Did steam cleaner burn my plastic?

dpk20x

dpk20x

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I was messing around with my new McCulloch steamer the other day. I wanted to clean the dirt in my AC vents that I can never seem to reach with a microfiber towel. And I also tried to get in between a few of my HVAC knobs. I hit both of those areas with a quick shot of steam. I did not hold the stream in the same spot for more than a second, I kept it moving fairly quickly. However it looks as if I may have burned some of the plastic as it now looks chalky white.

I tried cleaning the area up with 1Z deep plastic cleaner as well as OPC with no luck.

Dressing it is having no effect either. I've lost count of how many layers of PERL I've put on there since cleaning. So what do you guys think? Is this damage permanent?

 
Try a plastic polish like plast-x. See if it helps
 
You've probably got to get a bit more aggressive with it. I steam interiors and when it turns white, I keep steaming and agitating with a gentle brush to remove this. The controls and turn signal stalks are common places for oily stuff to build up, I think the white is the oil when its moistened, but not removed.

I'm not sure how much sense that made, but it sounds good to me! Haha.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online
 
Or you may have softened the white paint and spread it around also.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online
 
Thanks Ken. That's what I thought it was at first. But it doesn't look like the lettering has faded at all.

I was also thinking that the steam might have reacted with a previous dressing and caused it to run all over the place.

But I'm glad to know that this is a somewhat common occurrence. This is my first time using a steamer and needless to say I was starting to get a little freaked out lol!!

I think I'll wrap a towel around one of the small brush attachments and see if I can remove this residue.
 
If that's what I'm thinking it is, it is residue from the HVAC symbol's paint. Some signal light stalks and cruise control buttons do that whenever they are cleaned with a chemical or in this case steam. See if you can use an APC to clean a spot away from the markings and see if it clears up.

Edit: saw you said you tried OPC. Try to stream the area with a microfiber around the head of the steamer away from those markings and see what happens.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AG Online
 
Not sure if it is burned or not. But i have burned a few things when i first got my steamer. Had the temperature on the highest...

It turned white, thankfully was on a friend's car. I put on some dressing and it made it a lot less noticeable.
 
Rico24 said:
Not sure if it is burned or not. But i have burned a few things when i first got my steamer. Had the temperature on the highest...

It turned white, thankfully was on a friend's car. I put on some dressing and it made it a lot less noticeable.
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I think I would have rather it been my car. ???
 
I hate to tell you this, but I think that plastic piece is toast. If you tried 1Z Deep Plastic Cleaner with no results - I ain't comin' off IME.
 
If nothing works to bring it back to normal looking, try a heat gun on it ..
 
is it me or does it look like scratches?

did you have a brush on the end of your steamer?

It has been a long day for me.......but I'm thinking out loud.
 
dad07 said:
is it me or does it look like scratches?

did you have a brush on the end of your steamer?

It has been a long day for me.......but I'm thinking out loud.
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Nope no brush. I was trying to get the gap that runs around the knob so I hit it with a straight burst of steam.
 
Looks like I was able to salvage things though.

Cleaned the area again with deep plastic cleaner and a tooth brush. Didn't really do much.

Then I sprayed the area down again with deep plastic cleaner and let that dwell for a minute or so. Then I hit the area with the steamer again. This time I used the triangle attachment with a towel wrapped around it.

Area still looked chalky and dull after this but that's kind of how I expected it to look. So I applied a couple of layers of PERL at 1:1 and it looks like new. Well I hope so anyways. Sun went down an hour ago so I guess I'll have to wait until the morning to see how it looks in natural light.
 
dpk20x said:
Looks like I was able to salvage things though.

Cleaned the area again with deep plastic cleaner and a tooth brush. Didn't really do much.

Then I sprayed the area down again with deep plastic cleaner and let that dwell for a minute or so. Then I hit the area with the steamer again. This time I used the triangle attachment with a towel wrapped around it.

Area still looked chalky and dull after this but that's kind of how I expected it to look. So I applied a couple of layers of PERL at 1:1 and it looks like new. Well I hope so anyways. Sun went down an hour ago so I guess I'll have to wait until the morning to see how it looks in natural light.
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I hope it works out....please keep us updated on your findings.
 
That's scary.

A while back I put a little Goo Gone on the panel moldings of GMC, rubber like but painted, at first it looked stained but hit it hard with PlastiX and it removed it.
It's hard sometimes how plastics or rubber reacts to chemicals or in your case steam.
 
dad07 said:
I hope it works out....please keep us updated on your findings.
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I'll definitely keep you guys updated.

Here's another piece that got ruined too. This happened when I was cleaning my seat belt holder. I was using the triangle attachment with a towel wrapped around it at the time.


 
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