Help!!! Gallon of paint spilled inside the Car!

EWtheDETAILER

EWtheDETAILER

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Autogeeks!

I need some help on this one! I've got a customer coming in tomorrow that had a gallon of interior paint spill all over their Cadillac Escalade! Any ideas on how to get this out? The paint has set for a few days but the temps are cold (10-30 degrees) so I don't think its all baked dry. Current plan of action is to attack it with the steamer and spot bot... However I'm open to any and all ideas! Are degreasers best for attacking/pretreating?!?

Thanks for the help in advance!!!

Feed back please
 
Being interior it should be latex and not oil-based. Depending on where it spilt it may just be easier to remove the carpet and clean outside of the vehicle. Hopefully it's in the cargo area as that piece of carpet should be able to be purchased separately if necessary.
 
New carpet. They should call their insurance company and see if its covered if they didnt have it in cargo. otherwise they are screwed. I hope you didnt give them any guarantee's.

have you gotten paint on your carpet at home? you have to hit latex with water right there, an it still leaves traces. 3 days,,, its already setting up even if not solid its gonna probably stain.
 
Extract, steam, extract, scrub, repeat. No guarantees, but that's where I'd start.
 
AeroCleanse said:
Extract, steam, extract, scrub, repeat. No guarantees, but that's where I'd start.
Click to expand...

+1
My biggest concern is how deep has the paint penetrated? If it has soaked into the pad underneath it could continue to bleed back through for a very long time after you clean it. Most automotive padding/sound deadener is water resistant, not water proof. If the paint has gotten into the pad and you don't get it pulled back out, every time pressure is applied a "new" stain could appear. If it is the cargo area, I'd pull the carpet out and hit it with a pressure washer to get the majority of the paint out then work on the stain with steam. Should get most of it out.
 
:iagree:

Maybe its just me but I rather use my shop vac to extract rather than my extractor in this situation. I wouldn't want paint in my extractor.
 
Thanks for the tips! It is latex paint... And I did not give this guy a guarantee it would come clean! I've dealt with lots of paint on exteriors but never on interiors. I'll post pictures later.
 
Yeah I would think a replacement carpet (if its the cargo area) would be a much cheaper and easier undertaking. I would search the junk yards for the guy and charge him to R&R it for him if it were me, I wouldnt mess with trying to get it out..or I would charge him by the hour and no guarantee.
 
Might (probably isn't) not be worth wasting your time on.

Call the dealer parts department and get a quote on a new carpet.

It shouldn't take more than five hours to install.
 
Ouch. Now that it's set in, cold or not, that sounds like a mess.

If it was a fresh spill, a shop vac and lots and lots of water works (Don't ask me how I know, hehe). Just keep 'flushing' the paint out and sucking it up with the shop vac. Then a good detergent to finish and break down any remaining paint. I definitely don't think I'd let your spot bot or carpet extractor touch that paint though. The 'water' method worked for me with spilled paint on carpet in my home, but it was a FRESH spill. As soon as it spilled I went to work on it. Don't think there's much you can do when it's dry. That's kind of the point of paint!
 
I had a car come to me like this 2 years ago or so. i ended up taking the car to a quarter slot car wash and using there vacuums to remove all i could, while the paint was still wet in the back seat floor boards and seat (cloth luckily). Then i brought the Jeep liberty home. Removed the front seats, rear seats and all necessary plastics to remove the carpet. I then bought 5 gallons of commercial paint cleaner (actually gun and equipment stripper) i put it in a round up pump and on fabric i would spray, agitate, pressure wash 3000 psi, wide angle tip. The fabric was perfect. No traces.

The plastics, i would dilute the stripper to i think was a 50/50 if I'm not mistaken, and spray and scrub and power wash. The plastic was gray. (I think if the plastic would have been black it would have discolored it.)

The carpets were black and I ended up spending i think was 8-10 hours on this car. Let it dry over night with fans and then reinstalled the interior. (Summertime job) The cost was $650. I hope this helps.
 
DO NOT USE degreasers !!!! water lots of rags .keep weting and vac. over and over and over
 
master detailer said:
DO NOT USE degreasers !!!! water lots of rags .keep weting and vac. over and over and over
Click to expand...

Can you explain why a degreaser couldn't be used? I'm curious to know because if I had a similar situation I might have tried a degreaser or an APC.
 
Pull the carpet, lay it out and hit with a pressure washer until the water runs clear. Lots of soap and water. Check the underlayment to see if it needs replaced.
 
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