The question is wrong, and that's useful

People search for these two against each other constantly, which suggests the bottles look interchangeable on a shelf. They aren't. P&S built them for different surfaces, and once you see the split the choice makes itself.

Xpress is a hard-surface cleaner. Carpet Bomber is a soft-surface cleaner and a degreaser. The overlap is small enough that most detailers end up owning both, and use them in the same job maybe ten minutes apart.

Side by side

Xpress: the one that doesn't leave a shine

The mark of a cheap interior product is the greasy gloss it leaves on a dashboard. Xpress is built specifically to avoid that. It removes dirt, grease, body oils and traffic marks, and leaves the original OEM finish — matte where the factory made it matte.

That matters more than it sounds. A glossy dash reflects into the windscreen, attracts dust faster, and reads as "sprayed with something" rather than clean. Xpress cleans without drying the surface out and finishes residue-free.

P&S lists it as ready to use, so there's no mixing step. Spray it on the surface or onto an applicator, agitate where you need to, wipe clean.

Hard surfaces

P & S Xpress Interior .473L — $10.99

Ready-to-use cleaner for leather, vinyl, plastic and rubber. Removes body oils and traffic marks, leaves the factory matte finish, no residue.

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Carpet Bomber: a cleaner and a degreaser at once

Carpet Bomber does a different job. It's citrus derivatives, biodegradable cleaning agents and water-based solvents, and its trick is getting into the fibre to dissolve the grease that's holding soil in place. On carpet, soil doesn't just sit there — it's stuck to something oily, and detergent alone leaves that behind.

It's also the most versatile bottle P&S makes. Beyond carpet, upholstery and mats, it's rated for engines, wheel wells and painted surfaces, which is why it ends up doing jobs an interior cleaner has no business doing.

And unlike Xpress, it's a genuine concentrate — use it full strength on the worst of it, dilute it for lighter duty.

Fabric + grease

P & S Carpet Bomber .473L — $11.99

Citrus-based carpet and upholstery cleaner-degreaser. Full strength on the tough stuff, diluted for light duty. Rated for engines and wheel wells too.

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Gallon

P & S Carpet Bomber 3.79L — $27.99

The same Carpet Bomber in a gallon. If you're diluting it for regular work, this is the size that makes the per-job cost sensible.

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Which one gets diluted?

This trips people up, so it's worth stating plainly. Carpet Bomber is a concentrate. Xpress is not.

P&S describes Carpet Bomber as usable at full strength for the toughest cleaning, or diluted with water for lighter-duty work. They don't publish a single fixed ratio for it — the dilution is meant to flex with the job, which is a nuisance if you want a number and a genuine advantage once you've learned the product.

Xpress is listed ready to use. There's no ratio to look up because there isn't a mixing step.

Which do you actually need?

Using them together

The order that works: soft surfaces first, hard surfaces second. Carpet Bomber on the carpets and mats gets agitated and extracted, and that process throws moisture and soil onto the plastics around it. Doing the dash first just means doing it twice.

So: pull the mats, do the carpets and upholstery, then come back through the cabin with Xpress on every hard surface. Finish with the glass, which should always be last because everything else you do will mark it.

Alternative · Concentrate

CARPRO Inside (Cleaner/Concentrate) 500ml (17oz) — $19.99

If you'd rather run one dilutable concentrate across the whole interior, CarPro Inside dilutes from full strength down to 1:10 depending on the surface.

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The bottom line

Buy Xpress if your problem is a dash that looks greasy after cleaning, or leather and plastic that need cleaning without being dried out. Buy Carpet Bomber if your problem is carpets, upholstery, or anything with grease in it.

If you're kitting out for full interiors rather than touch-ups, buy both and buy Carpet Bomber in the gallon — it's the one you'll dilute and go through fastest.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between P&S Xpress and Carpet Bomber?

Surfaces. Xpress is a ready-to-use cleaner for hard surfaces — leather, vinyl, plastic and rubber — designed to leave a factory matte finish. Carpet Bomber is a citrus-based concentrate for soft surfaces and grease: carpet, upholstery and mats, plus engines and wheel wells. They're complementary, not competing.

Do you dilute P&S Xpress Interior Cleaner?

P&S lists Xpress as ready to use, not a concentrate, so there's no dilution ratio to follow. Spray it onto the surface or an applicator, agitate if needed, and wipe clean.

What is the dilution ratio for Carpet Bomber?

P&S doesn't publish one fixed ratio. They describe it as usable at full strength for the toughest cleaning or diluted with water for lighter-duty work, so the ratio is meant to flex with how dirty the job is. Start weaker than you think you need and step up.

Can Carpet Bomber be used on engines?

Yes — P&S rates it for engines and wheel wells as well as carpet, upholstery, mats, vinyl and paint. The degreasing side of the formula is what makes that possible, and it's the main reason detailers keep a bottle of it outside the interior kit.

Will Xpress leave my dashboard shiny?

No, and that's the design intent. Xpress is built to leave the original OEM finish — matte where the factory made it matte — rather than the greasy gloss cheaper interior products leave behind.

Which should I clean first, carpets or the dash?

Carpets and upholstery first. Agitating and extracting fabric throws moisture and soil onto the plastics around it, so cleaning hard surfaces first means cleaning them twice. Glass goes last, always.