[carbookie]

My 8 year old santro, had dealer fitted seat covers. And after 8 years of abuse, the carpet in the car, and the seat covers were dirty. Also at a few places the seat cover had come loose. So on the weekend, I along with my 5 year old son went on a DIY to clean the carpet, seat covers. The plan was

1. Take out passenger side seat.
2. Take out driver side seat.
3. Take out rear seat.
4. Vacuum carpet.
5. Take apart the seat (front ones)
6. Lubricate the sliding mechanism.
7. Wash the seat covers.
8. Reassemble the seats.
9. Install seats back in the car, in reverse order.

Step 1: The passenger seat is held in the car floor by four size 14 nuts. Take the nuts out. Sliding the seats fully in front and fully to the back will help expose the nuts. With 4 nuts removed, the seat can be lifted out of the car through the front passenger door.

Step 2: The driver side is same as the passenger side. The only thing to note is that I took out driver seat also through passenger side. Just gives more space. Also, if you have electronically controlled seats, there will be connector at the bottom you need to disconnect. My santro has Manual seat adjustment, so it was straightforward.

Step 3: In Santro, the rear seat is held in place by two size 14 nuts. The nut placement might be different for different models. Take the two nuts out, and the rear seat slides out.

Step 4: This part did not go as planned. The portable vacuum had not visible effect on the carpet. So it was time to bring out the bad boy - hardened plastic brush (like the ones used to clean toilets). Scrubbing the carpet took around one hour, but the carpet was sparkling clean.

Step 5: The front seats now needed to be disassembled. The seat covers were held in place by tying opposite ends of "Pajama Strings" attached to the seat covers. You can untie the knots of the strings and the seat covers can be taken out. Take care to remove the seat cover carefully around the head rest wells.

Step 6: I had expected that the sliding mechanism will need to be lubricated. But found that the sliding mechanism is just fine. The wire connecting the opposite ends of sliding mechanism was tight enough. So did nothing on the sliding mechanism.

Step 7: My seat covers are cloth and rexin. The were hand washed and dried. For leather ones, there are products available in the market. This step took the most time.

Step 8 : Reassembled the front seats. Only thing to make sure is that the sliding mechanism on the seats is correctly aligned on both sides. If you miss this, the seat won't set properly on the nuts.

Step 9: Since it was late in the evening, and the mosquitoes had started attacking, wifey stepped in to help. She ran down nuts through hand, while I tightened them with the socket.

Total time:
30 minutes for taking seats out.
3-4 hours for cleaning, washing etc.
Another 30 minutes to put everything back.

Miscellaneous:
1. I was guided by "Eric the Car Guy" car cleaning video. This guy has excellent videos which I follow regularly.
2. I also realized that foam of the car seat had broken down in some places. I was tempted to open that up and replace foam. But I did not. Next time maybe.
3. Photos are coming. Newbie to TBHP so please bear with me.
4. Once everything was taken out, I realized changing the carpet on the car is another one hour job. Seemed like a easy task that is perfect for DIY.
5. If you carpet has smell, stains or is discolored, get a carpet cleaning spray. That should brighten up the floor.
6. The car cannot be driven once the seats are taken out. So plan accordingly.

[carbookie]

Images of

1. Car with front seats removed. If you notice the floor, you can see the place where the seat is held to the floor by nuts.

2. Nut placement for back seat.

3. How the seat covers were held in place.

4. Car with all seats gone. The carpet has been vacuumed, but I would subsequently go on to use brush.

[ghpk]

Wow, Great DIY job.

Exactly what I want to do with my Santro.

Mine is a 6 year old santro, but Only thing not washed till date it Floor Carpet, I've washed seat covers many times, but Carpet has not come off in any D.I.Y. and has always been cleaned by either the big vaccum cleaner or using the compressed Air at service station/washing bays.

I once asked a mechanic to remove the carpet and give it to me for home washing/dry cleaning he denied saying this is not possible as its duct inside panels and fixing it back will not be as accurate as of O.E.M.

If you have details on removing the carpet and washing I would certainly follow it.
I would use the woolen clothes washing detergent bottle, Ezee or whatever is its name.

Once again thanks for posting and Seems D.I.Y. club is growing on T-BHP.

[petroheadd]

Your pictures made things look so easy. My 6 year old Santro also needs something like this. The carpet has been abused very badly. I also need to clean the dashboard which has gone dirty along with the door panels.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing!

The floor carpet is an oft-neglected area when it comes to cleanliness. Surprising because it's also the dirtiest, and can be a haven for dirt, odour and germs.

I usually have my detailer apply some heavy-duty cleaning foam, but it must never reach the hard-to-get areas like in your case.

[moralfibre]

I have never had to have the carpet cleaned in my Palio as well as the Swift since the washing center that I visit once a month cleans it meticulously using a vacuum cleaner and compressed air at high pressure. You can check out their cleaning process in this thread Thread link. It is very important to have your carpets cleaned after monsoon. I use newspapers during monsoons to keep the carpets clean.

I did remove the entire carpet from my Zen way back in 2005 and washed it with a pressure jet and liquid soap. The carpet shrunk and could never fit back to its original mounts. I had to get a new one which surprisingly isn't very expensive at Rs. 2500/-.

[srishiva]

Very nice job. Should be refreshing to sit in your car. How I wish to remove Vento's carpets, dye it in dark grey !

[knownstrangerr]

Nice DIY would like to try out on my 5 yr old Santro.Do the seats fit back properly is there any rattle?. How many hours did it take for the whole process?

[ghodlur]

I had been waiting for quite sometime for this DIY, will try out. The only negative is my Fiesta floor carpet which was beige when bought, is now more looking like grey/black. I think I will have to use heavy doses of "Tide".

The car detailer says it will be very difficult to bring it back to the beige shade however heavy cleaning is done. Am I going to have to live with this?

[Blow Horn Ok]

Great DIY!! I have a habit of brushing & vacuuming the carpet every 10-15 days. I somehow feel suffocating to drive with dirty interiors (carpets, dash & door trims). For my car, Even if the exterior remains dirty, Inside should be sparkling clean. I have placed a pair of extra mats (kind of a door mat) in front and a thick paper cut on the shape of floor mats @ the rear. This saves the fabric mat in between from direct assault of mud and water!

The Omni had a system where the entire carpet and front seats could be taken out easily, but all other cars are difficult to clean inside.

I clean the Art leather seat covers of my car with a soapy solution made by mixing few drops of ezee or genteel in a mug of water. Also, polishing the dash and door trims with a waxpol sachet regularly keeps the black plastic shining.

All these activities are due from quite a sometime due to the immense heat (46 degrees). Need to carry out as soon as the weather cools down a bit.

[Rajat]

Originally Posted by ghpk

Wow, Great DIY job.

Exactly what I want to do with my Santro.

Mine is a 6 year old santro, but Only thing not washed till date it Floor Carpet, I've washed seat covers many times, but Carpet has not come off in any D.I.Y. and has always been cleaned by either the big vaccum cleaner or using the compressed Air at service station/washing bays.

I once asked a mechanic to remove the carpet and give it to me for home washing/dry cleaning he denied saying this is not possible as its duct inside panels and fixing it back will not be as accurate as of O.E.M.

If you have details on removing the carpet and washing I would certainly follow it.
I would use the woolen clothes washing detergent bottle, Ezee or whatever is its name.

Once again thanks for posting and Seems D.I.Y. club is growing on T-BHP.

Though washing the carpet may seem tempting, do refrain from doing so.
Once a carpet is removed and washed, it is very difficult to put it back into place as it may shrink or loose its shape.

If you wish to go the DIY way:

• Remove the seats as car bookie did
• Use a carpet brush to remove gravel/chips etc
• Get the carpet sprayed with compressed air
• Vacuum the carpet thoroughly
• Clean any prominent stains using a mild detergent solution and a soft toothbrush
• Let the wet patches dry to ensure that the stains are gone before replacing the seats

If it seems to be too much of a task, leave it completely to professional interior cleaners. But you can be sure that what ever you do, a carpet which has been used (read abused) for 6-8 years will never be able to regain its original brilliance.



Therefore you might want to check the availability/prices of a new carpet for your car before you take up the carpet cleaning assignment. Not only will the new carpet give your car a refresh look, but also a bigger smile than an old carpet cleaned . And logic says that a new carpet should also help provide better insulation to reduce some road noise that gets in to the cabin as compared to the old carpet (experts please confirm)

[ghpk]

Originally Posted by Rajat

And logic says that a new carpet should also help provide better insulation to reduce some road noise that gets in to the cabin as compared to the old carpet (experts please confirm)

Assuming you are referring installing new carpet over old one.
If that's possible one would need to thoroughly clean the old carpet first.

Iam sure a new carpet would be around Rs. 2000-3000 for santro atleast.

[Rajat]

Originally Posted by ghpk

Assuming you are referring installing new carpet over old one.
If that's possible one would need to thoroughly clean the old carpet first.

Iam sure a new carpet would be around Rs. 2000-3000 for santro atleast.

I meant removing the old one completely and replacing it with a new one as the old carpet tends to become slightly thinner/worn out with usage (though not substantially) reducing its insulation capabilities . I like your idea of having 2 carpets. Why to let that old rug go waste .

In fact, my father's "sarkaari" Indigo has an after market over-all carpet (The kind which can be found in offices/multiplex floors) laid out over the original carpet. It is the quietest Indigo cabin that I've ever been into.

[su48]

Awesome DIY writeup! I never thought one could actually remove the seats and clean the carpet; quite an eye-opener for me. I might try it on my Ritz someday. Thanks for the detailed writeup.

[Subrat Seet]

My santro is alomost 9 years old. Now water is coming inside (front passenger side). What could be the reason and therefore, it started smelling. Also, i wanted to do a thorough cleaning. Who does this kind of carpet and inside DIY cleaning in Mumbai. Help please.
Thanks
Subrat