[strick550]

Hi All,

I'm a new member here, having just bought a 2008 CLK 550 convertible. It is a great car. One issue I have is that the interior is the light tan & it seems to collect dirt all the time. The kick panels at the bottom of the door seem to always get black marks from shoes, and the interior side panels next to the rear seats are getting discolored too. Any tips out there for trying to clean them without setting in the stains or leaving water stains on the fabric?

Thanks for any tips!

 

[Yidney]

I have the same car and same interior. I have cleaned those fabric lower door panels several times. I was worried they would unglue if they got wet, but no. I use a simple process that works well. Get a can of carpet and upholstery cleaner they sell at any auto parts store - the kind that foams. Spray some on - not big globs of it. Take a wet (not totally soaked but more than damp) rag with a bit of texture to it -a micro fiber towel or old hand towel. Rub the foam around, rinsing a couple times to get the foam mostly out. Don't rub so hard you fuzz up the fabric. Finally, take a dry micro fiber towel and get it as dry as you can. Sometimes you think you can still see a shadow of the darker scuff marks when it is still wet, but they seem to go away when dry. And if you want to be totally safe about water stains, go to the grocery store and buy a gallon of distilled water.

 

[rudeney]

I use a microfiber cloth and Pledge Multi-Surface Cleaner (for glass, plastics, electronics, etc.) It does a great job on all the fabric and plastic surfaces.