As a father of 2 nippers I know that the interior "mesh" fabric isn't gonna stay that lovely light colour for long so wondered what specific treatments people might know of that might help extend the life of the trim a bit, something to stop stains from sinking in and giving me at least a fighting chance - like scotchguard for does for carpets. The local car tarting up shop had no idea of such a product.

Tips on successful stain removal would be appreciated. How have people managed to get out chocolate, for example?

WRT paintwork, I've used Autoglym super resin polish in the past but that's a nightmare when it inevitably makes contact with black plastic trim. What products have people found that are more trim friendly?

Moving on to wheels what's your procedure. Mine is simply sponge, car shampoo and elbow grease. I will be relegating a baby bottle washing brush to these duties as the wheel brushes I've seen in halfords look awful harsh. The manual says rub in hard wax from time to time but that's not something I've stumbled across in Halfords as yet. What sort of product are they referring to?

Regards,

Mark

umm, whats cleaning?

(I seem to recall my car was white once....)

Buy a roofrack for the children

You could always give them an umbrella to hold if it's raining.....

Or what about some

nice seat covers ?

or these

Paintwork = autoglym. Any black bits, I go over with Turtle wax blackening stuff. To wash I have a little hosepipe attachment with a brush and little nodule for sticking in cleaning shampoo. To do the alloys, I have to get a rag, hose and get my hand right in the wheel to get all the brake dust off. Doesn't need any chemicals normally, perhaps just white spirit / WD-40 for the tar spots.

Interior Trim = Turtle wax blackening stuff as above.

Upholstery = Would LOVE some advice on this. I have a couple of small stains I'd also like to get rid of.

Originally posted by MrkyMrk in this post

As a father of 2 nippers I know that the interior "mesh" fabric isn't gonna stay that lovely light colour for long......... something to stop stains from sinking in and giving me at least a fighting chance - like scotchguard for does for carpets.......... How have people managed to get out chocolate, for example?

Ah a trip down memory lane! My two are 10 and 14 years now but still seem to make as much mess as ever! May not be the best solution but I used to have a 'picnic' blanket over the rear seat to protect from falling debris, you can try and choose something that 'compliments' the colour of your interior. If you can find one of the newer purpose made picnic blankets they often have a liquid resistant lining in them. I know it seems a shame to cover the seat, but it's a trade off.

As for chocolate, let it 'dry' and use a vacuum with a small brush (I have a 'Henry' dedicated to car and garage use - great suction!) I'm always amazed how much you can pick up this way. Try to do this when it's cool and don't brush too hard or the friction melts the chocolate!!!

OR if you interior is a very light colour feed them white chocolate!!!

As for alloys, I'm afraid I'm none too gentle, I open the throttle on my petrol driven powerwasher and hit them hard.

Also when cleaning the bodywork I like to give it a good working over with high pressure water and no soap to remove as much of the 'dust and grit' as possible before I get the soapy sponge out and grind it into my paintwork.

This works for me but I'm sure there's plenty more info to be posted by others.

:cheers: Paul

Mark - know the feeling as my wife is due in July. Huck gave a tip in a thread quite a while ago which I have tried and can recommend which is to use Simoniz Teflon cleaner. This pack(which can be bought in Halfords) has an upholstery cleaner which had worked wellish in removing some of the stains from the previous owner but also a separate preventative preparation which you put on the seats when clean which gives it the Teflon coating - hence can then just wipe off any spillages.

For the kid I am aiming to buy trade amounts of this to ensure that there is not chance of staining!

Mark, this thread more or less turned into a cleaning FAQ!

Combined with Greg's carpet thread, and both exterior and interior are well covered.

BTW JaneC - hope to hell you haven't got those tropical covers on your RS :eek: Does anyone actually buy anything like that :confused:

Er No, of course not. It was an American site so I guess the Yanks like them (no accounting for taste)

Pressure wash dust and flies off.

Wash with Carplan Triplewax and a sponge.

Rinse with a pressure washer.

Evidence can be seen in the photos taken by Ian last night - washed it on Saturday,

though have done 400 miles since...

Rob.

Those seat covers are well tasty. I'll have to get a set for me vRS and for the 106!

:p

That Simoniz Teflon cleaner stuff sounds just the ticket. UNDER a picnic blanket, that is...

Powerwashers scare me so I won't be heading down that route any time soon.

So, what's this "hard wax" talked about in the manual as a wheel treatment? Is it literally a lump of hard wax? Where would it be available.

Oh, and what do you guys use for your windows. I never use the shampoo on them but they do end up with a film from the soapy water being rinsed over them. I use a bug scourer and a bit of chamois to do them last of all but it's not a brilliant solution and it's a pain in the neck.

Regards,

Mark

Used Simonz Teflon from the begining and it's stood up pretty well. We've a 2 year old sprog so you can imagine; black current juice, chocolate etc. Haven't needed to redo since Spet last year. Will do it again sometime soon though.

For keeping the carpets clean I put the paper mats in the car when delivered under the black mats. Done quite a good job in keeping allthe crap off.

Also use baby wipes to clean the leather (seats that is....) and small dirt marks.

Good tip to get rid of tar spots is WD40; it also brings up the rubbing strips nice to.

Cheers.

Adrian.

I shifted the year-old (lazy, moi?) chocolate stain from one of the rear seats no problem...

On my last visit to Halfords they had a shelf full of their own food- and drink- removal products. You roll it onto the stain area, then wipe with a cloth. Repeat until the stain has gone. Amazingly they actually worked :-)

Best thing was that they were reduced to clear at 5p each

Originally posted by SkodiRS in this post

Good tip to get rid of tar spots is WD40; it also brings up the rubbing strips nice to.

Cheers.

Adrian.

Definatly! WD-40 works very well! I have used it since I got the car and it removes the tar nicely. Don't use the red straw just use the wide spray and leave it for about 5 minutes and you will see the tar running slightly on it's own!

Anyone know where I can get some snap on front seat covers?

Skoda should sell seat covers with the vrs logo on it, would look very nice.

OK - Just remembered - whats a good liquid to use to clean the inside of the screen, and please don't someone say the same stuff you use to clean the outside

I recently tried to use a cloth, and I've just moved the gunk and its even worse than ever when I'm driving into the sun (which I do every bloody night - my home is straight west from here )

Cheers

Never found anything good for cleaning insides of windows, even Holt's Screenies

are useless... :(

Rob.

Originally posted by day tripper in this post

Anyone know where I can get some snap on front seat covers?

The only place to get them from is the Mobile Snap-On vans, they are about

Devon

I use Autoglym glass polish on the inside and outside of my windows , it gets rid of the 'haze' that builds up on the inside of your windscreen.

Originally posted by devonutopia in this post

OK - Just remembered - whats a good liquid to use to clean the inside of the screen, and please don't someone say the same stuff you use to clean the outside

I recently tried to use a cloth, and I've just moved the gunk and its even worse than ever when I'm driving into the sun (which I do every bloody night - my home is straight west from here )

Cheers

Vinegar and water solution works a treat.