Bacon grease all over car :(

S

skullone

New member
I'm a lurker on these forums, mainly get tips for washing my car, haven't done a detail or wax on it yet.

Heres the situation, and I'm pretty upset about it. About a week ago, I parked in a parking lot in downtown Portland, which happened to have food vendors set up near the sidewalks.

Well, one of them must have had a grease fire, or cooked with a ton of grease, because their vent stack was spewing out a grease cloud.

The cloud settled pretty much only on my car, and my car got covered in cooking soot, cooking grease, and oils. I got much of the windows cleaned, and several trips through automated car washed have removed the easy stuff (its in the 30's and 40's, no washing myself, too cold).

But, there remains a problem. Hard on grease on the top of the car and on the rear. It won't come off easily with the things I've tried (warm, car wash soap water, and a soft mit).

I don't want to risk damaging the paint any more than the grease has. So it looks like my only option is to have it professionaly cleaned and detailed.

Would there be any specific things to request to clean this type of stain/mess, or would most places use gentle enough products to clean this?

I haven't talked to any places yet, but what are some good questions to ask regarding my type of problem?



Car: 2006 Mazda3 GT, strato-blue color



Thank you all, love this forum btw, has some great knowledgeable people!
 
skullone said:
So it looks like my only option is to have it professionaly cleaned and detailed.
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WOW, and what's so bad about that? It doesn't sound like your attempts are going to yield any kind of result you can live with. Furthermore, you admit to have 0 experience and you want folks to write a "prescription" via internet. Hmmmm... somethings not making sense.



Maybe you should share a few fotos so we can see what's doin'. I think your best idea so far is the professional route so you're not damaging an '06 car.



Does that make sense?
 
tom p. said:
WOW, and what's so bad about that? It doesn't sound like your attempts are going to yield any kind of result you can live with. Furthermore, you admit to have 0 experience and you want folks to write a "prescription" via internet. Hmmmm... somethings not making sense.



Maybe you should share a few fotos so we can see what's doin'. I think your best idea so far is the professional route so you're not damaging an '06 car.



Does that make sense?
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I dont have anything against getting it professionaly done, but I would rather do it during the spring/summer where it wont get dirty in 3 days again ;)

I had already planned on getting it detailed then anyways, but not so soon, and not for this :(

I have experience washing cars, I do it every weekend when its nice, with nice products and a good method (that I got from these forums). I just dont have the products to polish/wax to solve this particular problem.

Dont have pictures yet, regular digital camera is broken, and my camera phone won't capture it well, obviously.

Just image a greasy, slick brown coating all over the top and rear end of the car. Its sticky to the touch, wont rub off even with car soap and warm water.
 
Dawn.



I know it isn't reccommended for auto paint, but sometimes you just need to use it. A couple times here and there wont hurt for emergencies. That stuff is made to remove grease. Just make sure you don't let it set on your car for longer than you need it to. And wax afterwards.
 
Yea, go ahead with the Dawn. One wash every few years will by no means damage the paint. Get the grease off as soon as possible.
 
mikebai1990 said:
Yea, go ahead with the Dawn. One wash every few years will by no means damage the paint. Get the grease off as soon as possible.
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I'd start there. ASAP Time will only make it worse.
 
skullone said:
Just image a greasy, slick brown coating all over the top and rear end of the car. Its sticky to the touch, wont rub off even with car soap and warm water.
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well, there's a strong de-con product produced by FK1. That should deal with things at this level, it's potent. It's followed by their neutralizing car shampoo. It is likely it will strip off any sort of wax/sealant that may (or may not) have been applied to your new car. I get a little concerned about having your start in with products of this type unless there was an Autopian nearby who might lend a little support and look over your shoulder. Perhaps somebody will step up. :help: :) I don't want this to end in a major sob story. That's my concern.
 
Am I the only heartless person these boards? I got a pretty good chuckle out of the title of this thread. I would try some Dawn. If that doesn't work, just go get it detailed. AND STAY AWAY FROM THE BACON GREASE!
 
Smashraj84 said:
Am I the only heartless person these boards? I got a pretty good chuckle out of the title of this thread. I would try some Dawn. If that doesn't work, just go get it detailed. AND STAY AWAY FROM THE BACON GREASE!
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I know what you mean, I chuckle about it too. I mean, who the hell gets bacon grease all over their car? Am I the first one? It's a hard story to tell, no one believes me!
 
Another vote for dawn but start with a little in the bucket and add more as needed.

It should easily remove all the greese.
 
Hey, bacon grease isn't the only hazard out there.



IMG_1288.jpg




Vasoline and feathers. It was a revenge hit and yeah, the person had it coming. Thankfully it's not the sort of thing that will damage the paint, just a royal PITA to clean up.
 
foxtrapper said:
Relax. Cooking grease isn't damaging your paint. It washes off easily with detergents, like Dawn.
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The grease itself isn't the worry here, it's the contaminants in it from stuff cooking in it and possibly burning that might cause some damage.
 
All you need is some kind of solution that cleans up grease and some clean rags taht you don't mind throwing out:



-Liquid dish detergent

-Mineral spirits

-All-Sol

-Tar remover



Save yourself some money and good luck!
 
Greasy smoke drifting over a car has no heat. There's no burn damage issues. Now if someone ran over with a skillet of hot grease and dumped it on his car, that would be a different issue. But that isn't the scenario here.



The contaminants in grease smoke aren't an issue. Messy, sticky and dirty, sure. But not a particularly corrosive or abrasive mix.
 
Update:



After trying a couple different ways to remove the grease and stuff on my own (warm water, dawn, soap, etc) I just took it in to have it professionaly done.



I chose a place close to my work in downtown Portland, called Dust to Diamonds.

They looked at the car, and said it would be no big deal to make it look brand new again, treated me pretty well, etc

I work just 10 blocks away from it, and during my lunch hour I walked in to see how things were going, and talked to the guy who was polishing it.

At the end of the day when I went to pick it up, a coworker came with me (I give him a ride home sometimes) and he said the car looked a million dollars

It really did... they polished and waxed it, nearly every imperfection that it got during the last year was buffed out, the color was a mile deep, smooth to the touch, and shined.

They did some paint touch up with the touch up paint I provided, fixed some down-to-the-metal scratches and dings. They even shampood the carpets and detailed the interior (wasn't even part of the package I got).

Wheels and tires got dressed, though, I dont particularly like the shiny black, oh well, itll wear off soon enough.



All in all, the car looks better than it ever has, and I might take the parking lot to small claims court to reimburse the $200 I paid for the detail.

Very very happy with Dust to Diamonds, they did an excellent job, if anyone lives in/around Portland, definitely check them out.

Ill try to get some pictures, but its crappy weather out :(
 
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