How should I clean Alcantara?

[jeleebaby]

Anyone know a good way to clean Alcantara on the seats? The babies milk spilled on mine and I don't know how to clean it.

[Redbrick]

How to clean alcantara, that's a question I've asked on every forum!

I struggled for years wondering what to do about the orange cheesy Wotsit stain between my legs.

When I had my car mopped the bloke did the interior and f### me, he did a good job. Wouldn't tell me what he had used but the seats came up like new.

So it isn't much help but my advice would be to give it to a 'professional' and get them to do a professional job.

I've heard soapy water and a sponge might work but who knows!

Milk will stink once it goes off- I'd get it out swiftly!

Anyone got any other advice, technique or wonder product?

[S40xs]

Plenty of milk/liquid stains in my motor - no idea how to get the stains out.

Searching for an answer myself.....

[weasel]

'I struggled for years wondering what to do about the orange cheesy Wotsit stain between my legs.'

lol! waaaay to much detail for a public forum! :jaw:

[Engineer]

Puzzi...............................

[The Flying Banana]

One way to do it is to use steam .....a steam generator iron or a wall paper stripper . Point the steam jet at the stain and agitate with a stiff bristle brush..not to stiff as that could ' bobble ' the alcantara. If you have milk on it i would use some ' GROOM' ...available from Halfords or B&Q ( a dry clean Foam ) and spray it directly on the stain..agitate and hit it with steam .....the GROOM will lift the mark and teh steam will produce the texture of the alcantara again :)

[weasel]

have you used this stuff? i'm told by someone that used to do valeting that soap and water is best (no dodgy chemicals) and the problem with everything else is that the alcantara is fragile when wet - so likely to get a hole in it!

[The Flying Banana]

Alcantara if sodden wet and agitated by a suede brush ( metal bristles ) could be holed but this is how i clean my interior, you have to be careful with all cleaning agents but GROOM is the best i have used in a long time as it remains dry through th ecleaning process...
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d145/dan13l247/100_0356.jpg

I do alot of valeting on my own cars and one i sell and have had no complaints .... not got a before pic of the above but it was a disaster!!!

[jeleebaby]

I have just found this site

http://www.alcantara.com

but now I'm a bit confused. I thought it was untreated leather, but when you look at the maintenance page there it looks like it must be synthetic because you can wash it at 30 degrees.

Can anyone shed any light on what the stuff actually is please?

[weasel]

well it's erm more natural than nature but stronger and erm.... well see for yourself http://www.ultrasuede.com/video/index.html

[The Flying Banana]

Are my threads invisible..?

Have you ever bought clothes that say handwash only and you stick em in the washing machine and they come out fine.....same thing...dont saturate it, agitate the stain and if needed steam it a little to bring back pile and overall eveness...works for me and every other bit of alcantara i have cleaned..by the time you have searched all the sites under the sun the milk will be rancid!

[weasel]

'Are my threads invisible..?'
no emporer banana you new clothes are lovely ;-)

cheers, when i get time i'll give 'GROOM' a go.

[The Flying Banana]

'Are my threads invisible..?'
no emporer banana you new clothes are lovely ;-)

cheers, when i get time i'll give 'GROOM' a go.


remember and not soak it though !!! and if it fails Halfords do a nice set of leather look seat covers that are made to fit ( made to fit what i dont know ) but will hid your stains!!!!!!!

[weasel]

i don't have stains - just could do with a clean. she who thinks she should be heard once had a pen leak through her pocket onto the passenger seat :-O
i used milk to get rid of that and soapy water immediately afterwards.

[jeleebaby]

Sorry Banana, just curious.

[Vikingxl]

There are a few good valeters about might be worth giving a few a ring see how much they want to do it for you.

[The Flying Banana]

Sorry Banana, just curious.

If Mrs Mopp signs on can you ask Steve..

[mulletboy2]

Alcantara is synthetic suede, made by one specific company in Spain/Italy IIRC. Much like Champagne, if it comes from the wrong place, it's not technically still alcantara, but there are plenty of faux suedes around.

I haven't actually needed to clean it before, but if I was going to try, I'd try a citrus based cleaner or WD40 first... they clean anything! I'll see if I can dig out some scrap alcantara and do some testing over the next few days/week.

Cheers

Mark

[weasel]

is wd40 a solvent? apparently volvo sell a proprietry cleaner.

[Mrsmopp]

Steve says a good quality upholstery cleaner a nail brush and a sponge!

Spray the upholstery cleaner on the alacantra leave for a few minutes to bring dirt to the surface, wipe clean with the sponge and for any problem areas aggitate the cleaner into the alacantra using the nail brush (carefully)

x