Have the forum any suggestions on how best (or even whether its possible) to remove staining from the passenger seat of our Panda?
Picture here: www.dropbox.com/s/e3hamic46s48k7u/photo.jpg
I think the stain is spilt coffee, although there was some discolouration of the seat base even when we bought it over 2 1/2 years ago. None of the usual cleaners I've tried - including steam cleaning and STP Tuff Stuff (which seems to work for me where nothing else will!) have shifted it.
Any suggestions welcome, as I'm about to put the car up for sale now SWMBO has bought herself a Honda FRV (first impressions to follow once I've driven it a bit!)
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Is being a passenger in her car that scary?
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Ask Rattle. He might've had a similar problem once when he took his car outside Manchester. ;-)
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Joking aside, I suspect that is beyond help but you could try a clean rag and meths. Or a replacement set of front seats from the scrappy.
I bet Stu would know what to do.
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Do you have access to a carpet type cleaner/vac? It needs water applying with cleaning solution and then obviously removing quickly (as in vacuuming away). Sty would definitely know. But you'll not know it's Stu suggesting it as he keeps changing his forum name these days.
Once saw a young lad at a car wash clean the inside of a MKIII Fiesta with the pressure hose and wanted to stop him. I suspect someone told him the owner wanted it cleaning inside as well (as in a valet) but he cleaned the inside with an industrial pressure washer... seats, dashboard, etc. That might work in this instance?
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 2 Apr 14 at 19:53
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Covers, new seat...anything.
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Dismantle the seat, remove cover and a good soak and wash.
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I'd guess Fullchat is right. Can you dismantle the seat?
Failing that, at least get it out of the car so you can jet wash it.
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>> at least get it out of the car so you can jet wash it...
Or set fire to it.
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Have you been exploring herbal solutions this week?
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Only if you count PG Tips.
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I don't know. Did you brew them or smoke them?
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>> PG Tips.
I had been struggling not to visualise the back end of a chimpanzee or mandrill.
Oh dear. Is there to be no peace?
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I'd be inclined to give this a go Gromit: preview.tinyurl.com/o5u7m8s [Amazon]
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Halfords upholstery cleaner came out well in some tests several years ago.
Whatever product you are using needs water and vacuum to pull the warm water, dirt and several rinses out. This ensures a deep clean and no patches are left.
If I've done seats I have picked a very warm summers day so the seats will dry. Too much water and it soaks into the sponge underneath and is a devil to dry. If the frame underneath has rust and is close to the surface it can pull a rust ark through. I've had it happen.
I have had success with a towel and cellulose thinners,. This has pulled out ingrained black muck very successfully BUT you have have to be carefull. It is capable of melting plastics and removing dyes. Bit it does evaporate quickly and needs a good airing to get rid of the smell.
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There a total nightmare to keep clean. I had the same colour seats on a 55 Plate Eleganza.
Invested in a cheap set of covers from Aldi.
To replace the covers is not cheap, I had to replace passenger and drivers side bases on a 10 plate Punto Evo last year. Both with fag burns. (don't ask) nearly £250 with vat for the pair.
Had to wait a week, ordered from Italy.
The local Fiat dealer wanted another £380 labour to fit. Both front seats had to come out.
Local indie did it for £190 labour.
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>> I had to replace passenger and drivers side bases on a 10 plate Punto Evo last year. Both with fag burns.
You can get smart repairs on seats done these days for fag burns and the like. There was a TV prog called Wrecks to Riches where they repaired a fag burned Zafira seat.
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Many thanks for all the suggestions.
I'm about to try some upholstery cleaner which already worked well on the plastic trim, and then a steam cleaner if that doesn't do the trick.
After that, it'll be a set of decent seat covers - even at £190 plus new FIAT covers, I think that's too big a % of the car's value to spend.
I'll post back with results as I have them...
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You must be able to get a replacement seat from a scrapped car much more cheaply?
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>>I'll post back with results as I have them...<<
If you have no luck, let me know and I will tell you what I would do, the stain is pretty standard for cheap cloth seats, I am doing a Focus with the same issue next week.
Stu ( for those who cant keep up )
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>> I am doing a Focus with the same issue next week.
What, someone crapped themselves in one of those too? ST is it?
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The seats in these FIAT's are carp aren't they. The sunroof in our Seicento once leaked.... water on the passenger seat has stained it... and that's from a drip...
... When I get round to cleaning it I will try cleaning the seat with the carpet cleaner we got recently.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 19 May 14 at 01:33
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>>What, someone crapped themselves in one of those too? ST is it?<<
Just standard combination of general grime meeting wet clothes, some seats stain like that constantly.
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I had some Vanish Powerpowder carpet cleaner and tried it on the Volvo's age-darkened driver's seat. It took two applications, the second one with thorough working in using a nylon washing up brush, but after it vacuumed out it left the fabric appreciably cleaner - or at least lighter.
I tried it on the back seat too, which was showing the residue of the Beestlings' minor spillages over the years. It worked better there, leaving it virtually spotless apart from the square spots woven into the fabric.
Otherwise, most stains are water-based and will yield gradually to water. I'd try a spray bottle and a clean white kitchen roll. Spray and blot alternately until no more comes out on the paper. If that doesn't seem to be working, the kind of alcohol-based mixture used in some wet-wipes (baby wipes are generally milder but can still be effective) may shift any greasy component of the stain and still evaporate afterwards, unlike detergent.
Just make sure you pick a day when you're happy to leave the windows open fir several hours to let it dry thoroughly. Good luck!
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My last few cars have had leather seats. Much easier to keep clean. Not that I'm incontinent you understand, just that we as a family tend to get quite muddy quite often.
Leather seats just wipe clean. I also dislike the notion of sitting on fabric seats some unknown bottoms have previously occupied. Irrational I know.
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>>I also dislike the notion of sitting on fabric seats
>> some unknown bottoms have previously occupied.
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Some people would pay good money for that.
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instead he has skin that cows have crapped through.
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They usually save that bit for gear lever gaiters
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And you grab it with your hand?
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>> dislike the notion of sitting on fabric seats some unknown bottoms have previously occupied. Irrational I know.
All depends whether a fast getaway is needed really, if you're going to be deterred by an evilly stained fabric driver's seat.
Just as long as it isn't still squelching and wet, all right?
Nothing like good leather or plastic leather though, when it comes to evil substances on seats. A lot to be said for wipe-clean convenience. Carpets are dangerous too if the passengers are incontinent in their behaviour.
I speak from experience.
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Apparently temperature can be an issue on first contact with leather seats if one is predisposed to wearing mini skirts but as that is not something I'm often inclined to do it's never a problem.
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>> Apparently temperature can be an issue on first contact with leather seats if one is predisposed to wearing mini skirts but as that is not something I'm often inclined to do it's never a problem.
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Only at the weekends I heard Humph.... ;-)
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Not even then Tony. Although I will confess to having won a fancy dress / karaoke type thing on a Greek Island a few years back while dressed as Tina Turner and simultaneously attempting 'Simply the best'
Such experiences can be educational though, for example it makes you realise why it might well have been prudent to shave ones legs before attempting to wear fishnet tights. Apart from that oversight and the the fact that one of my breasts kept deflating I thought it went rather well.
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Thanks to all for your suggestions on how to clean the seats in my Panda.
A combination of Lidl's foam car upholstery cleaner (the most effective alternative to STP Tuff Stuff I've found), 1001 carpet cleaner, and much elbow grease did a passable job, in that the dirt and what appeared to be coffee stains are gone.
However, the material itself remains discloured looking as you can see in this photo: www.dropbox.com/s/33fap67oi9czz3z/photo2.JPG
Bear in mind this is the back seat, so the seat cushion has been covered by kids car seats and hasn't had anything spilled on it.
FoR, you'd mentioned before you might have some other thoughts on what (if anything) else I can do. Or any other suggestions are welcome too!
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Google used Panda seats and I bet you will find a scrappy who can oblige.
I did that for a Radio/CD unit for our Jazz (02 plate with a duff radio/cassette unit) and found one in Brum - works perfectly, too.
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To finish the story, the Panda is sold.
We described it honestly - including the seats! As it turned out, we had several queries about it. The first of these was an older gent who turned up, cash in hand, after calling to ask sensible questions about its condition and agree a price on the phone. He sat in, took a look around, and bought it on the spot without even driving it when he found the car to be just as SWMBO had described it.
He said he'd had a Panda before, liked it, knew and accepted Pandas foibles and wanted to downsize to another one from the old 1.8 Passat he was driving. The car served us well and I hope it continues to do the same for him.
First job for the Honda FRV that replaced it - new seat covers front and back. Lesson learned!
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Sounds like the best buyer for a car with stained seats - an older gent who either can't see the stains, or is realistic enough to know that his own incontinence would only ruin a pristine seat.
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>>and agree a price>> on the phone.
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How does that work?
Supposing the car is up for sale at £1,000, does he say "I'll give you £850" and you say, "no, I won't accept a penny under £950" and he says "£910 and that's my final offer" and you say "no, I'll accept £925, full stop" and he says "done".
I have never understood this business of negotiating on the phone for an item which is, as yet, unseen!
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Negotiation is indeed a strange phenomenon. Over the years in business I've tried various strategies when selling things. The least successful is pricing things visibly at your bottom line. No matter how cheap you pitch things, a buyer will always try to beat you down even when he/she can clearly see it's a very good deal already.
For some reason it always seems to be more satisfying to the purchaser to have actually agreed the discount element personally. Inevitably therefore you have to start at a price above what you really need in order to to allow them that feeling of 'victory'. Ironically, they quite often end up paying more than they need to but are happy to do so because they think they've beaten you down.
I would much prefer to be totally transparent but people evidentially don't actually want that.
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>>>I have never understood this business of negotiating on the phone for an item which is, as yet, unseen!
>>>Negotiation is indeed a strange phenomenon... least successful is pricing things visibly at your bottom line... have to start at a price above what you really need in order to to allow them that feeling of 'victory'.
>>>I would much prefer to be totally transparent but people evidentially don't actually want that.
It's very interesting because I'm happy to buy loads of things unseen at fixed prices. I agreed the BMW price over the phone and Paypal'd a deposit to the seller within minutes of that agreement. The car was a little below my expectations but I'd already built in the buffer at the agreed price. On the same run I bought another £1000ish boating thing unseen for an agreed price. This item was way above my expectations so it sort of cancelled out the car anyway.
On the selling side last week I sold a £1000+ item at a fixed price and the guy just paid up on collection. Then yesterday I sold another £1000ish item at a fixed price again agreed on the phone and the guy happily paid in full... except I thought he should have asked for it a bit lower so gave him £25 back to cover his fuel.
So Duncan I can't explain why I'm happy to do it or why folks are also happy to buy from me unseen without further haggling but they do.
I've done a lot of locked horns haggling in the past and now I've become very take it or leave it for such posturing confrontation.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 5 May 14 at 10:12
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A decent steam pressure cleaner (such as a Polti Vaporetto 2400) used after some stain remover has been applied should do the trick with barely any liquids being involved. Use the steam cleaner with a cloth over the steam output.
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@ Duncan:
Agreeing a price over the phone turned out to be easier than that. Buyer called to ask about condition of car. Presumably he did likewise with others on sale too.
Buyer called back next day, said he'd like to buy ours and asked what was the best price we'd sell for. SWMBO named that price (as Runfer says, there was a bit of haggling room built into uh asking price), he said ok and we arranged to meet and do the deal.
My previous private sale was just as easy. First Buyer to reply to ad called to house, saw car, exclaimed 'it's black, it's so clean, I love it!' and didn't stop to think to haggle (and not haggle hard at that) until she was arranging to come back to collect it having alarmed agreed to buy and paid a deposit.
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FIAT Panda - Cleaning stained seats - Runfer D'Hills
