Yesterday I drove around early afternoon and enjoyed the sun. An hour or so later I looked outside and realized I couldn't see more than 5 or 6 feet -the sky had opened up and the rain was coming down really hard.

About then I remembered that my car was sitting in the driveway roof open! Well I ran to it. The 20 seconds or so to shut the roof and Windows felt like 10 minutes. Well I was drenched, but took the time to towel dry the seats and dash.

A short while later I had to take a drive. As I turned a corner I felt a drop of water from above. Oh, crap I thought, "is my roof leaking now"? Then I remembered that a half hour ago the roof was open to the rain. Not to worry about few drips.

Then I spotted a microfiber towel in the car. So I tried to see if I could help dry the headliner off. Well I tried a few swipes back and forth to see if it picked up any water. When I took a look, I was shocked. The towel was nearly black! I looked up and could see where I swipped - it was factory clean! I bet you can guess what I did for the next 5 minutes.

Guys I got the headliner perfectly clean even the yellowish spots that some have called deteriorating glue, they came right off.

Over the years I've tried different cleaners with little success. On the advice of another member I did try brake cleaner, which works, but I never was comfortable using it for this.

Now let me preclude any wise guys, I'm not suggesting you leave the roof down in a thunderstorm.😥 But in all seriousness it looks like all this dirt and stains are water soluble. I 'll leave it to you to unravel a practical application from this story.

The headliner was wet to the touch, not dripping wet. A microfiber towel completely cleaned all stains and dirt in seconds. I got really lucky and wanted to share it.

John

 

Yeah, that same storm hit us in Staten Island i had just finished washing and wax,but made sure I watched from the garage

 

I've never left the XK8 in the rain, but twice, I've forgotten to close the roof on my SLK. Woke up around 2:00 am to thunder and rain. Then I asked myself, did I close the roof? Not pretty.

 

I have just done my 2003 XKR Franks XKR Story. - Page 166 Item #1655

I too was surprised with the amount of grime up there.

I got the worst stains off with some carpet cleaner, looked a real mess afterwards. Then I got a sponge. Soaked it in clean water. Squeezed it 90% dry and worked over the entire headlining. Came up a treat.

Oh if your head gets wet whilst cleaning you have too much water in the sponge.

 

Thanks Johnken. I tried this today and was amazed at how much better it looks.

I have tried cleaning solutions and various other suggested remedies in the past to mixed results. Some even made it worse. This worked like a champ!

Who knew plain water would be this effective?

Now if I just stop being lazy and start using the hood cover more often...