Product Review: Chemical Guys Fabric Clean
by Zach McGovernThe Chemical Guys Fabric Clean is a powerful cleaner and deodorizer that works well on interior stains. I do not do an awful lot of heavy interior cleaning, however I have been using Fabric Clean for about a year now and I have found that it has been able to quickly and easily remove most stains with little effort. The best part about this product is that it is so concentrated that even the small 16oz bottle will last you a very long time.
According to the label, this product can be diluted at a ratio of 20:1 (water:cleaner). This means you can make over 2.5 gallons of cleaning solution with only 16oz of product! With that being said, if you have particularly stubborn stains, you may require a stronger solution.
The following photo shows a floor mat that sees a fair bit of use. The mat should be a deep black color, however many months of dirt and grime have turned the high traffic areas to a much lighter, grey color. Before using Fabric Clean, make sure you have thoroughly vacuumed the area that will be treated, as shown.
Once the area has been vacuumed, spray the diluted Fabric Clean solution liberally on the areas that you will be cleaning. In the following photo, you can see that I have sprayed the entire mat with the solution, but have used significantly more on the areas that are excessively dirty. The solution was then left to penetrate the fibers for about 30 seconds as recommended by the product label.
Next, the carpet was agitated using a carpet scrub brush. This helps to loosen the dirt and debris from the fibers.
The mat was then rinsed with hot water and vacuumed. I used a small extractor that is available at many local retailers, however you can simply use warm water in a spray bottle followed by a shop vac if you do not have an extractor available to you. The following photo shows the dirty water that was being extracted from the floor mat.
After the carpet was allowed to dry, a much darker color was restored to the fabric. Clearly the area where the driver’s feet rest were beyond restoring with this quick cleaning, but the majority of the mat looked much better! The entire process (excluding drying time) took less than 10 minutes.
Fabric Clean is an inexpensive product that produces good results quickly and easily. I have used it on many vehicles as well as stains inside my house (pet owners know what I’m talking about) and would highly recommend this product.
As always, Thanks for reading!
Would there be a dye or “paint” that is for fabric, that could be applied to restore the black to its original color, even in the area of where the accelerator foot is placed?
Thanks
Hi Zach,
As always I look forward to everything you write about. One question, what is the make and model of your extractor?
Great article as Usual.
Regards,
Rick