Cleaning smoke damaged headliner

Calendyr

Calendyr

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Ok, need some advice here.

Client called me this week to clean the inside of his car. Says his wife smokes in the car and he wants me to clean the headliner that has tuned yellow from the smoke.

So I quoted him 1 extra hour for that perticular issue and I am doing the car next week.

Now. I have never had a car that has this issue. So I watched a few videos to see if I could get some tips but everyone suggests different things and I am not sure how to go about it.

So many are saying not to get the headliner wet because the glue could fail and that would be a major problem. Then some other videos people are using tornadors and hot water extractors on the headlner to get it clean.

So what are you guys doing in this situation? Here is how I was planning to attack this, please let me know what you think:

1. Spray a degreaser on the fabric, I was thinking either Meguiar's super degreaser 4:1 or Super Clean 4:1
2. Wipe lightly with detail brush to agitate the product
3. Wipe off with a microfiber towel
4. Steam the whole ceiling

I am not sure if that will be enough to remove the yellowing.

As a bacteria fighting method, after steaming I was planning on using an enzyme odor fighting product.

So would you go more agressive, how would you go about it?
 
Calendyr said:
wants me to clean the headliner that has tuned yellow from the smoke.
Click to expand...

From what I gather, this seems to be the main/#1 issue at hand.^
If it was me, my 1st weapon for battle would be Folex and make sure to tune your Tolco sprayer to a fine wide mist because you don't want to saturate just 1 portion when you spray it on the headliner. Mist in an even pattern, and from there just use Folex as directed. Use as directed is the most critical piece of info that I can stress, because so many people screw up when using Folex by not following the directions on the label.

I believe it should get those stains out, from there it should be all downhill. Good luck.
 
I have had good luck using spray foam carpet cleaner and hydro sponge only spraying cleaner on sponge not on headliner
 
I cleaned an A6 years ago that was heavily smoked in. I recall yellow/brownish liquid coming from the headliner.

I have had really great results with OPT carpet cleaner and protectant recently. Can't comment on its effectiveness on smoker stains but the stuff is awesome on everything I've tried it on. Mix with distilled and OPT drys very quick as well, no residue either.

Try blotting the headliner instead of scrubbing and rubbing. As mentioned above light application of cleaner, you may have to clean once, let dry and clean again, and maybe a third time.

Don't forget gloves and long sleeves if possible. Eye-pro and mask wouldn't hurt either.
 
I wouldn't use a degreaser.

LEDetailing said:
I cleaned an A6 years ago that was heavily smoked in. I recall yellow/brownish liquid coming from the headliner.

I have had really great results with OPT carpet cleaner and protectant recently. Can't comment on its effectiveness on smoker stains but the stuff is awesome on everything I've tried it on. Mix with distilled and OPT drys very quick as well, no residue either.

Try blotting the headliner instead of scrubbing and rubbing. As mentioned above light application of cleaner, you may have to clean once, let dry and clean again, and maybe a third time.

Don't forget gloves and long sleeves if possible. Eye-pro and mask wouldn't hurt either.
Click to expand...
Did you use OPT carpet cleaner undiluted?
 
Eldorado2k said:
From what I gather, this seems to be the main/#1 issue at hand.^
If it was me, my 1st weapon for battle would be Folex and make sure to tune your Tolco sprayer to a fine wide mist because you don't want to saturate just 1 portion when you spray it on the headliner. Mist in an even pattern, and from there just use Folex as directed. Use as directed is the most critical piece of info that I can stress, because so many people screw up when using Folex by not following the directions on the label.

I believe it should get those stains out, from there it should be all downhill. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I think for this type of spraying I would go with a Solo hand pump sprayer. Fairly fine mist and the sprayer head can be turned to spray upward (and spray in a continuous even manner).

I also like the idea of Optimum carpet cleaner. Another product I might try is GTechnique W2 Universal cleaner (I used this awhile back on a dirty (not filthy) interior at about 1:50 with real good results. I've used it before at higher dilution ratio's, but it seemed too harsh to me. Maybe in this situation not so much a bad thing?).
 
i saw someone use a bissell on a ceiling before....let me find the thread....
 
I always get requests for smoke eradication.. one thing we stress to my clients is that the interior is a very small compartment say compared to your home. As such, that smoke absorbs into and onto every surface of that interior. That includes the leather seats, upholstery, carpeting/floor mats, dash and a/c vents, and absolutely the headliner as the smoke also rises and collects on the ceiling.

Another very important part for complete smoke eradication from a car is to ALWAYS replace the cabin air filter in the car. This filter collects dust, dirt and oders when the A/C is turned on...( ONE OF THE CAUSES FOR FOWL ODERS COMING FROM A/C VENTS ). Filter is very simple to change and produces additional profit for you. You should charge for installation and cost of filter.

Now regarding safely cleaning the headliner, the first thing I do is inspect headliner thoroughly to make sure it's not sagging or falling in any area...you don't want to be blamed for any preexisting issues. If all is clear, here is my product list and procedure:

Products:

Tuff Stuff foam cleaner
White microfiber towels 3 or more
Bucket of water

Procedure:

Soak a towel and wring it out as much as possible
Fold it twice and lightly spray the face of the towel with foam
Lightly and gently massage cleaner onto headliner inspecting as I clean
Changing towel sides and repeating frequently
until complete

If you do this correctly there will be no wet spots or residual rings.

All the best!











Sent from my LGMS631 using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
WRAPT C5Z06 said:
I wouldn't use a degreaser.


Did you use OPT carpet cleaner undiluted?
Click to expand...

I've only used OPT carpet cleaner at the recommended dilution of 3:1, always with distilled water. I'd like to see what it could do undiluted, but expensive per ounce when undiluted. Again, have never tried OPT on smoke stains, but I cannot imagine it not working well.

I just re-ordered the 32oz bottle at 20% off. I should have ordered the gallon. That is how much I like the product.
 
Had the same issue, a client whose wife was a heavy smoker. Sadly the most soiled section of the head-liner was directly over her drivers seat.
Interior Gal (the wife, who is IICRC certified) grabbed her favorite tool... The Tornador, Pinnacle APC in a 10:1 solution, slight mix of air/product.
She taped off, used the Tornador and then quickly switched to "air" to dry while tamping with a mf cloth. The results were amazing:

IMG_66161.JPG


Correct, you don't want to saturate, as the material will be left with stains, and you don't want to extract or vacuum because you'll rip the headliner off the ceiling.
 
Calendyr said:
Ok, need some advice here.

Client called me this week to clean the inside of his car. Says his wife smokes in the car and he wants me to clean the headliner that has tuned yellow from the smoke.

So I quoted him 1 extra hour for that perticular issue and I am doing the car next week.

Now. I have never had a car that has this issue. So I watched a few videos to see if I could get some tips but everyone suggests different things and I am not sure how to go about it.

So many are saying not to get the headliner wet because the glue could fail and that would be a major problem. Then some other videos people are using tornadors and hot water extractors on the headlner to get it clean.

So what are you guys doing in this situation? Here is how I was planning to attack this, please let me know what you think:

1. Spray a degreaser on the fabric, I was thinking either Meguiar's super degreaser 4:1 or Super Clean 4:1
2. Wipe lightly with detail brush to agitate the product
3. Wipe off with a microfiber towel
4. Steam the whole ceiling

I am not sure if that will be enough to remove the yellowing.

As a bacteria fighting method, after steaming I was planning on using an enzyme odor fighting product.

So would you go more agressive, how would you go about it?
Click to expand...
I would odor bomb the interior after a good cleaning.Wetting the headliner may make the odor worse.
 
Be SUPER careful about the amount of moisture being applied to the headliner. A lot of them are held up with cheap adhesives and once they get wet they will sag.
 
I always do a good thorough vacuum with a brush to dirty headliners first. Try to remove as much as possible to see what you're left with and then don't saturate it with anything wet like garyg said. Any moist cleaning I do is then fully extracted and dried with towels to leave it as dry as possible.
 
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