"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
12/05/2018 at 17:31 • Filed to: None
3
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"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
12/05/2018 at 17:31 • Filed to: None | 3
| 28 |
my job is reconditioning textiles and plastics, the majority being pre-owned automotive for dealers . T oday I encountered the most disgusting steering wheel in my 20+ years of this. 2014 Silverado with around 45-50k on it. Otherwise a clean truck with exception of the drivers area.
some areas of filth are thicker than paint, took roughly 20-25 minutes just to get it stripped (normally less than 5 to clean a wheel for prep) I’ve never seen an airbag have that much caked on...most of the grain above the bowtie is thick layer of filth as is the bottom corner. I had to scrape the buttons with a small metal tool as it was too thick to get all of it wet making it take too long to scrub normally .
underneath some of it was worn leather, when the top coat wears you start to wear the actual leather which starts to go suede.
A little filler to make it smooth again. The top had some of this too.
Finished wheel.
Driver seat was filthy too, this photo doesn’t show how bad it was. My extractor is broken to so I had to manually scrub it for what seemed like 2 days.
As I said, this may be the grossest thing I can remember seeing in a used car during my career . Every car for dealers I work on has always gone through detail first so I miss the awful stuff and clean what they can’t... seems lately I do more cleaning than I should need too.
I im agine the guy t hat owned this thing was a professional shit thrower who didn’t wash his hands. The rest of the truck aside from the drivers area was pretty much unused, bed was in good condition so not a work truck. Gross, I’d have been embarrassed for anyone to see I did that. The manager said they wanted him to replace the wheel in the recon dept.
Textured Soy Protein
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 18:17 |
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Maybe the previous owner was a fan of wiping their nose with their left hand instead of using tissues.
Svend
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 18:34 |
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It astounds me what people drive. They clean their house but to take time and clean even the most basic of stuff from inside the car, nope.
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 18:34 |
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I will fly you over here to fish my dash
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Monkey B
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
12/05/2018 at 18:38 |
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and I’d do it.
7:07
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 18:50 |
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MUSASHI66
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 19:01 |
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What did you use on the seats? I have fabric seats in light blue with 132k miles of butt time and I want to clean them. I bought some chemical guys fabric cleaner and a drill brush attachment, plus I have a carpet cleaner with hand held extractor attachement. That’s my plan. If love to know what kind of tool you used though as the results are great.
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Monkey B
> MUSASHI66
12/05/2018 at 19:23 |
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I typically have one of those Bissel spot extractors with me but they break all the time since they aren’t for commercial use. They are cheap though so disposable. Since I hadn’t got a new one I use a dual action rotary with brus h heads and a really potent de greaser cleaner cut 90% with water. If you have an extractor it’s the best method. If it bleeds back through a little (newer fabrics do this as the fabric dries before the foam and wicks some back through) . An even spritz of cleaner but not to0 wet followed by vigorous scrubbing with a brush followed by vigorous drying with a clean towel. Working extremely quickly is paramount. Repeat as often as necessary. Foaming cleaners are good for that final, if needed step, as they stay on top negating the wet foam issue.
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Monkey B
> Textured Soy Protein
12/05/2018 at 19:28 |
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Since I had hands on this thing I’m gonna go ahead and not wonder what it exactly is ...
haveacarortwoorthree2
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 19:29 |
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Mind if I ask a professional question? I am replacing the second row in my wife’s old SUV as we hand it down to one of the kids — bought leather seats from a junk yard but they are pretty dirty from sitting so long. What’s the best way (process and product) to clean and recondition them?
As payment, I shall answer one legal question of your choosing.*
Answer may not be correct in your state.
Spanfeller is a twat
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 19:32 |
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Why does leather peel like that? What kind of solution would cause that degradation?
404 - User No Longer Available
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 19:33 |
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OK now that leather restoration caught my eye. My Solstice has the glossy leather wheel issue too... I wonder if there’s a way to restore it.
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MUSASHI66
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 19:53 |
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Do you think this
Chemical Guys ACC_201_BRUSH_MD... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003TU662Y?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf
plus this
Chemical Guys CWS_103_16 Fabric... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FJHTCEO?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf
would be good for seats and carpets? I was planning on using a spray bottle with the cleaner, then agitate with the brush, then extract with the carpet cleaner attachment. Does that sound like a plan?
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Monkey B
> 404 - User No Longer Available
12/05/2018 at 19:57 |
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if it’s just glossy from oils from your hand, grab some Simple Green and cut it 50/50 with water. Get a mild scotch brite pad (the 3M white ones from an auto paint supply store are the mildest) wet it with the soap and quickly, evenly , with a light/medium scrub and towel dry immediately. Should look OEM when dry. Sometimes top coated leather will discolor u nevenly when wet, let it dry thoroughly before deciding if it needs more scr ubbing...most times it does not.
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Monkey B
> Spanfeller is a twat
12/05/2018 at 20:01 |
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it’s not peeled, you see a combination of caked on dirt and spots where the color is worn. This type of leather is essentially painted (top coated) so it wears as any paint would wear in high traffic situations. The oils from your hand can get ground in to a degree (along with the dirt) and that’s why it needs an occasional stripping of this stuff to make it clean and have an OEM sheen. Automotive leather should not be conditioned, everything you put on it changes the sheen and traps dirt. It does not soak in through the color to treat the hide...that can only be done by oiling the raw side.
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Spanfeller is a twat
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 20:10 |
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thanks! that’s really informative˜!
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Monkey B
> haveacarortwoorthree2
12/05/2018 at 20:15 |
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HAHA! How are you on tax law?!
Use a 50/50 mix of Simple Green/W ater, a grey Scotch Brite pad and a few clean towels. Evenly spray the seat (I do back only first then bottom only in sin gle seat sections). You can also use a scrub brush if it has a deep grain the Scotch Brite can’t get to. Work quickly and evenly. S ome leathers used by certain mfrs. don’t like this method so much and might look a fright while doing the process. What year/make/model? I probably have experience with it and can warn you if it’ll be that way. This works on your vinyl and plastics too, just use a white Scotch Brite on the plastics as the gray ones can be too aggressive for some of them. Don’t Scotch Brite any painted trim or chrome.
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Monkey B
> MUSASHI66
12/05/2018 at 20:27 |
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those brus hes are similar to the one I use on mine, I have one of these:
For soap just grab something like Simple Green or those purple cleaner degreasers and cut them with water. They are stronger than anything marketed for auto interiors as they are maintenance cleaners, not deep cleaners . Also, marketing = more expensive...get a gallon of soap for less locally. I use the Zep concentrate from Lowes in my extractor...I know a guy that does great carpet cleaning and that’s his go to spot soap.
Use the extractor first. It’ll pull a lot of dirt out so that if a scrubbing is needed there’s less dirt rolling around in scrubbing soap.
What year/make/model?
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MUSASHI66
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 20:37 |
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2000 Toyota Tundra access cab, V8 SR5. Platinum metallic outside, with matching blue-ish fabric interior. Seats are like new when it comes to fabric shape, but you can see the dirt.
What is the name of the device you pictured? I was just planning on using my rotating brush with the cordless drill.
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haveacarortwoorthree2
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 21:01 |
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Ooh, I hire people for that.
It's a 2013 Pathfinder. Thanks for the tips!
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404 - User No Longer Available
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 21:04 |
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I did try some APC (Chemical Guys Nonsense), it does go back to OEM matte for a bit, but the gloss returns. Maybe I should try it at a stronger concentration, it usually recommends 1:20 for interior. Didn’t want to go super strong as the stuff even works on tires.
I’ll give it a shot when I pull her out of the garage next summer.
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Monkey B
> MUSASHI66
12/05/2018 at 21:18 |
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I have zero idea what it’s called...I picked it up years ago at a flea market because it looked like I could use it for large scrub jobs. Years later it became my cloth seat scrubber.
as far as that era, they should be a basic velour type and will respond well to extraction with little if no wicking issues.
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Monkey B
> haveacarortwoorthree2
12/05/2018 at 21:24 |
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I typically don’t have issues with Nissan stuff, yet again I’ve never regularly serviced a Nissan dealer so my experience is limited. I think you may see some color on the towel and mixed in the scrubbing but I’ve never had Nissan give me much issue in that respect. Black leather?
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MUSASHI66
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 21:44 |
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Cool, thanks!
merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
> Monkey B
12/05/2018 at 22:37 |
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Monkey B
> merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
12/06/2018 at 07:44 |
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nice, even nicer I paid $10 for the thing. G uess I know where to find attachments now if I wanted to use it as a polisher...though I have my trusty Makita rotary bought in 1992. Even after hard hard use it only ever needed a new cord and switch and still purrs . I also have a Porter Cable DA polisher.
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haveacarortwoorthree2
> Monkey B
12/06/2018 at 11:03 |
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Yep. Going to give it a go today. Thanks again.
Spasoje
> Monkey B
12/08/2018 at 20:40 |
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n me on this. It could very well come in handy
!
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Monkey B
> Spasoje
12/09/2018 at 08:59 |
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filler for cracks, blemishes, cut repair. It’s air dry and flexible when cured. But you’d need a coating to finish and in my experience there’s only one that looks right and durable. I t can be difficult to work with for the uninitiated.