Looking for absolute best carpet cleaner, interior trim, and wheel cleaner?

eagle one wheel cleaner is the ****

As posted in a couple other threads I would recommend greased lightning degreaser, yes even for your carpets. I am an auto detailer and I can easily say it works the best for ALL the things you mentioned. I have several products and none compare to this. You can pick it up at Autozone for just under four bucks...

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=719258

SteedaGT9150 said:

eagle one wheel cleaner is the ****

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most of eagle ones's stuff is alsome.. funny as they are the most affordible.

Darkwriter77 officially endorses the following cleaning products:

Car wash soap: Turtle Wax ICE

Wheels/black sidewall tires: Merguier's All-Wheel Cleaner

Tire shine: Merguier's Hot Shine non-aerosol

Standard waxing: Turtle Wax F21 (formerly called Formula 2001)

Quickie waxing: Turtle Wax ICE liquid

Quickie paint detailing: Black Magic Spray Detailer

Carpet stains, goop, and general de-crap-ification of interior stuffs: Castrol Super Clean or Purple Power/Greased Lightning (all pretty much the same) PLUS one of those 99-cent red plastic-handled brushes from Autozone AND/OR an old toothbrush

General carpet cleaning/deodorizing: Tuff Stuff aerosol

Glossing up interior plastic/vinyl: Black Magic Protectant

OEM style low-gloss interior finishing/light cleaning: Turtle Wax F21 Protectant

General window/glass cleaning: Stoner's Invisible Glass aerosol

Windshield protectant: Rain-X Windshield Wax

Metal polish: Turtle Wax Chrome Polish/Rust Remover

Interior smelly-good stuff: Medo New Car Smell spray

Paper towels for all above items: Blue Shop Towels


Helpful tips:

1. Glass should be the absolute very, very last thing you clean when you detail your car. Trust me, you will ALWAYS get smears and splatters and whatnot from other things all the time if you do them first. I always clean in this order: VACUUM, WASH, INTERIOR CLEAN/GLOSS, WAX (optional), ENGINE BAY, EXTERIOR DETAIL, and finally GLASS.

2. When cleaning windows with Invisible Glass, don't over-saturate. Spray thinly and quickly all across the window (make sure you're out of direct sunlight and the glass isn't hot), and do your initial wiping - STRAIGHT UP/DOWN, LEFT-RIGHT MOTIONS. Use a second towel, perfectly dry and clean, after your initial wiping to buff the remaining smears and such from the glass - CIRCULAR BUFFING MOTION. In both cases, do the outside bordering edge of the surface last to wipe away resting marks.

3. When using a non-aerosol tire shine, spray the tire evenly and in a circular motion, even with a pump-style sprayer. DO NOT oversaturate. Immediately wipe away any overspray from the rim. Allow this to sit for at least 30 minutes. With a clean rag or towel, wipe away the remaining excess. This will help prevent (or at least greatly reduce) any fling-off of the tire shine onto your fenders.

4. Going over your whole car with a California Car Duster after waxing will help get rid of that annoying white dust residue and actually lightly buff away some smudges.

5. That annoying cheese that builds up from sweat and skin contact on steering wheels, arm rests, etc. can be removed with a spray cleaner (Castrol Super Clean, Purple Power, etc.), a toothbrush, and a clean rag/paper towel. Holding the brush OUTSIDE of the car, spray the cleaner into the bristles of the brush. DO NOT directly spray the cleaner onto the surface, as this may sometimes result in bleaching or discoloration of vinyl. Work the cleaner into the grooves/texture of the surface to be cleaned, using the rag to shield the surrounding area from cleaner fling-off spray (which can result in bleached or discolored spots on nearby surfaces/materials). Use a circular motion with the toothbrush to extract filth from textured surfaces. IMMEDIATELY wipe away residue with rag, which will pick up loosened dirt and excess cleaner fluid; if you allow it to dry, it will either bleach/discolor, or you will have to re-clean that spot again.

6. Always spray protectant (regardless of brand) onto the cloth/rag/towel that you are using, NEVER directly onto the surface. If you can't reach a tiny spot due to shape or texture, spray some protectant into the bristles of a toothbrush and work it in there with that. DO NOT use the same toothbrush for applying protectant that has been used previously with a cleaner detergent.

7. When drying your car after a wash, chamois the windows FIRST, and then any horizontal panels (hood, trunk, roof, etc.) before drying the rest of the vehicle. This is especially important if you live in an arid climate where water dries very quickly and/or you have water with a lot of mineral content, as the water spots that may result are SUCH a pain to remove.

For wheels and tires Im having good luck with Eagle One All wheel and tire cleaner. The brake dust and dirt comes off easy with it, and any browning of the sidewalls literally dissolves off. As for the tires, the best thing to do in my opinion is buy a tire shine in a bottle (Im using the meguiars hot shine, very dark purple stuff) and use a tire applicator thats usually sold in the same section. Don't ever have to worry about it splattering down your doors and it seems to last longer than the sprays too.

Zaino for everything exterior, and I bowwor interior stuff from my dealership's detail dept.

I've gotta say, the Zaino glass polish is the BOMB!!! I'd recommend it to everyone on this site, it absolutely made a huge difference in my glass. As for the other suff, carpet, door panels, etc a good cleaner like greased lightning or you can pick up mean green at the dollar general, it's some awesome stuff too !

Turtle wax Ice (quick detailer) sucks on cars with fresh paint especially dark colors... trust me.

I use Griots Garage products for interior cleaning stuff, they seem to make a great leather care kit that works on the trim in there as well.

fiveohwblow said:

As posted in a couple other threads I would recommend greased lightning degreaser, yes even for your carpets. I am an auto detailer and I can easily say it works the best for ALL the things you mentioned. I have several products and none compare to this. You can pick it up at Autozone for just under four bucks...

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=719258

Click to expand...

+1

My notch was really nasty when i got it. I use greased lightning to clean the whole car. Look new now.

-the best carpet cleaner to use to get stains and smell out, along with the best method to do it

For seriously dirty carpet & upholstery, use 1-2 oz of Woolite in a bucket of very warm water. Scrub with a bristle brush and rags and don't be afraid to get the carpet damp enough to work up a nice foam. Do this on the morning of a hot day so everything can air dry afterwards. A professional detailer gave me this tip and it saved me from scrapping my entire carpet when I got my Mustang.

For normal cleaning, or in cooler temperatures where the above method isn't ideal, try Great Value Foaming Carpet Cleaner. Yes, Wal-Mart brand, found in the household carpet cleaner section. This stuff works awesome, dries very fast, and I'm convinced it's the same exact thing as name brand carpet cleaner, but it only costs 97 cents a can (1 can would probably do all your carpet in a Mustang). I'm dead serious, it sounds way too cheap to be good but just try it and you'll be amazed.

-Also, what is the 'best' interior trim cleaner?

I like using Greased Lightning Orange Blast dilluted about 10:1 with water. Works well, doesn't fade the trim, and leaves a nice orange smell.

-Wheel cleaner?

On my turbines, I use Eagle One Mag Wheel cleaner. It's seriously heavy duty stuff, works really well on the rough cast finish of those wheels. For painted, polished or chrome wheels, and for tires use Greased Lightning, dilluted 1:2 for normal cleaning or full strength for really dirty wheels.

-Floorboard cleaner? (when carpet is removed).

I'd try... yep, Greased Lightning again, 1:2 or full strength as you see fit...

BTW the original Greased Lightning and the Orange Blast version seem to be very comparable in terms of cleaning power. I think the original is maybe a tiny bit better as a degreaser, and just has a generic cleaner smell. The Orange Blast is still strong enough to use on engines and tires, but it smells good.

i always had great luck taking seats and stuff out and taking them to the carwash and blasting them i with degreaser, soap and a good rince with the pressure gun. its violent and gets the seats SOAKING wet. you could tear a seat if your not careful. but i havent had an prolems, the most important part is to do it on a HOT sunny day, do it early and let the seats sit facing the sun all day and they will dry and come out brand new, i have done this twice with my seats and they come out better than any cleaner has for me, plus its alot faster, except for the drying process..

the carwash would work excellent for carpet and floormats, if the carpet is out i would take it to the carwash.

for interior cleaners i use meguiars quick interior detailer, it cleans and give the interior a good look, doesnt grease it up and make it all shiny and wet like armorall.

i have used megs cleaner wax, comes with a pad and buff the car and buff it off, works pretty good.

'm not detailing expert or anything but this is just some stuff i have had good luck with.

soap and water brotha