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Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 20th, 2010 10:50 am
by ES_Revenge
So I've seen this new product which sells at Partsource/CT, called Salt Eraser... It's an aerosol product meant to, well, erase salt stains from carpet/upholstery in your car.

I have some rather stubborn salt stains in my car that will not come out :mad: even after using various products and even after using a Little Green Clean Machine (the stains go away when cleaning from the water but just reappear when the carpet dries!). I mean I've made them better but they are not gone.

I hear the solution is to use vinegar but I don't want to use vinegar because vinegar [literally] stinks! And I don't want to stink up my car. So I've been kinda holding back on the acetic acid there but I guess I will use it as a last resort.

However this product looks interesting, has anyone used it and had any success? Also, I hope it's not just a can of spray vinegar :|

Edit here is a link to the manufacturer:
http://www.lubco.ca/salt_eraser.php

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 20th, 2010 10:59 am
by rupert
Have not used it. But I just use a steamer and it gets the salt out well.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 20th, 2010 12:30 pm
by Phantasm
I just cleaned 90% of the salt stains off the carpet in my car last weekend just by scrubbing the carpet with a brush and sucking up the salt particles with my vacuum. No water or cleaning products were used at all.

I might need to use some kind of product like Salt Eraser to get it 100% clean though.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 20th, 2010 1:32 pm
by chipotlecheapo
have you tried dishwashing liquid with water? it worked for me...

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 20th, 2010 1:44 pm
by ES_Revenge
rupert wrote: Have not used it. But I just use a steamer and it gets the salt out well.
Phantasm wrote: I just cleaned 90% of the salt stains off the carpet in my car last weekend just by scrubbing the carpet with a brush and sucking up the salt particles with my vacuum. No water or cleaning products were used at all.

I might need to use some kind of product like Salt Eraser to get it 100% clean though.
chipotlecheapo wrote: have you tried dishwashing liquid with water? it worked for me...
Tried all that stuff guys, well the LGCM wasn't exactly a steamer but I used hot water in it. The dry scrubbing won't remove all the salt (that was my first move) and the wet cleaning methods all seem to take away the salt but then when it dries you can still see it. I've tried on several occasions--scrubbing, not-scrubbing (blotting), different soaps, cleaning solutions. It's a bit annoying at this point! I mean it's not bad, but it's still there and I don't want it to be there, lol.

I never had this problem with other carpets but this one seems to like to retain the salt. Oh yeah that and I guess I never scotchguarded it like I have with previous vehicles :( I'm going to do that this spring of course, but I have to actually get the salt lines out before I can go to the step of protecting the fabric.

I guess I should buy a can of this stuff and be the guinea pig...

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 20th, 2010 1:51 pm
by Tomy
yea i would like to know too!

i have the same problem as you...

btw people kept telling me to use vinegar to get rid of the stains and use the normal carpet cleaner to clear the smell

but yea, saw it on sale at partsource.. try it and out and please let us know :)

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 9th, 2011 10:15 am
by lumlum1013
Hi All!

I'm j/ reviving this post and see if this product works?
cuz what i usually use is pouring boiling hot water to
the crystal salt area, scrub scrub scrub, and then
immediately vacuum it up w/ a dry/vac....and repeat to
other severe area....

anyone tried these stuff yet? it's on sale @ local CT~

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 9th, 2011 12:19 pm
by dassub
Seriously, you're told that vinegar works, but you won't try it because of the smell?

Just sayin.. (I have successfully rid my car interior of all its salt stains with vinegar last season, the smell goes away).

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 9th, 2011 12:47 pm
by thetim
ES_Revenge wrote: I never had this problem with other carpets but this one seems to like to retain the salt. Oh yeah that and I guess I never scotchguarded it like I have with previous vehicles :( I'm going to do that this spring of course, but I have to actually get the salt lines out before I can go to the step of protecting the fabric.
I don't have any amazing tip to help you get your salt out (sorry) - but I did wonder about the scotchguarding. Did you just do it yourself? Is all you do is buy cans of it and then spray the fabrics you want to protect? (Been looking into a new car and rather than spend hundreds at a dealer, if it's $20 worth of stuff I can do myself...)

Best of luck getting the carpets to where you want them to be.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 9th, 2011 3:53 pm
by YZFMax
Hot water in a spray bottle and a brush has always worked for me, and it takes very little effort.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 9th, 2011 8:54 pm
by mmagda
Curious as well!!

I will buy some soon and try it out if anything, for 5$ a can, whatever.

Guy at work claims 'its amazing' and 'easy' - no more hot water & wetvac apparently. Not like this takes long either, but i wouldn't have to detail using these extra steps. :razz:

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 9th, 2011 10:51 pm
by yellowsugga
I bought this today and used it on my mats. It did work, but I don't know if it works any better than soap and and hot water that I usually use. I bought it from Canadian Tire today because it was on sale. One thing I would say is that there is not very much in the can. I think if there was a fair bit of salt inside your car, you may need more than 1 can. I used up the whole can in about 15 mins and my mats were not that stained at all.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 10th, 2011 8:41 am
by maniacshopper
I've used a simoniz version of that. it's ok. But I'd rather spray water like mist, then use a steamer, then vacuum. then use rug shampoo. saves some $.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 10th, 2011 11:56 am
by win-star
During the winter, even though I have rubber mats, I put bunch of newspaper around the floor [I know it's messy, but it protects my car] and when it gets dirty/wet, I change it which I do weekly.

So far I had no ink transfer or anything through the carpet. :lol:

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 10th, 2011 12:51 pm
by Neb
Bought it 2 days ago. used this this mornign, works pretty good and no odour.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Apr 10th, 2011 1:15 pm
by thirstyrobot
Having tried several alternatives, I still find vinegar and boiling water to be the best fix (also the cheapest). After the area is cleaned, wash it again with plain water and that dilutes the vinegar smell. A little bit of scent-free Febreeze might also do the trick about the smell too.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Jun 4th, 2011 1:17 am
by ES_Revenge
dassub wrote: Seriously, you're told that vinegar works, but you won't try it because of the smell?
Yep. I hate that smell and I'm not stinking up my car like that, sorry. Good that the smell "goes away" but I don't want it there in the first place :P

Anyway though I seem to have started the thread a year ago (and then it was revived a year later), I'll bring it up once more just to say I did actually use the product finally...

It works well, and definitely removed salt the other methods did not (though I didn't try vinegar, as mentioned). However I will say that the can does not last that long, just like Yellowsugga mentioned above. To remove the stains on just my driver side I used just about the entire can! I did have to go over some areas a couple times because the salt was that stubborn in my car. I was lucky that I didn't have to get another can, because pretty much the only place with the really stubborn salt stains was the driver's side ;)

Also you may want to wear a mask while spraying this stuff. I tried to inhale a little bit of it, spraying on a paper towel before using it, to see if it had any bad odour. It didn't really have an odour per se (so definitely better than vinegar) but it made me start coughing and gagging instantly, lol.

What the product does is essentially causes the salt crystals to break their bond with the carpet--it loosens the salt. Then you can wipe it up or vacuum it with a wet/dry type vac (I did the latter) and that pulls the salt out. This is something I couldn't get to happen with water and cleaning solution as mentioned in earlier posts--doing that the salt would disappear when wet and you'd think you cleaned it but once the carpet dried again the stains were still there.

So yes it does work pretty well but I would recommend you get a couple cans if you have more seating areas with salt stains. For example, if you have a minivan or SUV with quite a few areas with salt stains, I'd say get three cans at least.
LCONE wrote: I used to sell detailing products to dealerships and no product we ever sold worked as well as hot water. Think about it...it's just salt. Salt dissolves in warm water.
I'm curious as to if you stuck around to see what the cars looked like when the water dried. What you say makes sense, I know. And that method certainly worked on other cars I've had in the past, but not on this one. All that happened was the stains disappeared once you got the carpet wet with the water, and you think it was cleaned, but then it dried and the stains came back (not as bad as they were to begin with I mean, but definitely still quite visible).

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Jun 4th, 2011 3:30 pm
by dassub
Funny this should be bumped.. I just used vinegar/water last weekend and it got rid of all my salt stains in a second.. also funny that your reply states that you don't want the smell at all, because it actually lingered for almost a full week :D I noticed it up until Thursday.. gone now though.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Jun 4th, 2011 6:50 pm
by freerider_4life
I used to work in a detail bay, and we used Brake cleaner WITHOUT bleach/chlorine. It works amazing, I don't know if its commercially available though.

Re: Anyone use this "Salt Eraser" product?

Posted: Jun 5th, 2011 1:46 pm
by ES_Revenge
freerider_4life wrote: I used to work in a detail bay, and we used Brake cleaner WITHOUT bleach/chlorine. It works amazing, I don't know if its commercially available though.
Ah interesting idea. I will have to try that later (though hopefully I will avoid salt stains to begin with in the future :) ). You can indeed get non-chlorinated brake cleaner in stores, just be sure it says that specifically on the label.