Cleaning your car’s interior, especially the carpet, upholstery, and other fabric surfaces, can be intimidating to a great number of car owners. Using ordinary cleaning solutions won’t do justice to retaining the showroom-quality of your vehicle’s interior. That is why we’ve come up with a listing of the best car carpet cleaners that are used by many professional auto detailers and avid car owners. This list will help you zero-in on that one product that will help you retain the glory of your car’s carpet, upholstery, and other surfaces.
The Best Car Carpet Cleaners
Boasting of a unique blend of advanced cleaning agents, the Lightning Fast Carpet and Upholstery Stain Extractor is one of the best car carpet cleaners you can ever use to keep your vehicle’s interior looking as pristine as ever. While it is labeled as a carpet and upholstery cleaner and stain remover, it can also be used on other materials both inside and outside of your car.
Best of all, it comes in a highly concentrated formulation so a single product can be easily diluted without necessarily affecting its cleaning capabilities.
- Dual purpose cleaner and spot and stain remover
- Highly-concentrated formulation; can be diluted to 20:1
- Hyper-cleaning technology with odor eliminator
- Brand Chemical Guys
- Model SPI_191_16
- Weight 1.26 lbs
Professional automobile detailers trust Meguiar’s to give them products that will allow them to bring out the natural beauty of any automobile. Such is what the G9719 Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner brings to the table. It cleans fast and dries fast, too, without leaving any of those telltale residues of chemical cleaners.
It effectively penetrates and dissolves stubborn spots and stains, allowing for easier removal of these imperfections. By dissolving the chemical bonds of stains, Meguiar’s G9719 also removes nasty odor so you’ll feel more comfortable riding in your car.
- Professional-strength formulation
- Fast-acting, quick-drying formulation
- Dual purpose cleaner and stain remover
- Brand Meguiar's
- Model G9719
- Weight 1.19 lbs
One of the most unique things about the Blue Coral DC22 Upholstery Cleaner Dri-Clean Plus with Odor Eliminator is that it comes fully integrated with a brush attachment at the cap. This helps simplify the removal of soils and other ground-in debris and particles. It is especially designed for automobile carpets, floor mats, and even car upholstery. Unfortunately, there have been issues with its reliability as a stain remover, although most would agree that it works.
- Works on carpets, floor mats, and upholstery
- Odor eliminator technology
- Fully integrated brush cap tool
- Brand Blue Coral
- Model DC22
- Weight 1.5 lbs
The Turtle Wax T-246Ra Power Out! Upholstery Cleaner Odor Eliminator is designed primarily for providing a deep clean to your car upholstery, although it can also be used on carpets. Like the Blue Coral, the Turtle Wax Power Out! comes with a micro-scrub brush attachment that can be easily attached to the cap.
Unfortunately, there have been a number of customers who complained that they did not receive this brush attachment with their purchase. If you don’t want to experience such an inconvenience, it is best to purchase the Power Out! from reputable sellers only.
The Power Out! features the Odor-X technology which effectively eliminates odors emanating from your upholstery so you’ll have a more pleasant ride.
- Odor-X odor-eliminating technology
- Fully-detachable scrub brush attachment
- Soil-repelling protection
- Brand Turtle Wax
- Model T-246R1
- Weight 1.25 lbs
Best Car Carpet Cleaners Buying Guide & FAQ
If you think picking the best car carpet cleaner is easy, try looking at the shelf of your favorite auto supply shop and you’d easily get a headache. There are a multitude of products that offer the same thing. that is why we’ve readied this buying guide and FAQ to help you make better-informed decisions as to the best car carpet cleaner to use on your vehicle.
How to Clean Your Car Carpets Properly
You may have the best car carpet cleaner in the world, but if you don’t know how to use it properly then everything will be for naught. Ideally you should know how to clean your car carpets properly, with or without the use of commercially-available car carpet cleaners. Here’s how.
- Remove all visible debris, trash, and other particles. This helps ease the process of cleaning your carpet.
- Remove your car’s floor mats so you can access your carpet easily.
- Vacuum your carpet thoroughly. Use special vacuum attachments to reach into hard-to-reach areas such as in between the front seat and the center console, under the seats, under the dashboard, and even in crevices all throughout your car.
- Apply your chosen car carpet cleaner and use it as directed. Most manufacturers recommend allowing the formulation to sit for at least 10 minutes. This allows the car carpet cleaner to do its job, penetrating through your carpet and dissolving stains and spots that may be present on the carpet. Some products only require a minute or so before you can start working on your carpet.
- Methodically brush your carpet using circular motion. This will help bring up and out any grime and dirt that may have already been loosened by the car carpet cleaner. If there are stubborn spots or stains, you can reapply the car carpet cleaner and allow it to sit for a longer period of time. Then you can start cleaning it up again.
- Moisten a clean piece of rag and use this to dampen the carpet. This helps remove any residue from the carpet that may have been left by the carpet cleaner. In a way you are rinsing your carpet. Do take note that there are carpet cleaners that do not need to be rinsed. That is why it is imperative that you read the manufacturer’s directions carefully before you even start applying the formulation into your car’s carpet.
- Open all doors and roll down your car’s windows to help facilitate the faster drying of your carpet. You don’t want your automobile carpet to be still damp when you drive your vehicle. This can foster the growth of odor-causing fungi and other germs.
Things to Consider When Buying Car Carpet Cleaners
It is easy to just pick a car carpet cleaner, but if you’re looking for the best one for your car then it is best to consider the following factors.
Cleaning effectiveness
Every single product will say that they can provide exceptional cleaning of your carpet. One of the ways you can check which product truly deserves the accolade is by reviewing the comments and feedbacks of car owners who have already used the product. While they may be biased, they should provide you with invaluable insight as to the cleaning effectiveness of the car carpet cleaner.
Ability to remove spots and stains
You don’t want simple cleaning. If your ordinary household solution of soapy warm water or even baking soda-vinegar solution can do a better job of removing stains and spots, then forget such car carpet cleaners.
Quick-drying formulation
Some products require several hours of drying before you can replace all the different items over your car’s carpet. What you want is a formulation that dries easily so you can use your car immediately.
Multi-purpose application
Our article may have read ‘best car carpet cleaners’ but this should not dissuade you from looking for products that you can actually use for other purposes as well. If the product can also clean, remove stains and spots, and deodorize other materials and not just your carpet, we’d definitely say ‘go for it’.
Our Top Pick
There are two contenders for our top car carpet cleaners: the Lightning Fast Carpet and Upholstery Stain Extractor from Chemical Guys and the Super Cleaner from CarGuys. One boasts of a unique formulation that easily dissolves any stain or spot and has the added advantage of being diluted such that a single canister can definitely go a long way. The other product also boasts of cleaning and stain removal effectiveness with the addition of superior versatility. On a price-point vantage, it’s Chemical Guys hands down. But when it comes to versatility, it’s CarGuys.
Ultimately, we had to go for the product that provides the best value when it comes to cleaning not only your car but also other important items in your life. We also went for the product that can be used on a multitude of surfaces plus the trust of more car owners and detailers. Hence, our top pick goes to the CarGuys Super Cleaner.