Castor oil on upholstory

[Tim Wescott]

Just went over to a retiring modeler's house and picked up a load of stuff.  I stupidly set a tool box that was dripping castor oil onto my truck seat.  Sticky old castor oil.

It's broadcloth, so the castor is going to be sinking in nice and deep.  Anyone have suggestions for getting it out?  Has it happened to you?  Did something work?  I'm going to start by seeing if I have any of that foaming carpet shampoo, and go from there.  Chances are it'll sit until day after tomorrow, given that tomorrow is turkey day*.

* "Your strangely close to Christmas turkey day", says my Canadian acquaintances.

[Gary Dowler]

Just went over to a retiring modeler's house and picked up a load of stuff.  I stupidly set a tool box that was dripping castor oil onto my truck seat.  Sticky old castor oil.

It's broadcloth, so the castor is going to be sinking in nice and deep.  Anyone have suggestions for getting it out?  Has it happened to you?  Did something work?  I'm going to start by seeing if I have any of that foaming carpet shampoo, and go from there.  Chances are it'll sit until day after tomorrow, given that tomorrow is turkey day*.

* "Your strangely close to Christmas turkey day", says my Canadian acquaintances.

Its oil.  Its also thick so its less likely to really sink in deep like thinner oil would.   Take a hand held carpet cleaning machine, use hot water and a good detergent, and Ill wager you can clean it out pretty well.  If you don't have one of those, take very hot water and Dawn detergent. pour it on the area, let it soak in good, work it in a bit even, then suck it out with a shop vac. Do this a couple of times and repeat one last time with just clean hot water to rinse it.

Gary

[Dennis Toth]

K2R Spot Lifter Stain, at ACE Hardware, Item no. 10190,  $6.99 spray on let dry, vacuum off. On second coat add a little heat from a heat gun before reapplying. Just like getting oil out of an old ship.

Best,    DennisT

[Tim Wescott]

Thank you guys.  I appreciate it.

[kenneth cook]

            I used Resolve carpet cleaner

[Chancey Chorney]

I had a little chuckle when I saw the title. Reminded me of last Saturday when I picked up a load from a deceased modeller family. Oil, fuel, dope,and of those I realized some were open and not sealed sitting in a cardboard box bouncing around in my back seat on the way home, but did not realize it till then. Pucker factor set in when I realized my mistake. Just a tiny dab of something ended up on mine so I naturally left it. But good tips shared here for next time.

[Al Ferraro]

Brake cleaner on a clean paper towel. Wet the towel and blot the spot, do not wipe. Test a small spot first, brake cleaner is very strong.
Al

[Randy Cuberly]

Be very careful about getting fuel with fairly high nitro content on cloth over foam seats like in my 2005 Ford F150.  The fuel disolved the material (some kind of thick upholstery cloth) and the foam seat material under it.  It took quite a while to do this (at least a couple of weeks) but I didn't notice it had been spilled until I noticed the hole in the seat. 

Rats!  It'll take a new seat or at least some serious upholstery work to fix it!

Randy Cuberly

[Chancey Chorney]

I am mostly in the truck myself or with my carpool partner.  Mama never drives it. I will heed the option of fagetaboutit, actually I had until I saw this thread. ...

[john e. holliday]

Easiest is new seat covers of the vynal type.   Or install new bucket seats .     

[Tim Wescott]

Easiest is new seat covers of the vynal type.   Or install new bucket seats .   

We had that seat upholstered 30 years ago when we bought the truck, and this is the first major incident.  If I can clean it up, I'm going to clean it up.

In increasing order of coolness, top line essential:

• Make it so it doesn't transfer onto the passenger's butt
• Make it less obvious
• Make it like new

[Chuck_Smith]

This why I always make sure to get leather seats - the fuel spills are a great conditioner.

Now here's one I did once: Went out in the dark to refill my windshield washer fluid. Yep, you guessed it, half a gallon of fuel into the pour I realized what I was doing. Never store fuel and windshield washer on the same shelf.

[Cody bishop]

Try some tuff stuff

[Gary Dowler]

This why I always make sure to get leather seats - the fuel spills are a great conditioner.

Now here's one I did once: Went out in the dark to refill my windshield washer fluid. Yep, you guessed it, half a gallon of fuel into the pour I realized what I was doing. Never store fuel and windshield washer on the same shelf.

A friend of mine is into RC cars. He buys the Traxx fuel. One day he can't figure out why the thing won't start. His fuel is blue.....you guessed it, filled the tank with washer fluid.

Gary

[Steve Dwyer]

Don't use anything too harsh that may discolor the fabric, test the product on an inconspicuous area to see if it lifts the color on a white towel. If you can clean the fuel oil off your hands using warm water and dish detergent it'll work on the upholstery. The key here is to use an upholstery or carpet cleaning machine that enables you to inject the warm water into the fabric and at the same time vacuum extract it removing the water/detergent and oil residue with it. Be advised you will probably have to clean the entire seat cushion since you will be cleaning the aged soil as well and you don't want to end up with a bright clean spot in the middle.
If a large quantity has poured onto the seat and has absorbed deep into the cushion and padding beneath, surface cleaning will only enable the top being cleaned and the reside will continue to work up in time. If this is the case you may have to remove the entire seat, detach the fabric and replace the foam cushion you can buy at most upholstery shops. I believe, however, most auto upholstery has a plastic liner under it to prevent leaks from reaching the foam cushion, if this the case a simple extraction as above should clean it up nicely.
Steve

[Chuck_Smith]

I'd listen to Steve. He owns and drives a Cobra, and anyone who knows about Cobras knows that a thorough cleaning the passenger seat after a ride is usually required.

Chuck