Cleaning coolant from carpet

v70snowbum · Post by **v70snowbum** » 03 Aug 2010, 20:57

Heater core nightmare = coolant carpet. What is the best way to clean it from the carpet without removing the carpet?

I've read that water would help remove the coolant combined with a wet shopvac, but then the floorboards would eventually rust.

What about soaking the carpets with rubbing alcohol and then shopvac'ing it all out?

Post by **JDS60R** » 03 Aug 2010, 21:14

Water works fine - shop vac it out and put a fan on it or keep the windows open for a few days while parked. Running the AC will also help evaporate the water out. I like to mix a little simple green HD (purple in with the water).

You could use alcohol if you wanted but its overkill

v70snowbum · Post by **v70snowbum** » 06 Aug 2010, 22:39

I just assumed the floor boards would eventually rust out if you cleaned the carpets with water. PS. there is a TON of coolant in the carpets.

Post by **jblackburn** » 06 Aug 2010, 23:27

If there's a lot down in there, you'll have to remove the carpets and the padding and let them dry.

I'm not sure how it is all laid down in the Volvos, but I left the window down in my old car & it started to grown mold. As far as I could tell, it was all laid down in one section, so I cut a seam under the seats & removed the carpet and took it to a laundromat and cleaned & dried it. That worked beautifully actually, and it wasn't visible to someone not looking for it.

C@lvin · Post by **C@lvin** » 07 Aug 2010, 05:40

I had the same problem 3 years ago. I didn't remove anything but I blotted as much as i could multiple times over several days. A shop vac sounds like it would be very helpful, but i don't own one. I also peeled back the carpet from the console as far as I could to work on the padding and let it air out. It literally took months for it to completely dry out and there was a stain left over. It doesn't bother me now - the Volvo floor mat covers up the stain - but if I had to go through this again (number one is I'd avoid the coolant spill) I would seriously figure out a way to remove the carpet and padding and clean and dry it outside the car

andregide · Post by **andregide** » 31 Dec 2013, 21:58

I think this is not a great thing to clean carpet with water because i cant do that kind of job with my own. When i visit to service station then ask for cleaning my whole car interior as well as exterior parts. They provide me carpet cleaning services also with car wash or they refuse to do that then i want to call professionals they come at my place and giving commercial carpet cleaning services under budget.

Post by **abscate** » 01 Jan 2014, 04:44

I removed the front seats, pulled the carpets and used copious amounts of water from a hose to get the coolant out. I cut the foam padding and rinsed that out too. I reinstalled the foam with duct tape.

Post by **T5AUS** » 02 Jan 2014, 16:00

Just be very carful not to spill any coolant on the outer door sill body work, I made a mess of mine when sponging it out, lethal stuff on the paint work !! To do it properly it really is best to lift the seat and carpets out if it's a full dump, that's a lot of coolant.

Post by **osman** » 02 Jan 2014, 20:22

I bought an s70 that had a heater core leak. I did a heater core bypass, removed the front seats and console, removed the carpet (front and back pieces), and the padding (which I threw out, but it is the same multicolor, piece foam padding that is used in homes.) While the carpets are out, remove all the coolant residue from them with soap and water, dry them up, and the floorboards, and reinstall. When i finished you couldnt tell that at one time there was an inch of coolant sloshing around in the car. Trust me if you dont remove the padding it will hold all the moisture in it, (thats why the carpets probably already seem dry) and the padding will mold something awful then once that smell gets in the headliner, vents, and seats, you will not be able to remove it.

Post by **abscate** » 03 Jan 2014, 05:35

v70snowbum wrote:I just assumed the floor boards would eventually rust out if you cleaned the carpets with water. PS. there is a TON of coolant in the carpets.

The rust prevention in a Volvo is impressive and I wouldn't worry about this. I filled the floor pans with water several times to remove the puddles of standing coolant I had when my Heater core went. I dried it in the hot sunny weather, using the windows up test to mark when all the moisture was gone.