Carpet & Fabric Cleaners

Carpet and fabric cleaners are for the regular clean of cloth seats, carpets and mats: drink spills, muddy footwells and grubby seat bolsters. The range includes Dodo Juice Fibre Reviver, Sonax PROFILINE All-Purpose Cleaner Foam, Koch-Chemie Mehrzweckreiniger and, for extraction machines, Equip2clean Carpet and Upholstery Spotting Solution, plus soft-top cleaners for convertible roofs.

How to choose

• Inside or roof: the soft-top cleaners are for the outside of a convertible roof. Finish with a soft-top protector from Fabric Protectants so rain beads off.
• Foam or spray: Sonax PROFILINE All-Purpose Cleaner Foam is a clinging foam that its listing says stays put on vertical and overhead surfaces, so it suits seat backs and door cards. A spray soaks deeper into carpet.
• How dirty: a heavily soiled car needs an extraction machine, with a low foaming detergent such as Equip2clean Carpet and Upholstery Spotting Solution or a Fabric Shampoo. For a single mark, see Spot & Stain Removers.

Good to know

• Vacuum first, agitate with a brush from Carpet & Fabric Brushes, then wipe or extract. Damp is enough: soaked seat foam and underlay stay wet and start to smell.
• Test on a hidden area first, especially on coloured fabric.

How do car detailers get carpet so clean?

They vacuum thoroughly, work the cleaner into the pile with a brush and then extract it with a wet extraction machine, which pulls the dirt and the cleaner back out of the carpet instead of leaving them in it.

Related: Fabric, Carpet & Upholstery, Alcantara Cleaners, Extractors & Steam Cleaners, Pet Hair Removal. Popular brands here: Sonax, Dodo Juice, Equip2clean.