Nth Degree
New member
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,:burn: 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. :scared:
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.:burn:
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.
My first instinct was to douse it with gasoline and light a match,:burn: 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. :scared:
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.:burn:
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.
