View Full Version : Help me figure this one out: 1 gallon of paint spilled in a van
Jean-Claude
09-14-2011, 04:54 PM
My mom just called me and said a gallon of water based paint just spilled in her minivan.
I have a few things in mind:
Wet vac it up and use a steamer and/or hot water extractor and spend the time to break it up and remove. I am concerned that the paint would make for a shorter life for my $1,000 extractor though.
What I am betting would be the best bet is remove the chairs and pull out the carpet and pressure wash that sucker.
I am open to any advice.
Ron Ketcham
09-14-2011, 05:07 PM
First thing is while you are figuring out what to do, soak it really good with an all purpose cleaner, as it will stop the latex from setting and start to break it up.
Not good if it sets for more than a couple of days.
Grumpy
hose+shopvac that might need replacing soon enough. 1 gallon is a ton of paint to deal with.
C. Charles Hahn
09-14-2011, 05:33 PM
Ouch.... that job is going to SUCK! Definitely hose and shopvac that are throw-aways. Maybe pick up one of those buckethead vacs from Home Depot.
Jean-Claude
09-14-2011, 05:37 PM
I have a couple big shop vacs and frankly, one of those cost far less than the hit she will take on the value should the paint set up.
If I still had a truck mount steam machine I could kill this sucker in 20 minutes.
Deep Gloss Auto Salon
09-14-2011, 05:43 PM
I`d pull the carpet out, use some APC and pressure wash it
Jean-Claude
09-14-2011, 05:52 PM
I called in a favor from a friend who has a truckmount.
Brad B
09-14-2011, 10:18 PM
I called in a favor from a friend who has a truckmount.
Good move! The faster the better. Let us know how it turns out! Boy, this would have been great to get pics of. You could win the detail of the month award! :)
Jpostal
09-14-2011, 11:15 PM
I know it has already been taken care of, but if I had this problem I would probably scoop up and soak up as much paint as I could. After that I would use lacqure thinner to clean the carpet...sounds crazy, but the guy I use for my interior repairs swears that it does not discolor the carpet and he uses it all the time for cleaning difficult grease stains and stuff. I tried it the other day on an ink stain and it worked well with no color transfer from the carpet...I guess if it did discolor the carpet you could always dye it.