How to Clean Salt-Stained Vehicle Carpets

Well here goes my first post ever, wish me luck.

As a auto-detailing enthusiast, one of the worst fears, is salt stained carpets from a harsh winter. After every winter here in Toronto, the carpets are covered with white, dried, and crusted salt. Even weather tech floor mats can't hold the salt back.

Here's what they looked like this year after the harsh winter:

Trust me, the salt was hard as a rock!

Products used to remove salt:

1. Adams Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner
2. Meguiars D101 APC diluted 3:1
3. ZEP Heavy Duty Citrus Cleaner
4. Adams Pad Brush (the secret weapon)

Alternative products you could use:

1. Steam Machine
2. Any All Purpose Cleaner, as long as its safe to use on fabrics
3. Any hard bristle carpet brush or something equivalent
4. A degreaser for some of the heavier stains

Process:

1. vacuum the carpet
2. spray Adams carpet cleaner and agitate well with the Adams pad brush
3. Vacuum
4. Repeat steps 1-3, but also include a wipedown with a microfiber cloth. If some areas were still heavily soiled, use the APC and degreaser as well.

Here’s some thoughts:
The Adams pad brush is my secret weapon for salt removal. It’s very stiff but also very small (TWSS) which is perfect for dealing with tight areas. I’ve used steam in the past, but had no where near results as this for some reason. I’ve used Gyeon Fabric coat to coat the carpet but I’m sure it did much.

For the rest of the interior:

• did a spray and wipe with Adams Leather and Interior Cleaner diluted 400mL product/100mL water
• did a wipedown of plastics and other areas with 1Z Cockpit Premium which is a fan favorite here
• cleaned the glass with a rag company waffle weave towel, Stoners Glass Cleaner
• finished it up with Stripper Scent sprayed on the carpet and run through the A/C
• I usually finish up a detail by treating the leather with Gyeon Leather Coat but was getting tired/lazy so I didn’t top the leather with anything this time 🤫

Here's some after pics:

That concludes my first ever post. I can't wait to add more auto detailing guides/posts!