Any suggestions for cleaning laundry detergent out of the carpet in my car?

October 27, 2004 9:22 AM

Due to having to use the laundromat to wash my clothes, I have taken to leaving the detergent in the back of my car. Well, that detergent decided to explode all over the back of the car. Luckily, it is a teeny car with a teeny trunk area. Any suggestions for cleaning it out of the carpet it the back? And yes, I am glad that for all of the substances to explode in one's car, I managed to be lucky enough to get "detergent".
posted by stefnet to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

You're just going to need to do a lot of rinsing. Get a wet-dry vac, suck up as much of the detergent as possible, then pour on the water, suck that up, and repeat.
posted by Mark Doner at 9:41 AM on October 27, 2004

Liquid or powder?
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:01 AM on October 27, 2004

Some do-it-yourself car washes have coin-op shampooers that might help rinse and then suck the soap out. OR you could take it to the do-it-yourself car wash and use the super sprayer, with no soap, to rinse out all the detergent, then use a wet/dry vac and keep your trunk open until it dries out completely. Otherwise your car will stink until the day you die.
posted by jennyb at 11:02 AM on October 27, 2004

Response by poster: It was liquid.
posted by stefnet at 2:05 PM on October 27, 2004

Go to an equipment rental place and get your hands on an industrial extraction cleaner. It's an extremely powerful wet-dry vacuum. You'll probably have better luck with professional equipment than with the sketchy, quarter-hungry vacuum at the car wash.
posted by LimePi at 2:16 PM on October 27, 2004

Have you investigated removal of the carpet for easier cleaning? If you live in a warm climate with inexpensive water, I'd suggest pulling it out and hosing it down under high pressure for a while.
posted by Kwantsar at 2:19 PM on October 27, 2004

Have you already confirmed that the rug is not removable? If you can pull it out, it'll be a lot easier to clean out. Besides, the less you have to introduce water to the interior, the better.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 2:22 PM on October 27, 2004

Response by poster: Ah! I completely forgot that I could remove the rug. Otherwise, I'd never be able to reach the bolt for the spare tire (this is a MINI Cooper we're talking about). That makes things a lot easier.

Thanks everyone!
posted by stefnet at 3:14 PM on October 27, 2004