How to clean the door

8

858Smith

New member
I would do a search for this, but I really don't know what to search! I'm sorry if this is a dupe.

My husband takes care of our car, but he's deployed now, so it's up to me. I'm sorry if I sound SO stupid! :notme:

I'm trying to clean my doors of fingerprints and all that and I bought Lexol. I used it with a cotton cloth (that diaper stuff at Advanced Auto Parts), but it doesn't get the stains off. When I went to AAP, they gave me brush detailer thing, but they don't seem abrasive enough. I couldn't explain to them what I needed, so I figured I'd take a pic...

Door.jpg


What can I do to get that stuff off? It looks so gross.

THANK YOU! :help:
 
You need 2 simple items

1. Some All Purpose Cleaner
2. A basic microfiber towel (you can use cotton too)

The All Purpose cleaners are terrific for this kind of thing. They are also great around the house. Look into the APC+ product from Meguiars or the one from a company here called Poorboys's World. Or even the Optimum company's Power Clean. You mix the product about 10:1 with water so a little goes a LONG way.

The microfiber cloth is just a nice, very soft, cloth. You an pick them up either online, at your local auto store, or even at Wal-Mart. The quality does vary though as you can get some nice ones from the detail vendors, but some basic ones at the local stores aren't too bad.

That All Purpose Cleaner will take that stuff right off in seconds. You do NOT want to use abrasives inside the car.

(If you really can't get any of the automotive all purpose cleaner, some 409 will work but that kind of thing can be a bit harsh.
 
Thank you so much! I was thinking I needed some fancy cleaner that's just for a car that I overlooked all the all-purpose cleaners I have already.

I'm wondering if Magic Eraser (Mr Clean) will work then. I don't see why not.

Thanks again! I can't wait to try it tomorrow.
 
Household cleaners vary in strength and I personally feel that 409 is somewhat harsh. In fact, some companies recommend against using it.
Fantatic seems to be a little less harsh.
Using the APC with a terry wash cloth or towel will clean most areas up pretty good.
I don't use the Magic Eraser, but I think I have read where it also is somewhat harsh.
Don't get too carried away with scrubbing the area hard. Gentle usually works pretty good.
I recently cleaned up a VW belonging to the wife of a friend and the armrests appeared to have some type of coating over the vinyl and it was wearing off. I had never seen that before and I don't know if it happens to other vehicles or not. Like I said, be gentle.

And welcome to DC!
 
Thanks for your reply and the welcome :)

So, how do I know which is too harsh and which isn't? Any particular ingredients I should be looking out for? Brands would be great, too.
 
Fantastic worked on the vinyl in a boat for me for a lot of years.
Chances are pretty good that you even have some.
Also, I think giving an APC some dwell time to work on the dirt/stain before you start wiping it off is worth doing. Sprey it on and wait a few minutes. Like 2 to 5 minutes. Don't let the APC dry before you wipe it off or you will need to do it again.
 
You an always take some 409/Fantastik/similar and pour it into a plastic container with some water and use it that way. Maybe mix it half and half. That should cut it down to something reasonable. You don't "have" to use the fancy cleaners we do, but they do have some benefits.

Honestly, I'd be willing to bet that if you got some of the better professional APCs we use, and used them around the house, you'd prefer them. And they work out to be a LOT cheaper. My APC is about $35 a gallon. Around the house I would use it at 20:1 or 10:1. That means my 1 gallon of APC would make at least 10 gallons of cleaner and as much as 20 gallons. For $35. What do you spend for your household cleaners? And some, like the Poorboys APC are biodegradable. That's the direction I'll be going with future APC purchases. I don't buy household cleaners any more.
 
An easy and safe solution would be to try a Woolite 10:1 or 8:1 solution. It isn't very aggressive, but it is very safe. If that doesn't work, you could step up to an APC mixture. I would try that first. It's always best to try the least aggressive method first. Good luck!
 
i just use a small interior only set of mf towels, soap and water in a bucket

and i use simple green anti bacterial cleaner all purpose diluted 50-50 of course . and usually they all come off when i use my interior sponge .. and then i go over with the mf towel after wetting the whole door then dry it with a clean one and then i apply the 303 protectant for the money shot ...
 
blk45 said:
An easy and safe solution would be to try a Woolite 10:1 or 8:1 solution. It isn't very aggressive, but it is very safe. If that doesn't work, you could step up to an APC mixture. I would try that first. It's always best to try the least aggressive method first. Good luck!
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Came here to say this. Woolite & water is a great all around interior cleaner.
 
:drive: to Dollar Store, Pick-up a bottle of Awesome.

:drive: back home, pour Awesome in a Bucket(just enough to cover the bottom of Bucket)then add some warm water(it will suds up like :crazy2::D)fill-up bucket about 1/3 of the way, its to heavy tryin to lug a 5-gallon bucket around that is full=about 40lb's

Get you a mit & drop in bucket.get the mit out of bucket and ring out most of the product back into bucket.Then wipe door panel(or what ever else is funky)Come back with a terry cloth towel and wipe clean...As a matter of fact you should already have a towel laying Nearby:bigups

I'm sorry I don't have a Ratio factor to give you, I always just eyeball it:redface:

I just sent a :pray: up to GOD, for your Husband and his Unit to have a succesfull Mission & a Safe return Home

Oh Yea I almost forgot, :welcome: TO "Tha Family":dcrules

"DON'T" Spray this product directly on anything other then FloorMats/Carpets and even then you don't want it to sit to long:rockon
 
99cent fingernail brush from AAP works wonders.A mesh bug sponge works good too.

My apc costs 15 a gallon and I use it all over the house and car
 
WOW, thank you so much, everyone! I need to write all of this down b/c I need to read it over and over to make sure I do the right thing :huh:

flash gordon said:
I just sent a :pray: up to GOD, for your Husband and his Unit to have a succesfull Mission & a Safe return Home
Click to expand...

I really, really appreciate that. It means a lot :)
 
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