth, might have to replace it when I replace the faded out carpet.
Yup what he said , thats all I use and simple green kicks *** . Depending on the stain I sometimes dilute it with warm water though . Buzz Bomb
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