Our 04 Discovery's alcantara door panels where not looking so hot when we firt got it. They looked pretty ragged and dirty but I took the time to clean and restore them. I dont have any before pictures on cleaning but I do have before/after pictures after fixing the nap.

1. Wipe down the alcantara with warm water and a damp cloth. You don't want to soak it, ring the cloth out well.
2. For stubborn stains dilute a small amount of Woolite into the warm water and repeat step 1. Don't be afraid to scrub too hard but don't spend too much time in one spot.
3. For really, really stubborn spots I used a steam cleaner but very lightly. Please not that you should NOT steam clean the entire panel, it will ruin it.
4. Let the alcantara dry completely before starting the next step.
5. Using stiff bristle brush comb out the nap. You will probably notice that the nap has become matted over time.
6. Use a piece of 1000 grit sandpaper with very light pressure to remove the matted layer. Move in an up/down, left/right and swirling motion. You should start to see the top layer being removed. I did try one of those sweater fuzz ball removers but had limited success. The sandpaper worked much better.

P.S. I am by no means an expert on this topic, just wanted to share what worked for me. Hope this helps.

 

After cleaning but before sanding. Amazing how black my white cloth was after cleaning.



After sanding gently with 1000 grit.

 

looks nice!

Why would using a steam cleaner on the whole thing cause damage?

 

Steam would lossen the glue used to hold it on. I just used spic and span auto all purpose wet wipes on mine and it took all the pit stains and hand prints off and left a nice buffed finish

 

Holy hell... I'm so doing this come spring.

 

Nice work

 

Nice job, looks well.

I used cellulose thinners on occasions and also this stuff Tetrachloroethylene, which is dry cleaning chemical. Don't go for a drive though afterwards particularly with the windows closed cos it'll kill you with the fumes emitted - no joshing.