Headlining Cleaning

[simonriley11]

Can anyone suggest a good method/product for cleaning the white headlining and upper parts of the rear quarter trim panels. I've tried Autoglym trim shampoo which does a little good but it doesn't remove the dirtier marks. Thanks for any help.

[Jason1]

Simon

I used a vanish soap stick and a nail brush to clean mine. I found the tobbaco stains came off easy but the sun bleaching and water stain are still there. It is a lot better than it was and smells better.

The only real way to get a really clean headlining is to renew it As I do not have a garage and the front and rear screens need to come out to replace it. I can live with a bit if grot

I was thinking of trying to stain the headlining where it is bleached with the white trainer paint you can get in shoe shops. I do not know if it will work, but when I get bored I may give it a go

Let me know if you find anything that works well.

Jason

[david.g.chapman]

I had the same trouble with stained headlining.

Purists please look away now!

I applied silk white ceiling paint with a small roller and a small brush for the edges. You have to be very careful to make the edges neat where the headlining meets trim and rubber parts. The result did not look bad at all IMHO. The diamond pattern shows through and you do not get brush marks (again if you are careful). The surface will have to be de-greased with meths first.

I did mine some months ago and it still looks OK to me.

Dave Chapman.

[carrierdave]

Hi,
I was thinking of using the kitchen emulsion as it has better overall resistance to wear.
The only decission I got stuck on was should I go for matt or silk?

[david.g.chapman]

I have just checked the paint I used.. and it is vinyl MATT emulsion, not silk as I wrote earlier (although silk might be OK, brush marks might show).

Wear resistance is good - I am 6 foot 3 inches tall, and my head sometimes brushes the headlining. So far it has not left an indelible mark. Any marks you do get come off with some washing up liquid and water.

The flexibility of the paint seems alright too, for the expected deformation you might get if the headlining is touched, or poked gently with a finger.

You might need two coats if you proceed, but do not put too much paint on. The diamonds will be covered and it will look.....painted.

Good luck,

Dave Chapman.

[types26/36]

I have just checked the paint I used.. and it is vinyl MATT emulsion, not silk as I wrote earlier (although silk might be OK, brush marks might show).

Hmm! where will this thread lead... wall paper on the head lining ?

[Si_130/5]

Hi Simon Riley11,

I found the Auto Glym interior shampoo (green label) made the grotty stained headlining on my yellow S130 as good as new. I used a toothbrush and did small squares at a time, wiping over with a warm J-cloth, it took ages but was worth it - see pic. Sometimes the hollow steel rods which support the headlining leak rusty condensation water which stains the lining from inside and for this I've found no cure other than replacement.

Best wishes,
Simon

[david.g.chapman]

Needless to say, I would not advocate painting the headlining unless you have exhaused every other avenue. I had the dreaded rusty stains, and could find no other way forward apart from replacing the headlining.

If you want to try painting, do a test piece first and see if you can live with it. Mind you, flock wallpaper... now there's a thought!

Dave Chapman

[carrierdave]

Brian - You may have a good idea there - Wall paper. That should cut out the problems of smearing.

I was thinking of one of those embossed papers then I can choose a pattern.

[types26/36]

I was thinking of one of those embossed papers then I can choose a pattern.

Absolutely Dave, the possibilities are endless

[RichC]

well I'd exhaused all chemical treatments and still had nasty yellow & brown (watermarks ?)which i presume leached from the woven backing of the plastic and were therefore permanent. I understood that the early +2 star pattern headlining was superceded at some point & imagined nothing could be found to be an exact match. Having lived with the awful stains for abt 1 year i thought I'd remedy the problem before I got too used to 'em .
Not wanting to bother disturbing the old window seals which were doing a fine job already i decided to plump for some leather / vinyl white spray . First i did the driver's sunvisor and was worried it might be too white but it has turned out fantastic.
I've used up 1 400ml can which has just about covered all the interior white plastic and it looks very nice, but really needs a second coat so I've bought another can of the stuff (Brillo) off ebay .
there were a few tiny holes which I presume came from kirby grips on someone with their hair up in the passenger seat which i dabbed in with some UHU glue and a small 1cm tear over one of the interior lights which was repaired befor the paint job.
RichC

[Jason1]

Great stuff Rich, making the most of the warm weather.

Lodestar headlining is still available although not cheap, it will still be around for awhile whilst the Ford boys are restoring there Cortinas.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-CONSUL-MK2-L ... 1109wt_905

The trouble is you also need to remove the front and rear screen so you need to add the price of both new screen rubbers to what ever you pay for the headlining.

Jason

[RichC]

thought so. 2 cans white leather paint =?25 inc postage extent of my investment .
The most hassle was masking up & the headache from being inside with the fumes !

with any job like replacing the headlining there'd always be hassles with glass rubbers and then there's the rear quarter panel clips that attach lodestar trim to the black vinyl ... and the sunvisors ... i can't think how you'd cover them satisfactorily with new stuff.

[jonnyconcrete]

Just did mine with pump whitener, ?2 from Asda, emptied into a pot and painted on with a brush...absolutely stunning results...took about 2 hours to do the whole lot. Mask up the black bits though!!