Carpet discolored

[datzenmike]

Spent a few hours today cleaning my goon interior. It has the stock carpet (black) but after 38 years the most exposed to light has turned a brown tint. Is there a fabric spray that will dye or color it? I know there are vinyl spray paints for plastic, I just need something that will darken the mats. The mats are all in fairly good shape and can be removed to do this to prevent overspray onto the interior. I suppose I could use them to cut out new ones but car interior carpet is never the same as stock and it ain't cheap.

[DanielC]

This is just a wild guess. Get a tub your carpet will fit into. Then get black fabric dye, I think a brand name it RIT. Ask at a fabric store, or maybe your wife, or girlfriend will know what it is.

Get some really hot water, put the fabric dye in it. Enough hot water to cover the carpet in the tub. Dissolve the dye in the hot water, and put the carpet in it.

The dye is designed to be used in a washing machine. Try to duplicate the directions as much as you can.

[datzenmike]

Thanks Daniel, I remember RIT. It's been around longer than me! Will it work on synthetics I wonder? I'll just read the directions.

 

 

Found this:

 

Nylon

 

• Rit dyes nylon very easily and quickly. Special care must be taken to avoid using too much dye. For 1 pound of dry fabric (about 3 yards of medium weight fabric), use 1 Tablespoon Rit Powder Dye or ¼ cup Rit Liquid Dye with 3 gallons of hot water.
• To avoid wrinkling, do not exceed a water temperature of 180º F.
• After dyeing, allow fabric to cool down before rinsing in cool water.

[jesusno2]

When I was detailing cars many moons ago. We used to actually spray paint carpets. You'd be suprised how well it works. I dunno what the long term results will be but ya can always touch it up! It leaves to carpet a bit crusty feeling but your not rubbin your hands on it to often.

[blue72]

SEM Color Coat aerosols. It lists carpets right on the can among the many things it'll safely tint.

[tycot1]

the SEM stuff in a can is ok but a pain to apply. if you have a spray gun you can get the SEM i litre cans and spray the carpet with a nice wide fan and not end up with striping. get a guide sheet when you get the dye and it will tell you the prep material that needs to be applied before the dye, i cant remember the part # off hand. the dye will make the rug look like new and the loop will actually be soft.

[Sealik]

If you are going to pull the carpet out....I would give it a thorough cleaning prior to dying it.

Just did mine.....very impressed with the results, being that it had 30 year old stains in it.

Laid it out on my deck, got some foam upholstery cleaner and worked it in with a stiff brush.

Then I got a spray bottle with a mixture of warm water, dish soap and bleach.

Basically used the whole bottle on it....scrubbing again with the brush.

Finally laid it over a fence and pressure washed it....came out like 'new'.... :D

Carpet is backed with a clear rubber....so it didn't saturate the sound deadener/'felt'

Dried in a day.

Smells pretty good now too.... :)

[DanielC]

I work on boats a lot. One tip I have heard about boat carpet is after you pressure wash it, and it is clean, use fabric softener on it. Like "Downy". Again, ask your girlfriend for a fragrance that is not too "feminine"

[Dirk Diggler]

Please don't spray paint your carpets, that is the worst advice I have seen on this site.

[izzo]

Please don't spray paint your carpets, that is the worst advice I have seen on this site.

 

Why not, when it dries you can use it as a scrub brush, hell even clean your feet when you get in :rofl: (i had a spare piece of carpet i used to throw parts on to shoot some quick rattle can over.. it doesn't do well in carpet as dirk mentions)

 

Maybe the stuff dood was talking about is formulated different then regular spray paint tho?

[mike]

I used to work at a detail shop too... The carpet/interior dye stuff actually comes out looking pretty good and lasts quite a while. For black though, spray paint works fine. Dont get gloss, a semi or flat black looks better. When you apply it go over it lightly and dont go in lines (like you would to paint a a car), do a kind of random medium fog (think scribbling). That way if you get light/dark spots they are less noticeable and easier to blend in. Use as little as possible to keep it from getting too crusty, a lot of light coats are better than one thick one. If you rub the carpet down with your hands after it dries it will lose that "crusty" feel and still look good.

 

I did this on an old dodge I had and they came out looking damn near new, good enough to fool some of those weird mopar fanatics at the car shows... I didnt use dye, I actually used the cheapest shittiest spray paint that I could find because it is thinner and came out looking better than the more expensive dye. It actually held up pretty well, the only area that showed any noticeable wear was below the pedals on the drivers side but I was doing construction/roofing at the time so that was to be expected. It didnt bother me too much as a can of touch up was only 98 cents :cool: .

 

I dont think that you will achieve better results by taking your carpet out and redying it and its way in the hell less work.

[datzenmike]

Before...

 

 

After...

 

 

 

 

 

Fabric paint for synthetics. Worked like a hot damn. (used gloss black)

 

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[Skib]

Before...

 

 

After...

 

 

[Eagle_Adam]

Mike i am continually picking my jaw off the floor with some of the amazing things you accomplish!!!!!! That looks soooooooooooo good man!