How do you get your carpet to look good. Its really matted down and I've tried using a house hold carpet steam cleaner but I cant seem to bring back its soft thick look. Is there any way to revive my carpet? I know it will never look "new" but there's got to be something I can do.
There are a few people on here that said they have pressure washed the carpet and made it look new. I have never tried it though. I know it will clean it and make it look good. Not shure about fluffy and soft.
I pressure wash mine and it does a good cleaning but it doesn not help with the soft fluffy feel at all, I asked my dealer and they all recommended renting a rug doctor from a grocery store. Im going to try it and see what happens
Highly recommend the rug doctor. It really softens up the carpet. It's crazy how much dirt carpet retains. I bought one from costco last year and use it on everything. I use a 1:20 vinegar mix. Use as hot as water as possible for best results.
Renting a carpet cleaner is the best but in a pinch you can spray some cleaner on the carpet and then hit it with a garden hose, really give it a good rinse and let the excess water drain out the bilge. Then use a shop vac to get the water out of the carpet, this will help fluff it up too.
A pressure washer works too but if you use to aggressive a spray pattern you can actually cut lines in your carpet with the pressure. Don't get to buck nutty with the pressure washer and you'll be good.
I've done it at a spray car wash. Throw some carpet cleaner for a steam vac on it and go to town with the sprayer and a bunch of quarters. Throw the carpet in the back of the truck and take home to dry. Not as easy if you don't have snap out carpet but doable.
Use a low pressure, pressure washer. Use a mixture of carpet cleaner and fabric softener. Shop Vac dry with the hose to pull the nap upright. I also use a stiff brush to "comb" the carpet while wet with the cleaning solution. Final rinse is water with just a touch of fabric softener.
I bought a steam cleaner a couple of years ago for my house because I was tired of the carpet and white couch lookin...well not as white. With a 2 year old and a puppy it was impossible but the steam cleaner did great! I used it on the boat this year and it worked wonders. Just got some resolve steam cleaning formula at walmart and used it in there with some VERY hot water (the hotter the better!) I'd go over it once then brush it pretty good to scrub it and get any excess dirt up and did it again. Looks brand new! I didn't use the shop vac to dry though because when I use that thing it mats the carpet down, I just put my industrial shop fan (big one that sits on the floor and is about 3-4 ft wide), on the subpar on the back and aimed it down and left it overnight. Oh yea, i've been cought in a pretty bad rain storm on the water before where EVERYTHING got wet. It was so bad that my stereo would cut out and amps were a little wet (even under the observers seat! But I wiped everything down really good and stuck that big fan back there, lifted up the observers seat and even put a small fan that I use beside my bed at night under the observers seat and the next morning everything was dry as can be and worked perfectly! Sorry to veer off topic, ADHD is kickin in.
I typically pay a pro to come clean my upstairs carpets once a year. When he's out I give him an extra $20 and he does the boat. Way better than the rental units.
Right on, I have the two big panels out of the floor of the boat and the ski/floor locker door off. All I have to do in the boat is scrub the perimeter which will help keep the water at a minimum in the boat. Thanks for the suggestions I'll report back. and maybe get some before and after shots.
We have a home unit that we do our carpets with. I have snap out carpet in my ride, so it is easy to take it out and let the wife get ahold of it. She uses the same cleaner that Standly Steamer uses and it comes out great and smells great too! Cool part of the process is seeing just how dirty the water really is that comes out of the carpet.
Newty, I've had Stanley Steamer do the boat They did a good job. Recently purchased a little green by bissell, it works well, heat and cleans at the same time. You can bring the carpet back a bit. You are more than welcome to borrow it anytime. It's in my garage.
Diggs is good at using the pressure washer. He is also very good with the shop vac to make the carpet stand up when she's dry. Good luck!
I used a combination on mine for the first time this summer and it turned out great, here is what I did:
First wait until you have a good hot day where the boat can sit out for at least 48 hours. I woke up early on day one and started by vacuuming the carpet. Then I pulled everything out of the boat's compartments I didnt want to get wet. Then I grabbed our pressure washer. I started off with a low pressure but ended up cranking it up pretty good. Once I pressure washed it I took the steam cleaner and sucked up all the dirty water out of the carpet. Then I took a brand new tire scrubbing brush with fairly strong bristles and used that to scrub some carpet cleaner into the carpet. I let that sit for 10-15 mins, then sucked it out of the carpet with the steam cleaner. My final pass was with the pressure washer again to shove any remaining dirt out of the carpet. Once I pressure washed it the second time I used the steam cleaner to pull any remaining dirt out of the carpet. I was still getting pretty dirty water but figured I could do this all day and not get anywhere. I decided that was good enough and I let the boat sit the rest of the day and the following day to make sure to dry out completely. It came out great.
If the fibers are crushed and frayed from wear forget it. Hopefully yours is soiled from sticky residue and only a small amtount of wear. Don't use a power washer all your doing is getting the carpet wet and causing more wear to the fibers, but sure it will get alot of the dirt out. What works best is temprature. Go to a rental place and get a machine that has a built in heater and a upholstry cleaning attachment. If you can't find one with a heater than heat your water up to 150 deg. to clean ,but your temp should always be 130 deg. or higher during cleaning process. Spray down carpet with a carpet cleaning spray and rinse well with the upholstry cleaning attachment. After it is cleaned spray the carpets with dupunt teflon use a mild brush and brush in one direction a second spray of teflon protector and brush in the direction you want your carpet to stand up and let it dry.
They did a good job. Recently purchased a little green by bissell, it works well, heat and cleans at the same time. You can bring the carpet back a bit. You are more than welcome to borrow it anytime. It's in my garage. 
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