Another challenging interior - Nth Degree Auto Detailing

[Nth Degree]

This truck is just one of several owned by a roofing company, of which the owner is a good customer of mine. Approx. 180,000 miles and it had just come back from a 4 month, out-of-state road trip with a small crew. When one of the execs of the firm went to get in to go to a local site, I am told he backed away as though he had seen a ghost.




My first instinct was to douse it with gasoline and light a match, but with the price of gas I decided against that. So, after a heated argument with myself in my head about accepting jobs like this, I got to work. Expectations were not high; “Just do the best you can and make it presentable.”

No steam or extractor. All done by hand using A LOT of APC.












This spot was so dirty with dried grease, food, coffee and tar that it felt like plastic. The texture felt like asphalt.




After the first couple attempts I wasn’t sure I was even going to make a dent. But a few waves of my magic wand and... voila!










The color was wearing off the steering wheel and the white paint wouldn’t budge without stripping the finish, so I decided the guys who got it this dirty wouldn’t be bothered by it remaining.




I believe the driver’s seat belt was being used by Starbucks as an experiment for coffee storage. Once again my confidence wavered.



I had plenty of length to get creative and try different techniques.

The winning formula:
>Meguiar’s APC+ 4:1.
>Protect all other interior with towel or plastic!
>Work sections of about 12” at a time.
>**Spray generously both sides with APC. I mean soak it.
>Let dwell 2-4 minutes.
>Scrub with Scotch-brite pad by folding over the belt (like cleaning a knife) and run the length 6-8 times. Absorb with terry towel.
>Spray with plain water (soak it) and follow with a terry towel again. There is enough APC still in the belt so plain water will lift plenty more dirt to the surface.
>Repeat from ** until towel is coming away relatively clean. 100% is unrealistic. This is not a quick process. If you think paint correction requires too much patience, best to consider the match method.

An additional pass with plain water on last pass will help rinse out the strong dilution of APC.

Belt will often look dark until dry and can take quite some time to dry. A blow dryer will help speed it up. (Recommended if the car will be driven soon or your shirt might look like you are competing in a beauty pageant.)

Here is a 50/50 after 2 passes. I did 3-5 passes for each 12” section, depending on need. I used somewhere around 30 small terry towels. Notice how dirty the lap part of the belt is.




The result once dry: (Now retracted, you are seeing the lap section of the belt.)




This may have been the most difficult interior I have taken on, but not the most disgusting. That award goes to this one:

This Interior Made Me Rethink My Career Choice



Thanks for looking, and good luck to anyone who finds themselves with a similar challenge.

[mikenap]

Ugh, that`s just gross. Go back to posting NSX`s!

JK, Chris. You really do amazing work on interiors, bravo!

[Time 2 shine]

Wow, excellent job. What made you decide to do it by hand and not use an extractor?

[Nth Degree]

Ugh, that`s just gross. Go back to posting NSX`s!

JK, Chris. You really do amazing work on interiors, bravo!

Thanks, Mike. That would be my preference, but I can`t always hold out for the garage queens, though I probably would have walked away from this one if not for the huge amount of business that has come from the owner of the company. I accepted it as a courtesy, but I was compensated fairly.

Wow, excellent job. What made you decide to do it by hand and not use an extractor?

I wish I had one. Being primarily mobile without the space and not yet doing enough volume I can`t justify the cost yet.

[mrclean81]

Have you ever looked at Bissel Little Green Machines? They are very affordable and they really do a nice job. They dont last too long (I get one season out of them), but if they are used sparingly and taken care of, they will last a long time.
Really nice job on the interior. That must have been a bear doing by hand, but the results are great none the less. Im really glad to see more interior jobs and nasty vehicle write ups. Keep em coming

[broker99]

nice work. How do people ride around in these cars?

[Sleper]

Looks excellent. Great job

[wendell jarvis]

Great job !!

[C. Charles Hahn]

I think I threw up in my mouth a little...

Great turn around!

[CT3]

Damn that thing was nasty! Great job.

What in the hell was that under the vent???

[AutoHealer]

That looks really good! I am impressed with the results considering you did not use an extractor.

[maincane1]

Great job! I scrubbed some naaaaasty stuff off a Mini steering wheel yesterday. Just gross how some people let their vehicles get.

As for the extractor, mine collects dust now since I bought a Wagner steamer. The air blows out all the nooks n crannies and steam + APC gets stuff amazingly clean without saturating carpets.

When I started I bought a Bissell Little Green Machine. Besides emptying it out four times for a sedan interior detail, and waiting for it to heat up, it was ok. After the plastic suction part broke, I moved on to better.

[Nth Degree]

As for the extractor, mine collects dust now since I bought a Wagner steamer. The air blows out all the nooks n crannies and steam + APC gets stuff amazingly clean without saturating carpets.

What steamer do you use?

[Gurge]

great turnaround. really impressed with all the effort on the seat belts.

I did 2 interiors like this by hand. Then I bought a steamer (VX)

do yourself a favor and buy a steamer. even a $100 unit like a wagner will make life much easier for you. You`ll wonder how you even did jobs like this by hand

[BobbyG]

Chris, really nice work and earlier this past summer I did a 2008 Ford Escape that was just about as bad. Until someone actually cleans an interior this soiled it difficult for them to appreciate how much work goes into the end result....

Awesome job!!