Packard Forum Index » General

Does anyone have any ideas for cleaning a '46 clipper deluxe headliner? The headliner looks and feels like wool but is darkened and looks like it has had some tiny mold spots. Can I steam clean this? Has anyone had any luck with rental upholstery kit for a carpet cleaner? The material is in good shape, just ugly.

thanks

Quote:
G'day kacarlson,
Like to you and your '46 Clipper to PackardInfo.

Very Carefully. Seriously, I believe it is wool and would be a bit careful with the steam and water. Steam is generally used to shrink the wrinkles out for that perfect fit so who knows if there is more shrink left-even after all this time. The material may be in good shape but usually the cotton thread used to sew the panels together or bow support tapes to the material is pretty fragile so doesn't take too much force to break. If the material is stained from moisture condensing on the steel roof and dropping down & soaking, don't think much improvement will be made. Most steel roof undersides I've seen after headliner removal have been pretty rusty so would suspect yours too. Have you tried gently brushing the moldy looking spots to see if anything comes loose.

Yes, it will be very fragile. The best you will probably do is use a good vacuum with a bruch attachment, but be gentile! DON'T get it wet!

This has been my experience.
My car had been sitting in a shed unregistered for 18 years and one year we had an infestation of rats. By the time we discovered they were living in the car, they had made a mess.
Luckily the seats have leather covers so that wasn't a problem, but they had chewed holes in the headliner and stained it, they also made a mess on the back armrests.
Early in 2007 I wanted to clean this car up and register it again, my father had bought it in 1957 and it's a 39 Super 8 sedan.
The material was all the original wool and I really had no choice but to try and clean the rat piddle out of it by shampooing as I didn't want to drive it the way it was. The car wasn't registered at the time otherwise I would have driven it to town and had a professional carpet / upholstery cleaner do it for me.
I hired a small portable carpet shampoo machine from our local drycleaner; I put warm water in the tank and a liquid soap (wool mix). It worked brilliantly and didn't harm the wool.
I cleaned all the wool upholstery as well as the headliner.
Some stain's remained but at least it smelt fresh.

The cleaning head had a row of holes that squirted the soapy water out under pressure but then sucked it straight back in a vent directly behind the holes..
It didn't squirt the water through the wool and up onto the metal which I was afraid of when working on the roof. It seemed to draw all the moisture back immediately leaving the wool only slightly damp.
However , I don't know about rust, and if your material is darker it might end up looking patchy? Other people's suggestions might be better. I had no choice except to make a new headliner and I didn't have time for that. I don't worry about the rat holes anymore

I will try to include some photos taken before anything was cleaned on the car,

Attach file:

---

  (28.06 KB)


  (31.58 KB)


  (39.74 KB)


  (26.30 KB)


  (36.81 KB)

That is a remarkable cleaning job. You are to be congratulated. Patience is its own reward.

Thanks Randy,
I had first thought that I would make a new headliner and replace the wrecked panels in the upholstery, arm rests and back of front seat.
I had read that the correct materials were being re-made and were available in America.
So I sent off some samples to a couple of people and expected to be able to buy enough of the beige fleck wool that was the seat material.
But no, it wasn't to be, as I was told that 39 super 8's came in a number of fabric's but no one had seen my sample before. It must have only been on export models.
I had trouble finding anything to match as I hunted through fabric shops.
I eventually settled on a piece of wool and patched the top of the front seat. Also new carpet from Hirsch.
more photos, Wow!! I am getting confident with this.

Attach file:

---

  (26.10 KB)


  (21.66 KB)


  (23.37 KB)

Heather, thanks so much for posting those interior pictures, I really enjoyed looking at them. We know that Packards built for export often had different (more robust materials) interiors, and yours is the first of that vintage that I've seen that is original, unaltered. As I remember the Packard-Canada plant closed in 1939, pretty much concurrent with Britian's declaration of war. Is your car a Canada or Detroit product?

Heather, did you contact SMS in Portland Oregon? For years I was told that there was no match for my 400 interior. SMS had it and all the 56 Packard material. They also matched my leather and even put the proper grain in it when I sent them a sample. They also were able to match the haircell vinyl.
It's good to see another member from the land of Oz posting here.

Keep up the good work Heather - I just love that your car is so original, has real history, and is back on the road. Now that you've got the interior cleaned up, what's next??!! Good on ya, mate! DAF