My car had a flat tire last night and I had it towed to Tesla after it was stored by the tow company overnight. I now have a black greasy set of prints near the roof lights on the tan headliner in the front seat. I assume it was from the tow guy. Does any one have any ideas on how to remove greasy fingerprints?
Be careful with chemicals liek that as it could dissolve the adhesive that bonds the liner to the ceiling.
Good suggestion to not over wet or use harsh solvents to prevent sagging. For Alcantara: First try to blot clean with water and a clean rag. Also recommended is mild washing detergent, or ethyl alcohol for stains that will not clear with the other 2 methods. For fabric: An upholstery cleaner should work well. The fabric has a courser texture and it's more important to blot to not set the stain deeper.
Naive question - what exactly is an upholstery cleaner? The same as a fabric cleaner? Such as Resolve? I have a smudge on my fabric (standard) headliner. Thanks!!
I did the same thing to mine.....black grease and dirt from muck from a tire. I used a Tide stick and a wet cloth to wash and dab out the grease (without smearing it).
Thanks - but I just have the "regular" headliner, which is a fabric of some sort. I don't know if those recommendations apply since they appear meant for Suede or Alcantara. -Tom
I have the tan fabric (not Alcanterra) headliner that got a slight grease smudge on it. The service center recommend "Spray 9", which i found at my local auto parts store. Worked like a charm.
First things first...Take a microfiber towel or a terry towel slightly damped with hot or warm water and try to remove the smudges (DO NOT scrub hard, it can cause premature failure of your headliner later on). If the warm water doesn't do the trick, then spray a little bit of fabric cleaner on the already damped towel and try again. Don't forget to go over the spot with a clean towel to remove excess moisture. Hope this helps
I got back from the body shop a few days ago, and I noticed a black fingerprint sized smudge right above my eyes near the visor. I have the suede-like beige cloth alcantara headliner. I tried a very tiny bit of soap in water on a sponge. Still there, but lighter. Then I tried some rubbing alcohol, which is 70% water, on the sponge. Disappeared like magic. Headliner looks new again. Since no one has mentioned simple rubbing alcohol (not ethyl, methyl, etc, but plain old isopropyl rubbing alcohol in your medicine cabinet) makes it an easy thing to try.
When my car was at a Tesla Service Center yesterday, I asked the best way to remove stains from the headliner and they recommended "Tuff Stuff" (Amazon.com: Tuff Stuff Multi Purpose Foam Cleaner for Deep Cleaning - 22 oz. (1.37 lbs): Home Improvement) and a microfiber cloth. Does anyone have any experience using it?
I have used unscented baby wipes on my previous cars and now Model S. It always worked and I have not seen any negative side effects.
I mix some oxygen bleach powder in a cup of hot water, dip a microfiber cloth into that, and dab lightly. After it dries, if I still see hints of a stain then I go over the same area lightly with a dry microfiber cloth which does a good job of lifting the remaining stain.
From reading the above posts, it looks like there are several methods that have given good results. For me, I used Tide's Stain Eraser Amazon.com: Tide To Go Stain Eraser 16 Count: Health Personal Care to remove some finger print smudges on the A pillar fabric left by the window tint installer. I used the first pad to get the initial smudge off, followed up with a second pad which completely eliminated the finger print smudge. The product also comes in a "pen" format which I haven't tried.
AGREED! I had black smudgy grease on my light cream Alcantara headliner as a result of some sunroof work and (as a result of roblab's post here) used Isopropyl alcohol with a dry white washcloth and it came right off. I applied a mild amount of scrubbing pressure in a limited area (so as to not rub it in or spread it out) and it completely came off. Thanks for the tip!! "Before" picture attached - yuck!