Oil on Upholstery!!!!!!

[ragingfish]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I was taking my oil to the local Pep Boys for disposal, and when I got there, the container I had bought to transport it LEAKED!!! I have a HUGE oil stain on my left rear seat!!!!WHAT DO I DO?????

[ragingfish]

I did put it on the floor...but the container spilled oil into a plastic grocery bag I had put it in (just in case such an event occurred), and while trying to lift it out of the floor area, it brushed the seat...GRRR, I'm so mad...But yeah Salsa -- makes me seriously reconsider future oil changes...I think I may have got it out, but I won't know until the fabric dries...I doused it with so many chemicals and other things that it's soaked...

[scherry2]

have you tried oxy-cleanseemed to remove alot of stains on the seats of my blazer never had oil on them though...

[ragingfish]

quote:have you tried oxy-cleanseemed to remove alot of stains on the seats of my blazer never had oil on them though...Good stain remover...except on oil. quote:That sounds like it will work.. Did you try Goo-Gone also?Not yet -- if todays treatments didn't work, that will go in the next batch...thanks for the suggestion...

[ShotInTheDark]

go to home depot and buy m-1 remover. Try that. anything that is strong enough to eat gum should remove the stain.

[ragingfish]

But will it damage the fabric?

[joatmon]

Another thing to try if the normal uphosltery cleaners ansd such don't work might be some hand cleaner. Use it without water, and then find some way to rinse it out, maybe with a carpet cleaner machine, or shop vac. GooGone might be ok for the fabric, but I'm not sure what it would do to whatever material is used for padding. Unfortunately, if it leaked enough to get a really big stain, it may have soaked into the padding, and you'd have a hard time getting it out of that stuff.Bummer!update 6/6/2003I guess if I had read the thread more carefully, I would have seen where you said:I did put it on the floor...but the container spilled oil into a plastic grocery bag I had put it in (just in case such an event occurred), and while trying to lift it out of the floor area, it brushed the seat...and then I wouldn't have even thought about a gallon of oil soaking into and ruining your entire seat.

[ragingfish]

quote: ( We all do dumb stuff sometimes, at least we all got to learn from yours )LOL! Thanks for making me honorary guinea pig! Hehe.

[mkl116]

Try brown paper back with an iron on low heat...sounds crazy but it removed most of my surfboard wax on previous car. Paper bag acts as a sponge and pulls up oil...keep applying fresh bag surface as it gets dirty. This might help pull majoity out before you use a real cleaning product.

[jlynam]

Before I entered the world of semiconductors, I was a carpet cleaner. I have cleaned many a car interior from many a stain. Oil is tough, but not impossible. Using the chemical "soup" you have done already may have helped and may have hurt. Hard to be sure. The best and safest way is to call a professional carpet cleaner who also does car interiors. He has the truck mounted extraction unit (very important) with the water temperature and solutions to do the best job. Depending on the amount of oil and how far it soaked far into the foam or how far you drove it into the foam will determine how successful the cleaning will be. Still I truly believe a professional is the best option. There are two solutions that come to mind that I would have used. First is citrus solv, being a great de-greaser and properly diluted and/or mixed with a high PH cleaner would be agressive enough to remove the oil. followed by a thourough hot water rinse/extraction and finally a self neutralizing upholstry cleaner. That is usually an ammonia based cleaner that starts out at a PH of about 12 and within a few minutes neutralizes itself to a PH of about 7, or in other terms, neutral. Let it air dry and hope for the best. Some professionals will pay a second visit for no additional charge if after drying it is still a little visible. Cost? Just an estimate, but most complete car interior cleanings we charged about $100 because it is detail oriented and labor intensive. For spot treatment, I would imagine at least 60-70 bucks. That is what it costs to start the machine and roll out the hoses. Keep in mind, you can use any available citrus cleaner on the market yourself and a grocery store machine, but without the 190+deg hot water and powerful extraction you will not get the same results. Ask the cleaner if he uses his van mounted equipment to do car interiors or if he just brings a portable. You definetly want the van mounted equipment for this. Sorry about the long post, I usually am brief. Just want to let you know the opinion of a (former) professional. Hope it helps, feel free to email or post here with any questions. Jim jclwakko@hotmail.com

[joatmon]

If you don't have any luck getting the stain out, there's always seat covers, like at http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 2418664555

[ragingfish]

Unfortunately, I may have to resort to new seat covers. I checked again today, STILL THERE!!!jlynam -- thanks for the tip, I may try that also -- but if I can get new seat covers for under $100, I may opt for that instead, since to have it professionally cleaned would cost about the same...I'll keep y'all posted if i manage to find the cure...

[msmyer]

Have you got it out yet?....Let me look around! I work at a grocery store! I'll get paid to look at cleaning products all day! Let me get back to you!

[jlynam]

happy to help. I hope it all works out for you. Lesson learned for all of us. quote:Unfortunately, I may have to resort to new seat covers. I checked again today, STILL THERE!!!jlynam -- thanks for the tip, I may try that also -- but if I can get new seat covers for under $100, I may opt for that instead, since to have it professionally cleaned would cost about the same...I'll keep y'all posted if i manage to find the cure...

[billybob]

try some brake clean! brake wash brand. white can yellow/orange writting! takes oil out of clothes all the time, also it evaporates almost immediatly! then scrub with a cleaner!

[ragingfish]

quote:Have you got it out yet?....Let me look around! I work at a grocery store! I'll get paid to look at cleaning products all day! Let me get back to you!Nope, still there. Thanks for anything you can offer to me...quote:try some brake clean! brake wash brand. white can yellow/orange writting! takes oil out of clothes all the time, also it evaporates almost immediatly! then scrub with a cleaner!What's it called? My other problem is, I already tried SO MANY chemicals, I'm afraid I may have forced the stain down into the fibers more...

[ragingfish]

I forgot the most ironic part of the whole mess here!The same day this happened, I had bought a can of ScotchGuard at Wal-Mart because I wanted to put down protection in the event of any stains.Granted, ScotchGuard most likely would not have helped. But still, it's ironic.

[AKLGT]

I just re-upholstered my front seats with a leather interior kit. I'm planning on finishing the job over 4th of July weekend. If you're interested, I could sell you my factory seat covers. This way you have come extras just in case. I only have about 3000 miles on them. Let me know.

[ragingfish]

What's your price? What condition are they in? What color?

[AKLGT]

quote:What's your price? What condition are they in? What color? They are dark graphite. They are all good condition, only 2300 miles on the fronts. I have to install the rear ones still, but no one sits in the back so I imagine they are mint. I'm not sure on price, I was thinking somewhere around $70 plus shipping for all of it. I'll even throw in my install CD-R if you want to do it yourself.The fronts were a bit more tedious to install then the back, but I'd say you could do it yourself in a couple hours or have someone else do it. You'll need to get a hog ring tool to attach the fabric if you do it yourself.