Do not use any soap to soap up the carpet , you'll have a hard time rinsing all the soap out and what is left will attract dirt faster.
Soaps will do more long term damage to boat carpet than almost anything else.......because most soaps are a waxy solid or liquid made from sodium hydroxide mixed with fats, and most detergent soaps are petroleum based.........they will leave a surfactant residue sticking to the nylon /olefin carpet fibers....these surfactants will attract dirt faster to the fibers, almost like a sticky surface. Grinding the dirt into carpet is what wears out the fibers , leaving bare spots.
Don't use any type of pressure washer, even the ones at the car wash have enough force to lift up some worn carpet off the deck
Hose the carpet down real good then scrub it with a stiff bristle brush to loosen up the dirt.
Saturate the carpet real good, take the nozzle off your hose and let the water flow on it.
Make a mixture of 1 pint of plain white vinegar to 7 pints of water. Use a garden sprayer or spray bottle to saturate the carpet.
Scrub it with the brush again, the vinegar will loosen up the rest of the dirt and residue in the carpet. Turn the hose on and rinse real good while scrubbing.
Use a shop Vac to suck up the water or let air dry. Fluff the carpet up with a brush and it will look like it's new again.
If you have some real bad stains or worn spots, Resolve carpet cleaner is great for cleaning up spot stains or real dirty areas. You can get it at any grocery store.
I had a rider get in my boat last year with some tar residue on his shoe, spot about the size of a quarter, my back deck was covered with these spots, must have been 100 of 'em.
took some scrubbing with a small brush and the resolve , but the light gray carpet came up looking new....good stuff to keep in your boat cleaning supplies.
