Rejuvenating that old rug…with pictures - 3000GT/Stealth International Message Center

BamBam · 05-08-2007, 08:22 PM

Ever since I bought my car I have hated the worn, stained rug it had so I decided to give it a work over since I had everything apart.

First off, my weapon of choice (actually, my wife's).

We mixed up the first batch with scolding hot water and got started. On a side note, my wife said to make sure to add that she added a cup of salt to help the dye adhere/soak into the fabric. Notice how beat the rug is...

Slowly but surely it's looking better

After it was completely soaked and the dye forcefully rubbed in with a large sponge (don't use cloth), we let it dry for the rest of the afternoon in the wind and sun. It looks fantastic!

While it was drying, I decided to Fat Mat the entire car, including the hatch because there was excessive noise while driving.

The next day I got up early and repeated the process again, rubbing scolding hot dye into the carpet and then let it dry in the sun for the rest of the day. Towards evening, it was totally dry so we took it down, rubbed it down (nothing came off!) with a clean white cloth and then put it back in the car. The difference was amazing!

The picture doesn't do it justice (it was way too light out) but believe me, it looks like a totally new rug and dried as soft as it was before we took it out. I am estactic with the way it turned out, the interior looks new! Can't wait to see how it looks with the new Katzkins I am doing!

nontyper · 05-09-2007, 01:57 PM

Good Job dude... Was it originally tan??? or is that just how bad of shape it was in???

BamBam · 05-09-2007, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nontyper

Good Job dude... Was it originally tan??? or is that just how bad of shape it was in???

Hey thanks...appreciate it.

Tan is the original color. I have always been too timid to take the car apart until recently. I wish I knew it was this easy

Here's another before picture. I am still amazed and happy how great it turned out... Thanks again

tazman · 06-02-2007, 05:36 PM

I appreciate the detailed explanation and the pics. I'm about to take on that same project, and a SoCal3S guy sent me this link. How many bottles of dye did you use?

StealthMich · 06-03-2007, 11:53 AM

I was going to just order a new carpet until I saw your post. Looks 1000% better! I now think that I will give dying my currrent carpet a try. Heck, if it doesn't look they way I want it to, I am only out my time and a few $$ of dye.

I assume you cleaned the old carpet first? Any suggestions or gotchas to watch out for?

Ryan

BamBam · 06-03-2007, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tazman

I appreciate the detailed explanation and the pics. I'm about to take on that same project, and a SoCal3S guy sent me this link. How many bottles of dye did you use?

We dyed the rug twice (I wanted to make sure it took) and used 3 bottles of dye. The rug looks great, I am very happy with the results.

BamBam · 06-03-2007, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StealthMich

I was going to just order a new carpet until I saw your post. Looks 1000% better! I now think that I will give dying my currrent carpet a try. Heck, if it doesn't look they way I want it to, I am only out my time and a few $$ of dye.

I assume you cleaned the old carpet first? Any suggestions or gotchas to watch out for?

Ryan

Yes, I steam cleaned the carpet first and then did the dye'ing. Nothing difficult except make sure the water is HOT, you add the salt and scrub it hard with a sponge using alot of dye. My carpet was dripping soaked. Other than that, nothing special.

Hope you get the same results I did, it really does make a huge difference.

Would love to see how yours came out when you're done!

jwetzler · 06-04-2007, 02:17 PM

I might give this a try. Mine is horrible looking.

Broch · 06-04-2007, 03:16 PM

Great job! When I redid the carpets with new for my 96, I wish I had done this. Its looks great and it would have fit back in perfect without any adjustments. New carpet was such a pita to install.

Based on your results, I'd beg anyone to do that before buy new carpets.

Great job! Tech article worthy.

BBBBill · 06-04-2007, 04:26 PM

Looks really good.

Dude, you owe your wife big time for diving in to that job. Most women wouldn't get close to something like that. Better go get her some bling or whatever she wants.