# Steam Cleaned - CLK Convertible silver interior transformed - Lots of pics.



## mattjonescardiff

A friend asked to if I could deep clean the interior of his CLK convertible. The silver leather and trim was badly stained and had a lot of dirt in the grain, but I knew it could come up really well.

My normal scrub with APC wasn't going to be enough on this though, so I bought a Vax V081 Steam Cleaner. Steam cleaning is often done in the States (see how much it's discussed on Autopia), but it isn't something that over here on Detailing World anyone does much.

On to the Detail. The car was given a Valet firstly just to get the exterior a bit brighter. My usual method was used but apologies for the lack of photos - this was done on a weeknight so not too much time to pause and take snaps. Here's the car before I started:










































Door handle:

































Snow foamed to remove the worst of the dirt and road grime:

























Car thoroughly vacuum cleaned and then the steam cleaner was all ready to go. Smallest brush head used and wrapped in a microfibre cloth:









Here you can see half the top section of the door panel steamed:









Close up. The dirt was coming off so well:









Centre arm rest. Steamer in action:









50:50's

















Here you can see one line of the door panel has been steamed and wiped with APC 10:1...

































Trim then dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing:









Carpets also done plus usual finishing jobs like exhaust tip polished, tyres dressed, windows cleaner etc etc. Leather cleaned with Z**** leather cleaner:









Fed with Z**** Leather Conditioner:









And here's the after shots. Really pleased with the Steamer, a good addition.


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## Multipla Mick

Nice work indeed, and the steamer certainly does a good job as the 50/50 shots show. Bet the owner was chuffed with it afterwards, that was looking rather tired all round, properjob :thumb:


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## pjgraham86

Nice job indeed. The door panels and trim came up a treat.

Did you actually use the steamer on the leather seats themselves or just APC ?

P


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## mattjonescardiff

pjgraham86 said:


> Nice job indeed. The door panels and trim came up a treat.
> 
> Did you actually use the steamer on the leather seats themselves or just APC ?
> 
> P


I used the steamer gently on the leather. In hindsight I think I could have been a bit more aggressive with it, but being my first attempt with this machine I wanted to stay on the safe side.

The owner was really pleased with the results which is always great to see.


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## beardboy

Great work - massive difference with the steamer!

How much was it, and is it literally, steam over the area, then wipe off with MF?


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## swiftshine

Great results there.:thumb:
I would have thought that a steam cleaner might be a little harsh on leather, particularly dyed leather. Maybe that's why it's not used so much over here, but if the Autopia boys have been using them with no ill effects, then I guess I'm wrong


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## mouthyman

looking good, the interior has come up great


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## BMW^Z4

great results!


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## Simon01

fantastic results with the steamer  how long did steaming he seats etc take ?


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## mattjonescardiff

Wax-It said:


> fantastic results with the steamer  how long did steaming he seats etc take ?


The whole Detail including the external valet took about 4.5 hours so not too long. The steam flew over the plastics, leather took a bit more care and time to be on the safe side.

The machine stopped working luckily just as I finished. I haven't been able to get it working again so have sent it back for a refund. I might spend the extra to get a karcher one now.


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## s2ook

Very good job. I hate doing interiors and have a steamer somewhere so I might give this a go next time...


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## Breezy

great results i've had an industrial steam cleaner lying around for ages but have yet to use it, I thought it was mainly for cleaning engine bays only...!


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## mattjonescardiff

Breezy said:


> great results i've had an industrial steam cleaner lying around for ages but have yet to use it, I thought it was mainly for cleaning engine bays only...!


Give it a go. I think I'm going to get a better karcher one than this vax one though.


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## HC1001

Very nice work, great job on the interior, I have a steamer in the shed I might use it a bit more now..............:thumb:


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## HalfordsShopper

karcher steam cleaners are pap too!

If you want a real quality machine get a polti - preferable a vaporetto lecoaspira. These machines combine a steam cleaner with a wet and dry vaccum (as you can tell from the name if you speak of italian).

The karcher machines are okay for loosening the dirt, but u then have to dab the dirt up with a microfibre. This is fine on plastic or hard surfaces, but not so effective on carpets or upholstery. With the vaoretto lecoaspira, you simply steam to loosen the dirt then vaccum to suck it all up.

My missus wasn't too keep on me spending the money on it, but then i used it on the toilet, kitchen worktops, mattress, mirrors, window, carpets, tiled floor, wooden floor, bbq, curtains, her silk dress, my silk ties. she was quite impressed then and stopped asking how much it cost.


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## mkv

Great work, Steam on leather is great idea. I did the same with my Bmw estate interior last year. Does a fantastic job, just be carefull! I only have one of those cheapy steam cleaners, but even then I had great result.


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## Adnoh

mattjonescardiff said:


>


I see ass cheek grooves!!!

Good job btw.


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## Chopper

Ive got the polti vaporetto lecoaspira 700, ive had it for about a year and half. I got it because the light grey seats in my fabia vrs are pita the ass to clean and when cleaned with a wet vac can leave stains. Its a great machine, steamed all the carpets in our studio flat before we moved out. All the controls are on the handle and it has 4 speeds for the vacuum. The dirty water tank isnt big so needs changing frequently. The dirty water is filtered through clean water so there is no need to buy additional filters.
I did lend it to a friend and has come back with the control not working correctly so just trying to source cheapish spares.

HTH


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## mattjonescardiff

This machine sounds good guys. How much is it and where's good to get it?


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## Chopper

the polti website only has the this model http://www.poltiuk.co.uk/products-detail.asp?cat=5&id=19 it has £50 off at the moment  
Specs seem the same, its a bit more than i paid but i think mines an older model.

HTH


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## Chopper

Just seen this and its got continuous fill which i haven't got. I think its where i got mine from as well.
http://www.freenet.ltd.uk/product.asp?pid=10895


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## HalfordsShopper

yeah thats the one i got - the 715. its cool cos u can just keep adding water when it runs out of steam. i think with the older ones you have to wait for it to cool down before you add more.

I got mine here http://www.allergymatters.com/acata...eanersRatings.html#STEAM CLEANER BUYING GUIDE

Its £20quid more than on that other link but they have lots of info and comparisons of different machines.


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## mattjonescardiff

Thanks for all the info guys. Something to add to the shopping list!


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## TimG

great results indeed. cant wait for my steam cleaner to arrive :lol:


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## N8KOW

lovely job matt, nice mini detail too. Lovely having the roof down in the summer evenings


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## carlosamg

Hi all 

I mentioned trying this to my missus and her dad got me a hand held steamer that he had seen.It isnt the best one but it seems to give out a good hot steam. 

Anyway i have a Range Rover Vogue with light cream interior and the drivers side door card is starting to look grubby where arms rest on it all the time and after seeing the results on the Merc wanted to give it a try.

I have to admit mine was no where near as dirty as the Merc (well atleast i dont think so) but i have to say that i really didnt get much sucess with the steaming. I didnt take a before pic but i have took a couple of after ones and like i say the results arent that good. The white micro fibre was dirty but the panel still seems pitted.

Can anybody point out what im doing wrong ?.

I stopped after a few goes incase i damaged the panel. I have to say it now feels much more rubbery where i have steamed it whereas the rest of the panles have a hard to the touch feel. Perhaps its just wet.

Any comments most welcome.

Thanks


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## 3dr

those handheld ones are rubbish, i have one, but i went out and bought a vax one on the strength of this thread and it's top notch! :thumb: it brought the montana leather up in my 740i a treat, looked factory fresh! looked a shame to dress it! :thumb:


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## carlosamg

I thought that may be it. How much is the Vax one ?.


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## vauxhall

Top product, will add to the shopping list. Good job Matt:thumb:


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## vauxhall

carlosamg said:


> I thought that may be it. How much is the Vax one ?.


The vax one is roughly £70. Found some Karcher ones here http://www.cleanstore.co.uk/products/productslistSub.asp?Main=Steamers&sub=Kärcher-Steamers Might be worth a look, anybody used any of these?


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## 3dr

carlosamg said:


> I thought that may be it. How much is the Vax one ?.


£60 in any halfords mate


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## 3dr

vauxhall said:


> The vax one is roughly £70. Found some Karcher ones here http://www.cleanstore.co.uk/products/productslistSub.asp?Main=Steamers&sub=Kärcher-Steamers Might be worth a look, anybody used any of these?


handheld ones are crap no matter who makes them, and tbh the one that looks like the vax one is £672 on there! :doublesho


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## HC1001

Very nice work.............:thumb:


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## carlosamg

Is that the only option ?.

The missus asked how it went with the steamer cos id used it for the first time and when i said it didnt really work she was dissapointed. It was a gift and id like to get some use from it if possible.

How would one of these work with an APC diluted 10:1 to try and remove the dirt ?. The first attempt has done something because the white towel was dirty and i wonder if using an APC would help ?. 

Alternatively whats the best interior cleaner for this type of material ?.

BTW the area i cleaned still has a completely different feel to the rest of the panel now so its deffo dome something. Good or bad im not sure LOL.

Thanks


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## 3dr

i wonder if you could add APC to the water tank and use "APC" steam if that makes sense?


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## carlosamg

Thats my way of thinking.

Im going to try it once the weather calms down a bit. I will report any good news.


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## caledonia

Thcar is greaming now. Never see a steamer in action. But that fairly cut through that grime. Great work.:thumb:


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## andyboygsi

carlosamg said:


> Is that the only option ?.
> 
> The missus asked how it went with the steamer cos id used it for the first time and when i said it didnt really work she was dissapointed. It was a gift and id like to get some use from it if possible.
> 
> How would one of these work with an APC diluted 10:1 to try and remove the dirt ?. The first attempt has done something because the white towel was dirty and i wonder if using an APC would help ?.
> 
> Alternatively whats the best interior cleaner for this type of material ?.
> 
> BTW the area i cleaned still has a completely different feel to the rest of the panel now so its deffo dome something. Good or bad im not sure LOL.
> 
> Thanks


tell her it worked perfectly regardless lol


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## Avanti

Pleased to see others are using steam cleaners now :thumb: 
Note for everyone who is asking, DONT put amything but water into the chamber, you can spray the surface with your chosen cleaner before following on with the steam cleaner.


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## 3dr

Avanti said:


> Pleased to see others are using steam cleaners now :thumb:
> Note for everyone who is asking, DONT put amything but water into the chamber, you can spray the surface with your chosen cleaner before following on with the steam cleaner.


good thinking.........


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## Rowan83

Fantastic results mate!! :thumb:


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## m4rt1n

Excellent results Matt.

I've been using a Polti 2400 for the last five years... great results on carpets, door cards and those hard to get to places... just blasts the grime out . Also used it on the engine, wheels and plastic trim.. need to be careful with some rubber tho' it can cause it to go sticky and sometimes causes white marks.

The wife bought it for ironing (makes a great steam iron) but I hijacked it for the cars. Thinking about a Lecoaspira now so I can extract the steam and dirt.


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## mattjonescardiff

Thanks for all the replies and feedback so far on this thread. 

Amazing to still see it going strong!


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## Guest

Superb job :thumb:

It inspired me to pull out my Vax 081 and attack the wife's car after our two kids managed to trash it. After a good vac, it made short work of the tougher stains (ground in fruit - don't ask :wall on their booster/child seats and carpet.



m4rt1n said:


> I've been using a Polti 2400 for the last five years... great results on carpets, door cards and those hard to get to places... just blasts the grime out . Also used it on the engine, wheels and plastic trim.. need to be careful with some rubber tho' it can cause it to go sticky and sometimes causes white marks.


Thanks for this info. I'm currently thinking of upgrading from the Vax 081 to one of these Polti units. The Vax was a good cheap purchase to test out the benefits of steam cleaning. The Polti looks like a far superior machine, especially with nearly 3 times the amount of steam produced (40g/min vs 110g/min).
Can I ask, does the Polti ever spit out hot water instead of steam? One slight issue with the Vax one is if you leave it for a short while (few mins) it will cough up a load of hot water before giving you steam again.


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## mattjonescardiff

My Vax broke after the first use so I would definitely NOT recommend it. It didn't spit out hot water in the time I was using it though. The Polti units seem a lot better (although you do pay for the quality).


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## m4rt1n

Phisp said:


> Superb job :thumb:
> 
> Can I ask, does the Polti ever spit out hot water instead of steam? One slight issue with the Vax one is if you leave it for a short while (few mins) it will cough up a load of hot water before giving you steam again.


I've only had this problem when I try to use it before it has heated up fully... obvious really as the water hasn't yet turned to steam ~Once fully heated I've had no problems... instant and adjustable steam :thumb:


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## WhiteStripes

Wow, that worked out amazingly well. Night and day difference on the 50/50 of the top of the door.


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## ahaydock

Top job - missed this 1st time :thumb:


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## Wake215

Can vouch for the Polti machines, having used them at work. The DB's of steam cleaners. Best to adjust the heat by covering tool with various layers of terry toweling, it just soaks up the dirt. Or waft the steam over the surface & wipe clean. Wash the toweling at 60 degrees in the washing machine with a touch of vanish powder. Costco are currently doing a bundle of white terry cloths cheap.


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## Guest

Thanks, I've got a Polti Vaporetto 2400 winging its way to me right now so its pleasing to hear they are good machines. Thinking of getting the triangular brush attachment which has clips to hold a cloth in place.

One thing I have noticed about steam cleaning is that fabric does not get anywhere near as wet compared to using an extractor (i.e. wet & dry vac). This obviously means seats etc dry much faster, which is a bonus at this time of year.


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## mattjonescardiff

Phisp said:


> One thing I have noticed about steam cleaning is that fabric does not get anywhere near as wet compared to using an extractor (i.e. wet & dry vac). This obviously means seats etc dry much faster, which is a bonus at this time of year.


Very true, although for very heavily soiled fabrics I still prefer a wet vac. Steam cleaning definitely wins on lighter superficial dirt, and comes into it's own on dirty plastics.


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