What do you do to keep the carpet looking clean and new?? Mine has gotten some lake water stains, and I've only had my boat since July and wasn't sure what the best/easiest thing to do for keeping it clean is.

Thanks!

Jim

Mix 1 part vinegar and 5 parts water. Soak the carpet and scrub it with a hard brush. It get's rid of all minerals from the water and makes the carpet look great. Use Resolve for any spots that don't come-out.

I just use the high pressure sprayer at the car wash. (Dont get it to close or you could tear it) Use soap then rinse. Lastly, I get a wet/dry vac and suck up all the water. Looks new and leaves carpet standing up.....

Tide with fabric softener..

I work for a carpet cleaning company and we clean boats quite often. Take it by any professional cleaning company that specializes in upholstery/carpet cleaning and they should be able to clean it very well. As far as KEEPING it clean.... Don't ever use it? lol

If you don't want to dish the cash out (I think we charge around 200$ depending on the severity) then the power wash idea should do it for you. Like he said though be careful not to get to close with the tip.

I do the power wash twice a year. Also take some carpet cleaner spray and a brush on an extension pole to do the scrubbing so I don't have to kneel down on a wet carpet. Just soap up, scrub and some rinsing. Remember to pull the plug before you start !
I will do the final rinse and shop vac it while soaking wet to pick up the dirt and sand that remains in the carpet after washing. Have rinsed and shop vac'd up to 3 times to get clean water coming up. It is absolutely amazing how much dirt these carpets hold.

Thanks Y'all! I appreciate the advice. Going to be warmer the end of the week, time for a bath!

That power wash is a bad idea IMO. It may work for some folks but that's a last resort in my book. Do what Chris said with Classic. Lot less headaches. You touch a vinyl seat with pressurized water especially in a Skeeter, get ready to buy some seats. I don't care how close or far away you get. Been there done that.

I just let it get covered with catfish slime. It hardens up, and makes a nice water resistant surface.

I do the power wash, wet it real good, I dont use soap however cause you have to get it all out. I use straight water and get a brush and lightly rub the carpet to loosen the grime, then soak it out. Then try and shopvac out what you can, then leave under a fan or tow it home an hour. I have a big shop fan in garage that I let run.

My Dad told me many years ago the best way to clean boat carpet...here you go:

Do not use any soap to soap up the carpet , you'll have a hard time rinsing all the soap out and what is left will attract dirt faster.

Soaps will do more long term damage to boat carpet than almost anything else.......because most soaps are a waxy solid or liquid made from sodium hydroxide mixed with fats, and most detergent soaps are petroleum based.........they will leave a surfactant residue sticking to the nylon /olefin carpet fibers....these surfactants will attract dirt faster to the fibers, almost like a sticky surface. Grinding the dirt into carpet is what wears out the fibers , leaving bare spots.

Be verycareful using any type of pressure washer, even the ones at the car wash have enough force to lift up some worn carpet off the deck

Hose the carpet down real good then scrub it with a stiff bristle brush to loosen up the dirt.
Saturate the carpet real good, take the nozzle off your hose and let the water flow on it.

Make a mixture of 1 pint of plain white vinegar to 7 pints of water. Use a garden sprayer or spray bottle to saturate the carpet.

Scrub it with the brush again, the vinegar will loosen up the rest of the dirt and residue in the carpet. Turn the hose on and rinse real good while scrubbing.

Use a shop Vac to suck up the water or let air dry. Fluff the carpet up with a brush and it will look like it's new again.

If you have some real bad stains or worn spots, Resolve carpet cleaner is great for cleaning up spot stains or real dirty areas. You can get it at any grocery store.
I had a rider get in my boat last year with some tar residue on his shoe, spot about the size of a quarter, my back deck was covered with these spots, must have been 100 of 'em...took some scrubbing with a small brush and the resolve , but the light gray carpet came up looking new....good stuff to keep in your boat cleaning supplies.

I used Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaner. They were a little expensive, but they did a great job and I think it was worth it!

My wife has one of those carpet cleaners for the house it has a little hand held attachment that comes off of it that's what I use works good.

Sorry for tooting my own horn, but this one really works well, is cheap, and no doubt worth a try if you haven't already. Also, it won't damage your carpet like professional cleaners might. Some of the chemicals some cleaners use will not sit well with the adhesive used to glue carpets down -- I know, it's happened to me.

The most popular carpet cleaning methods used to clean carpets are steam cleaning, dry cleaning and deep shampoo.