Detailing Challenge

[ecrosier]

Hello Everybody,



I just bought 1995 Acura Integra SE white/gray that probably was never detailed before. So yesterday I took the seats out and started cleaning the interior. Carpets and floor were so filthy; it took me few hours to clean them. Well, they are clean (no dust, smell better), but the some stubborn stains are still there. I did the carpets with laundry/OXI-clean combo, rinsing with plenty of water and then re-treated it with Bissell “Fabric and Upholstery Cleaner� vacuuming with my Shop-Vac. Any suggestions how to get rid of these stains? Obviously, I’ll need stronger chemicals. Should I try something like “Orange-Glo�?



Pictures are here: http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=...ffe4b9&notag=1





Much bigger PITA was glue on a dash. The lady I bought the car from had some figurines glued to the dashboard and now I’m having a nightmare trying to get rid of it. The thing is that dash is covered either with the leather or soft vinyl and the glue (which is hard as a rock) has penetrated pretty deep. I used “Goo-Gone� followed with lot of elbow grease and careful scraping with knife. I managed to clean most of it, but you can still see the marks. Any suggestions?





This is for now. Tonight I’ll start cleaning engine. I’m waiting for new pads for PC from Maguier’s to start with the exterior. That is going to be interesting one. The exterior is with plenty of swirls, totally dry with no wax on it. Probably never really being waxed in the past. I believe that they, at least recently, were using a dishwashing liquid to wash the car prior to sale.



Wish me luck.

[ultrajim49]

Quote:"Wish me luck."



Good Luck





:xyxthumbs



:wavey

[imported_BretFraz]

Well, it looks like you`ve made lots of progress here. Clearly the car has been neglected for most of its life so any improvement is a good thing. I don`t think you`ll be able to remove all the stains as you don`t know what they are or how long they`ve been there. Only suggestion I have is to keep working on them. Maybe try a more industrial type cleaner from a janitorial supply store or a place like Home Depot.



The floor mats are trashed so just replace them. No point in killing yourself trying to restore them as they`re designed to be sacrificed anyway.



I also think the dash is trashed. The chemicals in the glue reacted with the plastics in the dash. The dash is likely damaged permanently. One of those dashboard covers is the way to go.

[louissc]

i use resolve carpet cleanser granuals...usually gets out all stains...for some heavy duty ****...use some lacquer thinner with some degreaser, and fill bucket with water