Help! How do you keep from getting stain water rings when cleaning upholstery!?

Question

I rented a car and i wanted to clean the upholstery before bringing it back. (Had some small amounts of make up and clay on the seats) I used my bissel green machine and the stains are gone but then when it starts to dry and it looks worse than it did before it's leaving big water stain rings around the edge while it drys. Help! I have just a few hours before i have to bring it back!

Answer 1

Unfortunately, many car upholstery fabrics are just not made to get wet.  That is often why you will see car detailers wet the entire seat when there is a spot rather than just treating the spot, to avoid the water ring.  I found using a dry carpet & upholstery cleaning granule solves the problem.  It is not wet enough to leave a ring and removes the stain without having to use water at all.  Capture makes one and so does Resolve.  Both remove nearly any stain, too.  And you can use them on other fabrics that also are subject to water rings, like the damask used on mattresses, micro fibers and suedes, silks, etc.

Answer 2

It may be too late, I don't know if you can fix this.  When you clean upholstery or sensitive fabrics, you have to lightly dampen the entire thing and THEN do the cleaning.

But try lightly misting the entire seat with plain water from a misting bottle.  When the entire seat is damp, not wet, THEN use your green machine again over the entire seat.

Good luck!