Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi it's been 12 or 13 years since I had my last Minor, and this is the 5th one I have had in my life. This is a nice solid little 2 dr saloon in Maroon B and the vinyl upholstery is all intact with no rips however it is a bit grubby and also has some small areas of black paint flecks which I would like to get rid of - you can see it in the close up photo.
What product would you recommend for the paint flecks and a thorough clean ? I am assuming that there there is not a single product that will do both at the same time but if there is that would be wonderful. You can see from the general view of the dash and front seats that the overall impression is not bad, when you look close up though you do notice the little black paint flecks. Any ideas?

For normal removal of dirt there are plenty of upholstery cleaning products available. The vinyl upholstery is tough stuff and in extreme cases I have attacked it with a scrubbing brush and washing up liquid, with surprisingly good results. However I doubt if these will remove paint and there is a risk that chemical types of remover may react with the vinyl and damage it. It might be best to wait for the paint spots to wear off with use.

You could try a very small quantity of a couple of paint solvents (cellulose thinners, white spirit, brush cleaner etc) on the vinyl where it wraps underneath the seats for attachment to see what, if any effect it has on it then proceed or not proceed in accordance with your findings.

For paint flecks, which have presumably been there for some years, I can only think that you might try picking at a single small spot in an out of the way place, with something like a sewing needle, and see how well it is adhered to the vinyl.
If it's had years of being there, it might be brittle enough to come loose.

Or, a Cotton Bud dipped in White Spirit. It might soften the paint allowing it to be picked off.

But essentially as carefully and delicately as possible, like cleaning the front of a 200 yr old oil painting.

Thanks guys I tried scratching it off with a fingernail but it's too hard for that, wasn't sure if white spirit was ok on vinyl but can test a patch as suggested. I did clean the upholstery fairly gently with the green side of a kitchen sponge and some cream cleaner, had no real effect on the paint flecks though. I'll try picking it off with a needle as well and see how that goes, bit laborious I guess but hey ho

With picking it off, it depends how much dust/dirt/grime was on the seat already as to how well the paint has stuck.
I'd avoid Cellulose thinners as I think that can soften the vinyl.
I did find this old post where someone had tried it on fresh paint:
viewtopic.php?t=20259

For me the key comment was....
"The thinners cut through all the grime to reveal clean vinyl. I think it removes a thin layer of vinyl (almost like T cutting paint) so go carefully."

Just had a little go gently with a needle and when poked some of the black specks have a soft and tarry interior which smears out, actually reminds me of black waxoyl or underseal with waxoyl. Wonder if these specks, which are mostly near the edges of the rear seats are actually overspray from a waxoyl gun. Tested a bit of white spirit and seems not to affect the vinyl so now rubbing with a cloth and some white spirit and most of it is coming off, there are some specks which are more stubborn but I think it will all come off.
Cellulose yes, I would not like to risk it really....
It's going to be a slog to get it all off but I think it certainly will come off, might even try a very gentle brass wire brush with the white spirit, (the sort you use for suede shoes) on the more stubborn bits

Definitely sounds as though it's underseal/sealant rather than paint. That's a step in the right direction.