Removing cooking oil / grease from carpets

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Squidward

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My son used to work at McDonalds and as such spent the shift walking through grease and all sorts of bits and bobs dropped on the floor. I'd then give him a lift home and those manky greasy shoes would go onto the passenger footwell carpet as well as the protective floor mat.

Any recommendations on products for cleaning up such a greasy mess?

Unfortunately for me, the carpets and car mats are a fawn colour, so highlight the grease magnificently.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Suspecting this will involve lashings of elbow grease though I don't mind if it removes the majority of the lard. :D
 
I have found isopropyl alcohol dabbed on with a cloth is a brilliant remover of grease and oil. Leaves no residue either.
 
Thanks for that :)

I can see places I can get that online - is there anywhere I'd be able to buy that on the high street?
 
I get if off Ebay, in theory a pharmacist should have it but I've never bothered.
 
Surfex HD is very good at this. Used it to great effect with Charles Morgan's fantastic Karcher Carpet Cleaner and of course Charles himself. It is a de-greaser and non chemical so fantastic for cleaning engine bays. I have also used it on my jeans when (as usual) I managed to get great oily hand prints all over them.
 
I have found isopropyl alcohol dabbed on with a cloth is a brilliant remover of grease and oil. Leaves no residue either.

It doesn't work on everything; some of the heavy grease (that you might get from a fast food chain) won't dissolve in IPA. Some of it won't even shift with DCM.
 
Fairy dishwashing liquid does wonders on oily carpets, tried and tested

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I've always just taken the footwell carpets out and scrubbed with some APC before hosing down and leaving to drip dry. Usually works quite well.
 
When i worked at the dry cleaners [many moons ago ] first job i took . All dry cleaning was done with white spirits carpets .suits trousers . All had the same fluid to clean them . But dont use it on carpets with rubber backing
 
Chances are it will respond to the right cleaning agent and mechanical assistance to get the cleaning agent worked into the nap of the carpet in question. Technique is important and sometimes its best to leave the cleaning agent in contact for some time to allow it to react with any stain you are trying to remove. In terms of how aggressive any solvent type cleaner is, best practice is to try it on a small inconspicuous part of any carpet [or better still the footmat if its the same material ] before using it say on a large central section of carpet.
 
My mother many many years ago removed a grease stain from my coat with brown packing paper and a hot iron. The grease was soaked into the brown paper, but really can't say if this old method will work.
 
My mother many many years ago removed a grease stain from my coat with brown packing paper and a hot iron. The grease was soaked into the brown paper, but really can't say if this old method will work.

While this technique might work on wool I'm not so sure it would transfer safely to polypropylene or nylon based carpets?:dk:
 
While this technique might work on wool I'm not so sure it would transfer safely to polypropylene or nylon based carpets?:dk:

Nylon and Polypropylene would melt with a hot iron...ask how I know. The best solvent for grease is white spirit as stated above.

However, for anybody who lives in Holland, they have a solvent called Benzine, not to be confused with the aromatic, carcinogenic Benzene. Benzine is a mixture of aliphatic hydrocarbons of lower boiling point than white spirit, but which flashes off quickly, leaving no residue or odour.

Sorry for the chemistry lesson!

Ernie
 
Try lighter fluid. It is one of the things it is good at and has saved me from domestic discord many times.
 

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