How to remove Nasty Film on Interior Plastics?

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chungso

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Just bought a car [new to detailing], and the dealer must have used some cheap interior dressing that left this nasty whitish film over all the black interior plastics and vinyl. I'm never seen something like it - you can run your fingers and it literally smears around? The worst is the passenger dash area, but I wanted to be safe, so I first tried some Meguiars Quick Interior Detailer Cleaner with a microfiber cloth. It literally did nothing on the worst areas, and hardly anything on the other areas. The film just smeared around and left little white specs. What a disappointing product.

Next I tried some diluted dish soap and water, scrubbing with a towel...maybe I went too diluted, but it didn't help much either. Finally I said F-it, and used a soft dish scrubber pad and some diluted Fantastik household APC, not letting it sit long, scrubbing a bit. This helped the most, but this greasy film is still present over lots of the interior.

Could you suggest a safe, but strong automotive cleaner and method that could remove this film?
 
What kind of car is this?
Does it have leather or fabric seats?
Is the sticky dressing also on the leather seats or just the door panels & dash?
Any pics?
 
Sounds like you have some leftover mold release agent on the interior plastic parts. An emulsifying cleaner followed by a rinse with hot water should clean it up.
 
Its an Acura RDX with leather seats, but the film seems to be only on the dash and door panels.

What emulsifying cleaners do you recommend that would work? And should I just bin the Meguiars QID?


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If it was me I’d apply leather conditioner to try and replenish some much needed moisture back into that surface.

I detailed a Mercedes Benz a couple of days ago and the MB Tex was trashed, all dry and looking like someone had spilled milk or something on the back seat.

I 1st wiped down the entire interior with Megs D114 rinseless wash then followed up with Megs D180 Leather Cleaner & Conditioner.

Here’s how dirty my brand new applicator got after using the D180. Both sides picked up this much dirt.

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And the inside of that Mercedes looked better than new once I was done.

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Eldorado2k said:
Looks more dry than greasy to me.
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Yeah, other than the first pic in the area around the vent, I don't see much.

What led me to suggest it was mold release agent was the description that the "film" smeared around. Mold release agent typically contains silicone (among other things).
 
57Rambler said:
Yeah, other than the first pic in the area around the vent, I don't see much.

What led me to suggest it was mold release agent was the description that the "film" smeared around. Mold release agent typically contains silicone (among other things).
Click to expand...

Yeah I really haven't seen something like this before. Its almost like a sticky adhesive. Lighting was bad, so I enhanced the photos to show the residue, which then shows the plastic structure, probably making it appear 'dry'. Any cleaner you suggest?
 
I’m stumped on what that is. You’ve used some strong stuff and it hasn’t fixed it yet. I’m interested and hope someone else may know what it is and how to fix it.

Don’t toss the Meguiars quick interior detailer, that’s a great product and I’ve been using it for over 10 years.
 
chungso said:
Yeah I really haven't seen something like this before. Its almost like a sticky adhesive. Lighting was bad, so I enhanced the photos to show the residue, which then shows the plastic structure, probably making it appear 'dry'. Any cleaner you suggest?
Click to expand...

Now I'm wondering if the dealer might have used something that attacked the plastic?

I work for a dealer (driver), and when I see their "detail" guys work, I literally cringe.

I can just see some young kid using the unmarked bottle of wheel cleaner on the dash. JMO
 
chungso said:
Its an Acura RDX with leather seats, but the film seems to be only on the dash and door panels.

What emulsifying cleaners do you recommend that would work? And should I just bin the Meguiars QID?
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Keep the QID. It works well for maintenance . Don't expect a deep clean as it contains a light cleaner. I see that one area where the white streak is at is by the door. It would not surprise me if rain caused the dealer product to stain it.

You mentioned you used a scrubber pad. Do you have access to a soft bristled brush to get into the texture. I am not sure if that pad can get into the texture.

Locally as someone mentioned you can usually find the Griot's Interior Cleaner. I don't know how strong this product is to clean given that it is sold over the counter but you could give that a try.

The two cleaners coming to my mind are Optimum Power Clean and CarPro Inside. I just don't know if that would take care of what is going on with interior. Some APC's can turn the interior trim pieces white. Inside needs a follow up with a damp towel to avoid the possibility of having the area turn white unless it is diluted 1:1.

I would also recommend Gyeon Preserve to re-hydrate your dash. One of the best products to re-hydrate and rejuvenate interior trim.
 
It looks like cars that I do that have sunscreen all over the doors. It's really common here. The only thing I've found that gets it out is lightly diluted apc and one of those yellow scrubby interior brushes.
 
The problem with the dash and door panels is the grain. That's where the brush comes in. You'll never get it out of the grain with a rag.
 
sudsmobile said:
It looks like cars that I do that have sunscreen all over the doors. It's really common here. The only thing I've found that gets it out is lightly diluted apc and one of those yellow scrubby interior brushes.
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I think this is the best guess I've seen so far. Sunscreen can be nasty to try to remove. I've had better luck with CarPro Inside than general APC. But even after you clean it, sometimes you have to hydrate the plastic a few times over a period of time to let it work itself out. I would put the car where it will get a lot of sun to heat the inside up and let the hydrater do it's thing.

A few good suggestions just on this page of products you can use to hydrate with. I've just seen a hot interior help the hydrater a lot.
 
chungso said:
And should I just bin the Meguiars QID?
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No way! That is one of the best products for a quick wipe down and light cleaning.

The situation that you are dealing with does not fit that application and calls for a different product.
 
steamer maybe? Only risk would be splattering it around though.
 
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