Cleaning old carpet

[Michael J.]

My '64's carpet has some stains/discoloration I would like to clean. The carpet is in pretty good shape, but is 52 years old, any suggestions of products/techniques that would work without tearing it up? Thanks.

[Ed S.]

Re: Cleaning old carpet

Michael,
I have the same problem. The interior of my '64 convert is dark blue. What color carpet do you have? I am also interested in knowing if it is better to remove the carpet or clean it while it is in the car.

[Michael J.]

Re: Cleaning old carpet

Ed, I have dark blue in my '64 roadster, but I am thinking about cleaning the saddle tan color carpet in my coupe, it needs it more.

[Edward J.]

Re: Cleaning old carpet

Mike/ Ed, I would say it depends on what the stain is, Dawn dish washing soap and hot water and a soft nylon brush for most stain works then wet Vac. it. I would not try and remove the carpet for cleaning to old and sometimes thing get glued 63 will never release because its adhered to the floor board 64 may come up but???

[Ed S.]

Re: Cleaning old carpet

This brings up another issue. My car went through a frame-off about 9 years ago by a PO. I have tons of pics of the process that he gave me. The carpets were removed and I believe the originals were reinstalled. But.... by simply looking at them how does one identify "original" carpeting? I have removed some items like the console and threshold plates for various purposes and the carpet that is unexposed is clearly much richer in color than that which as been exposed - that leads me to believe they are originals. Are there obvious tell-tale indicators that confirm originality? And my apologies to Mike and others for taking this thread in a different direction if not totally high jacking it.

[Michael J.]

Re: Cleaning old carpet

No problem Ed, good info for us all about original carpet. I have heard there is a loop pile difference, but have not seen original next to Al Knoch, for instance, to know what that looks like. Thanks for the cleaning tip, I will try that first, the toughest job may be under the heater box on the passenger side, where maybe years of leaking has darkened it and the residue may be rusty, which sort of matches the carpet color in some ways…….

[Ara G.]

Re: Cleaning old carpet

Mike, depending on the type of stain - try Lestoil. I use it on everything. It's strong stuff, but takes grease, gum etc out of anything. I would dilute on a test area of the carpet before going wild with it. Be mindful that with ANY brush you use to clean the carpet, it will most likely fray the ends of the carpet so do it gently. The spray foams will work on minor stuff....I used it to clean original vinyl seat covers that were in my 69 Camaro and it worked fantastic. Worked it in with a soft toothbrush.....Good luck....ARA......I just saw your email about Shelby hat...I will PM you...Cheers. ARA

[Michael J.]

Re: Cleaning old carpet

Thanks ARA!