[oc92037]

I bought a used 2000 Odyssey w/ blue cloth interior. There are no major stains but it looks a bit dingy and faded. I'd like to try steam-cleaning the seats and carpets with the RugDoctor (using the handtool attachment). Anyone tried this? Any problems?

 

[nwf_snake]

No problems, I have used a Rug Doctor upholstery attachment to clean vehicle interiors since the 1980s! My one hint is to just fill the Rug Doctor up with the hottest water you can get (no cleaner) and use a spray bottle to shoot on about a 1/3 cleaner to 2/3 hot water mixture. I get the seats or carpet wet with the RD wand, spray cleaner, scrub with a soft brush, then extract. Repeat if nececessary. Depending on the soap you use, you may have to adjust the spray bottle ratio. For the really dirty parts, just keep extracting till the stains are removed.

If i want it to dry quicker, I use my wet vac to suck up more water whenever finished with the rug doctor.

 

[oc92037]

No problems, I have used a Rug Doctor upholstery attachment to clean vehicle interiors since the 1980s! My one hint is to just fill the Rug Doctor up with the hottest water you can get (no cleaner) and use a spray bottle to shoot on about a 1/3 cleaner to 2/3 hot water mixture. I get the seats or carpet wet with the RD wand, spray cleaner, scrub with a soft brush, then extract. Repeat if nececessary. Depending on the soap you use, you may have to adjust the spray bottle ratio. For the really dirty parts, just keep extracting till the stains are removed.

If i want it to dry quicker, I use my wet vac to suck up more water whenever finished with the rug doctor.

Well, after a lot of back-n-forth, I caved and paid $80 for a (well-reviewed) auto detail shop to do it, and although I can't do an objective, side-by-side comparison, I'm fairly happy with the results. One thing to note is that the shop had my car for 3 hours, and when I picked it up, the carpet, seats, mats were almost dry. Just moist to the touch. I was advised to air out the car the next day, and by today things are almost perfectly dry.

Based on my experience using the Rug Doctor on the carpet in my house, I know that the RugDoctor would have left things much wetter. So, if getting things dry is a priority, I'd recommend using a detailer.

Just sharing my experience...