cant get interior cleaned. need your help

[ca.detailchick]

Oil eater has gotten some of the nastiest oil stains out of carpets and cloth seats for me. I get it at the local auto parts store.
OIL EATER Cleaner Degreaser,1 Gal - Parts Washer Cleaners and Solvents - 4NHH6`|`AOD1G35437 - Grainger Industrial Supply
Dilute 1 to 3 or 4 parts water.

[ShaneB]

I`ve had good luck with oil based stains and inks using stoners terminator. Of course make sure you do a test spot first but I`ve yet to come across a fabric that it pulls the color out of.

WD40 is amazing stuff too. Too many people think of it as a lubricant, when in reality it`s a penetrant and water displacer. It`s by far my favorite cleaner on the pin setters I work on at my full time job. It immediately goes to work reliquifying old dried up grease and makes it for easy clean up. I saw someone suggest that earlier and it may be worth a shot. Just remember ALWAYS do a test spot when trying these types of cleaners outside their normal purpose

[rightaway]

the car is coming back Sunday. I`ll take some pictures

do you think trying cleaner made for home hot water extractor, like rug doctor would help?

[rightaway]

[IHA Mark]

There is not going to be much you can do for stuff like that. My only thought is to use some 3D Orange Degreaser 1:4, agitate, and extract. You might pull some of it out but there will be plenty of spots where the fibers in the fabric have been permanently discolored.

Most of the time "a little more elbow grease" is not going to help.

[Envious Eric]

replace it...will be faster and the look he is after...of course, at a higher price.

I would have that option laid out for him...price it out properly and you might be able to make more than whatever you are charging for the cleaning that will never make him happy anyway.

price out replacing the seats, all of them, as well as the carpet
add in your expected labor costs (its all bolt in /drop in)

price it out so he can buy it from you and you will order it all up, sell it to him, he can then install it

price it out to clean it as best as possible one more time, and thats it, paid in full, no expectations on 100% as its just not logical/possible.

If you sold that interior for anything under $300, you are losing! Its going to take 8-12 hours to try and clean that near 90%, you could have done four individual 2-hour jobs and made double what you will make on this one, and had 4 more happy clients instead of one unhappy one!

sometimes, its worth it to turn someone away.

[ShawnF350]

When talking with Steve @ Poorboys weekend we had a long discussion over this.
He said quite a few times as he laughed that people ask him how to remove a certain type of stain.
If you already tried and it hasn`t come out it`s a STAIN.
That`s why they call it a STAIN.

I wish you luck if your determined to get them out. It`s always worth a try.

[kenny.bacon]

Like Ron stated it`s probably on the foam. What I do sometimes is I pull it out like 4 times with an extractor until it is as good as I can get it, turn the car on with the heater on and let everything dry. As you use the extractor when you are rinsing make sure to pull the cloth away from the foam. If you get the foam wet then it`ll certainly come back. Then if the stain is still there I take a clean wash mitt, my fabric cleaner, and mist the seat or my wash mitt and do it by hand. Just a little bit of cleaner. I just clean the surface to get it spotless and even and let it dry again. Then explain to the customer you got the stain out but due to the nature of cloth seats it may come back over time. An educated customer is better than a confused and unhappy customer when that stain might possibly show up again.

[JSFM35X]

where are you located, if you let us in on that perhaps someone local can help?

Guys, list your location if only by state.

[Paintxpert]

Kerosene? Perhaps gasoline and a match. Just kidding!

[Paintxpert]

I used to have a boss who said, if you get that out Ill kiss your A--on main street. Stains like that are PERMANENT. Dont waste your effort.

[tropicsteve]

I recently had some sweats with bicycle chain grease that I couldn`t get out no matter what stain removers I tried or how many times I washed it. as a last measure, I sprayed some aerosol brake parts cleaner on it and it completely disappeared in seconds. I was surprised.

[GearHead_1]

I recently had some sweats with bicycle chain grease that I couldn`t get out no matter what stain removers I tried or how many times I washed it. as a last measure, I sprayed some aerosol brake parts cleaner on it and it completely disappeared in seconds. I was surprised.

Did it leave any white residue? Have you ever noticed the similarity of the smell of Brake Cleaner compared to walking into your Dry Cleaners?

[EXPDetailing]

I still stand by non-chlorinated brake cleaner for worst case scenario. Starting fluid will melt rubber at will, so stay away from it for interiors. Brake cleaner is designed to not distort rubber. Hence, one will dissolve rubber while the other won`t. That should be enough info to draw a conclusion.

[LeadingEdgeDetail]

I always get them with...

When you stain your shirts, do they come perfectly clean after?

Fabric is Fabric.

If you spilled coffee on your shirt, let it sit in the sun for 3-10 years, do you think it`ll wash out?

That`s what happened to your seat.

Same goes for oil.

Usually gets the point across.