Carpet Cleaning Tips Needed

My 01 X-Star carpet is looking a little sketch in the high traffic areas. I have tried cleaning it with the Woolite spray on stuff and it helps, but the carpet still looks a little dirty and is matted down. The areas of the carpet that dont get any use still look great. Anyone have cleaning tips or suggesstions on how to get the carpet to "stand tall" again?

Nope, just normal wear and tear.

One of the ways to try and revive the carpet is the car wash. Use the high pressure soap to really dig in an fluff things up, and of course rinse well.

p.s. Don't use the 'wax' setting ;)

second on the car wash idea......

spray out thoroughly and then pump a bunch of quarters into one of the wet/dry vacs to lift what dirt and water is left....

funny story last time I did this, a lady at the car wash came over and told me I was getting my "boat all wet" now there's some irony for you......!

I had the same problem, so the last time I was cleaning my boat I used the hose to fully blast every inch of the carpet. I thought I had made a mistake cuz it didn't drain very well and I had a big puddle of water in my boat for about a day, but it finally made it's way into the bilge and the carpet looked great after it dried. I was really surprised. Keep in mind that I did this in 90-100 degree temps so I wasn't worried about anything staying wet. The car wash idea sound like a more refined version of what I did.

I use a little liquid laundry detergent in some water (about 1 oz in two gallons water) and then scrub it with a hard bristle brush.
Follow up with the hose. Works great.

Thanks for the tips guys.
I'll try the car wash method this weekend.

I've used the car wash idea and it works well. Or you could use some tide and a stiff brush to work the carpet up.
Lately I've been thinking that a professional carpet cleaning company might be the way to go. After they steam your carpets they run a brush over it to make it all fluff up. I'm sure they could do a boat as well.

http://www.bissell.com/Products/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=Bissell&category%5Fname =UprightDeepCleaner&product%5Fid=7901+CVUDC

I bought one of these at Wal-Mart for ~$200 and it was the best money I have spent in a long time! I have a brand new 2003 boat and it got stuff out of the carpet that you wouldn't imagine! Absolutely amazing! Recomend to anyone with a boat.

I haven't tried it yet but i'm thinking of renting one of the carpet cleaner machinges from a hardware store and trying it. I don't know how well it will fluff up the carpet but it should get the ground-in dirt out alright. I'll keep you posted as to how well it works.

Car wash hands down. Like new!

WOW, I figured this would be a haggle over which pressure washer is the best by the 3rd post!!!

My reccomendation is a to Vac, then hard bristle brush tough dirt, then Vac the carpet again, Pre-treat heavy stains then, wash carpet with warm water and soap. PRESSURE WASH ALL IN THE SAME/ONE DIRECTION. Once it dries, vac again to get the remaining debris out. My carpet looks and feels new, but this is the 3rd season with the boat. I follow this technique about once a month, depending on usage.

KG

hehehe, a couple buckets of lake water to get the sand to the back of the boat works for me ;)

The problem with the machines (rented, hoover etc) is that they cannot get into the curvatures and corners of the interior. They have attachments but these don't work as well as the car wash. Just be carefull of where your spray goes and your location of your stereo equipment.

leggester- buckets?? you mean you don't use your ballast pump?

Roger,

Take out the center floor piece, jack up the bow, hose it down, wash carpet with a some soap or vinyl cleaner, rinse and let dry.

Your carpet will look like new!

oh c'mon, my pressure washer comment was funny!!!

Bissel Little Green cleaning machine w/ resolve carpet shampoo. Did mine over the weekend. Works great, and it gets under seats, storage areas etc. Then Scotchguard it. Dried in 4 hours in the sun. and it smells like a spring fresh day