washing up liquid on car seats

[milly143]

My dad spilt a huge puddle of washing up liquid on the seat of my car. I am about to sell the car and want to get rid of the mark because it looks like someone has wet themself on the seat. If I try and use water on it, it just foams up (obviously) and gets worse. What can I use????

[saxo_boi]

i dont know whether this will help but i use a steam cleaner to clean my car seats, not sure whether it would foam up though sorry! erm, i use 1 of those things that you use to get wallpaper off of your walls and  its basically got a different attachement that you can use, does the job well i find!! good luck!

[milly143]

ooohhh my brother has one of those. I might give that a try. Thanks saxo_boi!

[saxo_boi]

thats ok! hope it solves your problem, let us no if it works!

[tony1941]

You could always try a very strong salt solution to reduce the suds. (you would then have to rinse out the salt!!).  Alternatively, when you hire a carpet cleaning machine, one of the "extra" chemicals is designed for just this - it prevents too much foam.  Have a look at your local "Rug Doctor" hirer.  Good luck

[Jules001]

I had a similar thing happen to me but with fabric softener and it was on the floor of the car and under the drivers seat. I just had to keep rinsing and rinsing it. I eventually got rid of as much of it as I could, obviously under the seat was a problem. It did mean my car smelt nice though and the carpet was lovely and soft :)

[Tim Baxter]

Just don't drive through a car wash with the windows open!

[dabees]

Try the steamer with salty water. Worked well for me when my son spilt bubble bath all over the sofa.

[gen2]

Better than salt, you could try Epsom Salts.  If you mistakenly put too much detergent in your washing machine and foam starts erupting from every orifice, then the recommended way to kill the foam is to add Epsom Salts.  I would think that should also apply to washing-up liquid.

[gen2]

I have just realised that since salt and Epsom salts are both non-volatile, they will remain in the reservoir of the steamer and all that will come out is pure steam.  You will have to apply the salt to the seat before using the steamer.