How do you clean wool?

[JohnB]

An old colleague had a Morris Traveller that, sadly, was scrapped after failing its MOT test due to rotten timbers. Apparently, they are structural components. Good job they don't do that sort of thing with old houses!

They obviously didn't use enough lime when they built them :lol:

 

[Me!]

I have managed to successfully refit headlinings before, but I have failed in many more attempts than have I have succeeded!
What make and model of car is it please? (and a photo would be good!)
From the age of the car, I assume it is as previously described, with the cloth held over ribs of a frame and also fixed around edges against doors etc?
If so, it is virtually impossible to apply any pressure to the fabric as it is just a gap behind it to the bodywork. Sorry, but any type of cleaning with it still in the car has in my experience ended up with a more patchy mess than I started with. However, if you have a localised mark and can get the right colour, I have seen some very impressive results with painting over a stain or burn using an aerosol of matt car paint. Feather the edges well, and it can come out very well. However, ....... it can also go horribly wrong!

If it does, then I can recommend Woolies who I have bought headlining cloth from before and many other trim items as well, although I've never needed their wool one so I can't vouch for that.

 

[Bayliss]

Thanks for comments, I have tried Woolies for cleaning products to no avail, and the headlining I have in place is far to good to dispose of. The car is an 1925 Vauxhall 14/40 saloon, I will ask my Son to post an few pics next week.

 

[Feltwell]

Then she spotted a "half-timbered car" .

An old colleague had a Morris Traveller that, sadly, was scrapped after failing its MOT test due to rotten timbers. Apparently, they are structural components. Good job they don't do that sort of thing with old houses!

Yes - it's an ash frame on the Travellers, and it's all that supports the roof at the back of the car I believe. You can replace them though - there is a place in Bristol called Charlie Ware's that can still supply them. I have a particular fondness for Travellers - one of the few things I can remember about my grandfather, who died when I was only 4, is "Grandad's wooden car" as I called it then. I can remember being allowed to sit where his knees should have been (his legs having both been amputated as a result of an infection contracted in a Japanese POW camp) as he drove along using his hand controls. Long before the days of child seats!

 

[Me!]

painting over a stain or burn using an aerosol of matt car paint

I should add that if you try this, you are not trying to get a layer of paint on the surface, you need to colour the individual fibres. Paint comes out of an aerosol as something like a very fine sticky coloured dust. Just put on very thin coats and see what happens. This same procedure also works very well with carpets if they have a threadbare patch where you can see the backing. If for example you have a bald patch where your heels rub in a car footwell, or on the leading edges of a stair carpet in a house (trying to get some period property connection in here!), the paint can bring it back to the correct colour and give very impressive results.

 

[philpjuk100]

The problem with cleaning is that the "clean" area is actually uniformly dirty and if you sucessfully clean the stain then this will be cleaner than the rest!good luck,phil.