Carpet care

[T MAN]

anything you can put on the carpet to keep it from getting compacted and hard? Anymore it's like standing on fine grit sandpaper...any suggestions???


thanks

[ChampioNman]

How old is the carpet? Mine lasted well into 14 years exposed to all types of Wx. It is my own fault it needs to be replaced after close to 20 years.

[danielt]

one thing that helps is if you comb it against the grain then vacuum it. make it stand up so you can loosen the dirt and stuff up a little then hit it with a high powered shop vac.

[T MAN]

Boat is an 05...starting to wonder if the soap used to wash the boat is causing it. (Turtle wax car wash)

danielt, I'll definetly give that a try but man is it stiff.

thanks

[Lea]

I clean mine with Bissel's little Green Machine, but use very little if any, soap. Then rinse and rinse and rinse...well, you get the pic. If you use a pressure washer, don't get too close...dry in the sun or under fans and use a brush to fluff...
Any soap, if left in the carpet, will make it stiff and also it will grab dirt more easily...

A friend suggested using fabric softener, but I will have to talk with him to find out how much it is diluted....

Here's a link on carpet cleaning...
http://www.bbcboards.net...22963

[55excl]

OK, I am in the business this is the best method I have found. Mix 5 gallons water with 3 to 4 oz. Palmolive dish soap the green stuff pour over all carpets. You will need more than 5 gallons. Brush the carpets like hell with a stiff brush. Pick up lids and brush mixture in to the carpet that wraps under them with small stiff brush. Then mix 5 gallons of water with 4ozs. Downy fabric softener you will need 15 gallons of that. Then rinse with plenty of water for 20 minutes. Then get a wet vac and vacuum all carpet for a 1/2 hour or more. Leave lids open to dry in the sun and wind. Enrico

[Lea]

Sounds good!!!! Labor intensive, but good!!!

[Royjulius]

My back hurts just readin' that. Bet it works well though.

[H2O_Fowl]

Think I'll just stick to the matted down carpet.

[T MAN]

Now that sounds like a plan I think I'm going to wait til spring, but will definetly try that...it's getting a little too cool to fish barefoot around here anyways. Thanks again though, thats an excellent idea

[RangerCy]

Mix half water and half vinegar and spray on your carpet and then power wash off, the vinager will eat the lime from the water that got on the carpet and dried. Kinda like when you run viegar through your coffe pot, same deal.

[bobbymc]

I have used a 50/50 mixture of white vinagar and water in a spray bottle for 15 years and what this does is soften the fiber and when it dries just vacum. I do-not rinse the vinagar!

[Lea]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bobbymc &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have used a 50/50 mixture of white vinagar and water in a spray bottle for 15 years and what this does is soften the fiber and when it dries just vacum. I do-not rinse the vinagar! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Does the fluff come back? Do you get carpet soaking wet or just dampen it?

[T MAN]

Also, is it oderless??

[BASSCAT7]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lea &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Does the fluff come back? Do you get carpet soaking wet or just dampen it?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Here ya go Lea.....cheap, works, carpet looks new when done and does not have any odor.

Do not use any soap to soap up the carpet unless you plan on rinsing it a long time to remove all the soap residue, you'll have a hard time rinsing all the soap out and what is left will attract dirt faster.

Soaps will do more long term damage to boat carpet than almost anything else.......because most soaps are a waxy solid or liquid made from sodium hydroxide mixed with fats, and most detergent soaps are petroleum based.........they will leave a surfactant residue sticking to the nylon /olefin carpet fibers....these surfactants will attract dirt faster to the fibers, almost like a sticky surface. Grinding the dirt into carpet is what wears out the fibers , leaving bare spots.

Be real careful using any type of pressure washer, even the ones at the car wash have enough force to lift up some worn carpet off the deck or loosen the backing.

Hose the carpet down real good then scrub it with a stiff bristle brush to loosen up the dirt.
Saturate the carpet real good, take the nozzle off your hose and let the water flow on it.

Make a mixture of 1 pint of plain white vinegar to 7 pints of water. Use a garden sprayer or spray bottle to saturate the carpet.

Scrub it with the brush again, the vinegar will loosen up the rest of the dirt and residue in the carpet. Turn the hose on and rinse real good while scrubbing.

Use a shop Vac to suck up the water or let air dry. Fluff the carpet up with a brush and it will look like it's new again.

If you have some real bad stains or worn spots, Resolve carpet cleaner is great for cleaning up spot stains or real dirty areas. You can get it at any grocery store.
I had a rider get in my boat last year with some tar residue on his shoe, spot about the size of a quarter, my back deck was covered with these spots, must have been 100 of 'em.
took some scrubbing with a small brush and the resolve , but the light gray carpet came up looking new....good stuff to keep in your boat cleaning supplies.

Basscat7

[Lea]

Thank you !!!!!!!!!

[PolarKraft195]

I'll have to keep the vinegar thing in mind.

I LOVE darker charcoal gray carpet.......... Hardly ever shows dirt!

[Legend Chris]

the reason carpet gets hard a compacted is from the lime scale. Once you break down the lime and clean it out the carpet will come back. SHop vac your carpet with just water just to suck the dirt out, no soap as bubble and residue are hard to get rid of.
I use a few gallons of white vinegar(im not too patient) while its still damp and saturate an area, then scrub and let setup a few minutes, then come back with the shop vac and suck it all up. Comes out pretty good and fluffs on its own. I'll probably do mine next week again, as its about due.

But to keep your carpet nice you really should do this 2-3 times a year..
Oh yea recommend you remove fishing gear first so that you don't get vinegar on everything.

[milligjg]

I have heard you can use Downey Fabric Softener. Just get your carpet damp, then spray on the Downey and brush the carpet against the grain and vacuum. I've done it a couple times and it seems to work. I've got a 98 boat with original carpet. If that is no good, please let me know.

[rid 05 198]

How about just standing on it with a rug doctor like machine? With no soap?