Cleaning Artico

[keiron99]

Any tips on how to clean black Artico?

Unfortunately it shows all the greasy fingermarks.

I have tried a couple of proper interior cleaners such as Auto Glym Vinyl & Rubber but I don't like it - it creates dark and sticky patches.

I prefer not to use any cleaner at all - I used to just use a damp chamois in my old Rover and Jag - but this Artico shows the grease.

Any suggestions?

 

[DSM10000]

Johnsons baby wipes!

 

[st13phil]

I used to use a very dilute solution of Flash multipurpose cleaner (great for shifting any marks), and then wipe over with a damp cloth. Worked great in my W204 and the Alpaca Grey artico looked absolutely as new when I sold the car after 45k miles.

 

[Dieselman]

Anything you would use on vinyl floor tiles should work as it is vinyl.

 

[fatdazza]

Anything you would use on vinyl floor tiles should work as it is vinyl.

How dare you! - it is "Artico Artifiical Leather"

 

[fatdazza]

Duplicate post

 

[Dieselman]

How dare you! - it is "Artico Artifiical Leather"

Mrs Dm had that in her Mk1 Escort.

 

[flango]

Anything you would use on vinyl floor tiles should work as it is vinyl.

A Flash floor mop then

Artico - MB taking the p*ss yet again a quality car (maybe) with vinyl seats unbelievable

 

[hawk20]

To be fair customers are usually offered the choice of leather.

Problem is many have not moved with the times and do not realise that man made leather comes in many forms and qualities and the best can breathe like leather, keep their shape better than leather and are easier to clean. Millionaires yachts often use Alcantara (invented by Du Pont in the USA) which is fabulous and they use it in preference to leather. It is standard in the Sport ML (just ended production). It breathes, is comfortable, looks great and if you spill coffee on it, it wipes off.

As for Artico, I find it wipes clean with a wet cloth but MB dealers stock the MB cleaner if needed.

 

[Dieselman]

Alcantara is a suede type material, not a leather substitute.

p.s. It doesn't wear anything like as well as suede.

 

[whitenemesis]

When I was contemplating having Alcantara headlining David at d:class explained there are two grades of alcantara. One for the seats, much harder wearing and one for low wear areas. Mix them up and you get bobbles and something very hard to clean.

 

[Red C220]

When the 560SEC came out, Alcantara was a more expensive option that Leather.

It was all new and quite novel at the time.

 

[EVL]

Any decent all purpose cleaner will work fine, such as Autoglym's Cleanall, Autosmart's G101, Saanro's GX101 and even something like Daisy from Tescos. Just make sure that you dilute it well.
If the seats are really grubby, use a soft nail brush. Finish off with a clean damp micofibre.

 

[hawk20]

Alcantara is a suede type material, not a leather substitute.

p.s. It doesn't wear anything like as well as suede.

Alcantara is a man made leather (see the Du Pont website or MB blurb over the years). And suede is a type of leather too. I have Alcantara in the ML and it wears far better than suede leather which needs far more care than Alcantara. Have a look at ML's that have done over 100k and the Alcantara seats are still in great nick.

 

[grober]

I'm suddenly all nostalgic for that "pimp mobile " classic material of the 80's ---- VELOUR! -- Baby that's what I'm talking about! It was an expensive extra cost option back then ---- who knew?

 

[hawk20]

I'm suddenly all nostalgic for that "pimp mobile " classic material of the 80's ---- VELOUR! -- Baby that's what I'm talking about! It was an expensive extra cost option back then ---- who knew?

Memories, memories. Ford Granad Ghia with crushed velour seats. Comfy too.

 

[keiron99]

I tried Auto Glym All Purpose diluted 1:10. Unfortunately it has still left dark patches so once you have cleaned one bit, you have to clean the whole lot and even then, it's patchy.

Maybe it's my technique.

 

[Dieselman]

^^^ Velour is the best and most comfortable material to use, but in the UK we have become leather Snobs. most other countries drivers don't want leather for seats as it is not nice to sit on, hot, sticky, slidey, cold, clammy.

The vinyl paint on all modern leather seats really is horrible.

 

[Aletank]

Mr Sheen

 

[keiron99]

Mr Sheen

Yuk. That'd make it proper shiny, sticky and smelly.