Did steam cleaner burn my plastic?

Just curious: Did you buy this car new, or used?

Was thinking maybe if it was a used car it's possible this damage may have already been done, then someone could have dyed the plastic. If that's the case it may be possible that the steamer removed the dye.

Perhaps it really was too much heat, too close, with too slow of movement.
 
I think you may have been too aggressive with the steam. Holding it in one place, too close, for too long will easily damage plastic like that.
 
Yes I bought it 3 years ago. Had about 90,000 miles at the time.
 
KillaCam said:
I think you may have been too aggressive with the steam. Holding it in one place, too close, for too long will easily damage plastic like that.
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You may be right. I think I was too close if anything.

But did you see the picture of the center console? I wasn't cleaning that part at all. I was cleaning the buckle that the seat belt clamps into. And I had the steam head wrapped in a MF towel and only hit it for a second or two.
 
dpk20x said:
Yes I bought it 3 years ago. Had about 90,000 miles at the time.
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I wonder how much that car sat in the sun? I've seen a few cars where the plastic trim has turned sort of like in your picture. Still I wonder how this happened and whether or not the issue was masked by someone and with what product?
 
Hoytman said:
I wonder how much that car sat in the sun? I've seen a few cars where the plastic trim has turned sort of like in your picture. Still I wonder how this happened and whether or not the issue was masked by someone and with what product?
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Not sure how much it sat in the sun but it is black and certainly gets HOT in the summer!

Wouldn't surprise me at all if it had been touched up at some point in time. There's another piece on the center console that looks like it had a hole or a crack in it at one point in time and someone tried to repair it with a patch of some sorts. Not exactly sure what it is. I'll try to get a picture if it tomorrow.
 
So looks like I was able to successfully clean this piece up. Might be a tiny bit of that white residue left over in the lower left hand corner. Hard to see because its really cloudy and dark outside.

So whatever it was, either the white lettering or oily residue from another source, looks like the combo of deep plastic cleaner and steam was able to clean it up.

 
It looks very nice! The first time I did this in my truck I thought it was ruined. I went over it again, a bit more aggressive with steam and microfiber towel knocked it out.

I'm glad it worked out for you as well. Before too long you'll wonder how you ever got by without steam!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using AG Online
 
Thanks guys!

And Ken your advice was really helpful. Gave me the confidence to go over the spot once again with steam and to get a little more aggressive with it.
 
Nice recovery! I thought that plastic was totaled. I've never had much luck fixing "messed up" plastic.
 
Very strange, Ive used the exact same steamer on my girlfriends 2002 Grand Cherokee a few times and never experienced any issues. Glad you got it cleaned up.
 
PRicci09 said:
Very strange, Ive used the exact same steamer on my girlfriends 2002 Grand Cherokee a few times and never experienced any issues. Glad you got it cleaned up.
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Yeah that is weird. Have you cleaned that particular area before with just a straight burst of steam? Or do you typically use an attachment with a towel on it?
 
Glad it worked out for you, that's a bad feeling:xyxthumbs:
 
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