Carpet and mat protection

[Mike Honcho]

My Lexus has very light colored tan carpet and mats. As you can imagine, they show ANY type of dirt and stain. I vacuum them every chance I get (very dense carpet pile) to keep the dirt level down. Your recommendation for a protectant to minimize staining?

[Mantilgh]

303 Fabric Guard for the carpets and their protectant, or any of the others for the plastic/rubber/vinyl. CarPro, Optimum and some others make a fabric protectant too. Ultima Interior Guard Plus says it can be used on fabric also but I haven't tried it for that yet.

303 high tech fabric guard, 303 fabric guard (http://www.autogeek.net/303fabricguard.html)

I really like UIGP on interiors and it is supposed to have good durability.

[7PaintGuns]

Scotchgard Fabric And Upholstery Protector. I haven't used this in years but I thought it did a pretty good job. Now I just buy cars with black carpets and use weather techs.

[medicscott]

Gtechniq Fabric...awesome stuff...though it wreaks for 24 hrs

[Eldorado2k]

I'll test the ScotchGard out real quik..

The protector has been applied a couple months ago.
Since then, I've been using the foaming cleaner which is a 2 in 1.

This is how my drivers matt looks right now, before vacuuming & cleaning.

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[Eldorado2k]

Ok I'm all done.

Here's the matt after vacuum.

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Spray on Scotchgard foam and let sit for 1min.

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After scrub & wipe up.

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Make it look purdy? Lol

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[7PaintGuns]

Ok I'm all done.

Here's the matt after vacuum.

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Spray on Scotchgard foam and let sit for 1min.

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After scrub & wipe up.

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Make it look purdy? Lol

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Looks good to me. Question is, your there in person, what do you think?

[Eldorado2k]

Now here's what I don't like.. Because I'm using the Scotchgard I now feel obligated to use the Scotchgard cleaner or else I'll be cleaning the Scotchgard off by using my choice of another cleaner. Sure I could use Megs APC, which I'd rather use because it cleans much better, but then I'd have to re apply the Scotchgard which turns into a PITA procedure..

For all the whoop about Scotchgard making the carpet so much easier to clean, I sure don't see that happening at all. It repels water a lil bit but that's about it. I'm not sure if it repels stains/keeps the matt cleaner longer, but I think it might just a little bit..

I just wish I could go back to using my choice of cleaners because IMO the Scotchgard Foam sucks.

[CarolinasFinestDetailing]

CQuartz Fabric coating. Amazing product. Use a few coats. Coat your leather with their leather coating while youre at it.

[Eldorado2k]

Notice how the matt appears darker just after cleaning it.. You can tell the difference in color from the just vacuumed matt to the final pic. That bugs me, because it never looks as clean as it should be just after cleaning it. I think it goes away once it dries, but it doesn't make a good 1st impression, if you know what I mean.

My matts look alot better when I use Megs APC to clean them.

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[Mike Honcho]

Great write-up!

[Eldorado2k]

My problem is I bought 4 cans of the foaming cleaner and 1 can of the protectant. Don't make the same mistake I did. Lol.

My advice: Use your choice of protectant, and then use Folex to clean your matts thereafter.. Because the good thing about Folex is it doesn't clean off the fabric protectant.

I have Folex, I'm just being stubborn because I hate the fact that I've got 4 cans of this stuff and I hate to see unused product go to waste:)

Ok, now I'm done.

@Mike Honcho. Thanks!

[Mike Honcho]

Yeah, I love Folex!

[GSKR]

My Lexus has very light colored tan carpet and mats. As you can imagine, they show ANY type of dirt and stain. I vacuum them every chance I get (very dense carpet pile) to keep the dirt level down. Your recommendation for a protectant to minimize staining?

Lexus mats are pita to clean they wick so bad.I would just dry clean them the best you can.Then fabric protection of your choice car pro makes a good product.

[Mike Honcho]

Actually they clean pretty easy since they are so thick. The dirt stays on top.