Removing diesel from seats?

[cbrdave]

I am having to buy a cheap car to keep me working and have sen a skoda fabia estate, 1.9 sdi, y reg £350, bloke reckons it had a fault with fuel sender and has some how got a fair bit of diesel over the back seat, does anyone know how i can soak up/remove the diesel and get rid of the smell, bit desperate at the moment as need a car for the start of next week as i work for sharps bedrooms and fit all over kent, thanks in advance for any help.

 

[bilmo-p5]

I'd say any diesel that has soaked into the upholstery is there for good. I would check round your local dismantlers for a replacement.

 

[AndyE]

Fairy liquid will break the diesel down and a power hose should blast it out

Andy

 

[Teepee]

I'd remove the seat, mix up some really strong non-bio washing powder or carpet cleaning solution, soak it and work it in, then rinse it out well.

 

[Mesquite]

Fairy liquid will break the diesel down and a power hose should blast it out

Unfortunately the OP can't do that one as we've got a hosepipe ban on at the moment

 

[bikething]

Unfortunately the OP can't do that one as we've got a hosepipe ban on at the moment

If he's travelling alone then why not remove the seat and leave it out until a) the hosepipe ban is lifted or b) he buys a replacement from a breakers?

Is there any legal requirement to have a back seat fitted? (without rear seats, would it then be classified as a van, for example?)

 

[rancid badger]

I had the same model back in 2001, the rear seats are actually designed to be removable, at least the bases are. The back then folds more or less flat.

as long as its the seat bases that are contaminated with diesel and not the back, you'll be fine. Then again, if the seat is contaminated, then the felt wadding sound insulation under the seats will also be soaked too.

You'll never get the diesel out of the foam by the way, not completely and it will have damaged the foam too, probably dissolving it or making it swell up at least partially. This could potentially lead to someone sitting in the back of the car and getting a wire stiffener up their back passage!

Good luck, but if you need the rear seats for domestic duties, trawl around the breakers and try to find a replacement set.


Steve

PS: replacing the seat would of course add a bit of value to the car too

 

[cbrdave]

Thanks all for the advice, i'll be trawling the local breakers for some seats then, i removed them for now and stuck some anti smelly cat litter gel in the car to absorb the smell (mate did it when he spilt petrol in his),
All the best
Dave.

 

[Adze]

+1 on a replacement from a local breaker. It's likely to cost you buttons as interior and trim are usually the last things they sell and are the least recyclable/have the lowest scrap value.

I bought a pair of front seats for a rover 100 to fit to a friend's series Landy for a tenner a while back. Cheaper and more effective than the detergent to shift the diesel from your own seats by a long shot.

 

[cbrdave]

Cheers adze, have ended up looking everywhere and found a bloke in poole dorset to supply seats, £60 delivered!, just got to get the lingering smell out, will be trying a carpet freshener jobby that has an odour absorbing thingy, bit of luck it'll work.