Weird stuff you've seen when detailing

P

PhaRO

New member
Years ago I was cleaning a Villager Mini Van. It was just a wash but the customer pulled the seats out for me. When I was vacuuming I noticed a frog in the seat track. It was dead and wouldn't come out. I finished the cleaning of the vehicle and had customer come look at it. Everything came out fine I said except this Frog. Sir I can't get it out. He said van looks great and don't worry about the frog when I get home I'll just use a screwdriver :)


Got any stories?
 
wow! I cant even begin to top that. Toe nail clippings and happy meals. that the worst i have gotten.

Greg
 
used condoms
used drug needles with no cap on
vomit(the worst thing ever)
dried fruit, stcuk to carpet
bird poop, on the INSIDE door panel(i still can't figure that one out)
 
Can't say I've ever found a condom in a car. I did one time start washing one and noticed one on the ground in the space though. I moved the vehicle. Drugs and handguns show up now and then. I've had a few vehicles that had creatures cocooning in the door jambs. One vehicle had roaches. It was a escort station wagon with food and candy everywhere. I pull out the back seat which was the worst and they were all over the place.

Here is another odd thing that I've had happen a couple times in the past. I used to store my vacuum in the cab of my truck overnight. I got fleas in my truck. I don't have pets so my assumption is that they were in a car I cleaned and got sucked up, escaping the vacuum overnight. I'd be driving down the road and see them on the windows. I stopped storing the vacuum in cab.
 
a chicken wing under a seat........an OLD chicken wing! Im vegan so I was especially disgusted. Ive found used condoms, pot pipes, and my favorite find, a loaded 9 millimeter.
 
I had an elderly lady telling me a story about her lunch that day. She had went to a Wendy's and ordered a chicken sandwich. She opened it to check and they forgot the chicken. Darndest thing she said. I agreed and went to clean the car. Found the chicken breast on the floor beside the seat bwhahahahaha. How she didn't notice it fall when she was checking I'll never know. Maybe she got distracted.

Grossest stuff has been vomit and a Grandmother called me to clean her Crown Vic. Terrible smell she said but couldn't figure it out. One of her grandkids tossed their body of baby formula on the floor when rolled under the passenger seat. There it sat and rotted till it was black. Some had leaked but thankfully most did not. We have it easy though. I talked to some guys that worked at a body shop. Cleaning up after accidents does not sound fun.
 
I found my share of guns and pot but the funniest thing was a check for $9500 that this woman forgot about and we found it under her seat! How in the hell do you forget about that kind of money?!
 
maximv1 said:
used condoms
used drug needles with no cap on
vomit(the worst thing ever)
dried fruit, stcuk to carpet
bird poop, on the INSIDE door panel(i still can't figure that one out)
Click to expand...

yikes, needles with no caps. Wear kevlar gloves.
 
To be honest, if I found some of the things you guys are mentioning I would have stopped and done an exterior only. No need to risk your health over someone else's mess.
 
I agree open needles with no caps, your not some bio wayste cleaners but detailers. I think I read before that companys cant force detailers to clean dried blood and other stuff because of the risks.
 
i actually wear gloves the entire time i am working on a car. my skin reacts to chemicals easily so that was one reason but the first time i had to clean vomit, that sealed it for me. i am not going near that with bare hands. as far as a $9,500.00 cheque missing. that would take me about 10 seconds to notice that.
 
When I worked at a car wash (16-17 years ago) I was the vacuum guy. Lady came through in a van. I lifted the mat and there was a pack of $100's under there. $5000 in cash would have been very tempting for people making $3 and change an hour. Me and the other vacuum guy decided to take the money to the lady instead of letting it go through the line. Lady had forgot she put the money under there. How can you not know where five grand is? I know I have a quarter wedged in my door pocket that with the right tool I could get it out if I needed it.
 
Lets see-
Foot long stainless steel bowl
weed
Hydrocodone
Salamander (alive)
An email with directions.....to a swingers group "get together"
Bullets of all sorts
 
groebuck said:
Hey can I have those directions?
Click to expand...

I've still got it! It was in a trade in at my old job, the salesmen can't look at this guy straight when he comes in anymore.
 
My own detailing venture: sex toys.

When I was working part time in the detailing department of a high end delaership's auto body shop: a loaded 9mm SigSauer and a very large bag of cocaine. The owner of the vehiclehad a last name that ended in a vowel and had North End address...more than likely he was Mafia. When the stuff was found...I saw nothing. When the owner came to get his car (a BMW 850) he asked for all of the techs who worked on his car. We were called into the office, where he gave each one of us a crisp $100 as a tip.
 
Find weed or pot pipes quite often. These are middle-aged professionals driving high-end vehilces, mind you. You never know.

Cash. Regular customer had $2,200 in hundreds left in the door pocket.

Had another customer that lost $800 in hundreds in his Lincoln. Called him to tell him about it, thinking maybe he was testing my honesty. He swears he really lost it and it had been in the car for several weeks. Very happy guy.

Don't really see vomit and old food items, fortunately. My clients aren't the type to eat in their cars, much less vomit in them. (They're too busy losing money and smokin grass!)

But, I ALWAYS wear nitrile gloves. Protects me from whatever may be hazmat, as well as skin protection from chemicals.

Mike
 
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