How to test inconspicuous spot?? And Your go to safe interior cleaner?

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RMarkJr

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Ok, so I hear quite often to test in an inconspicuous spot before using a cleaner like APC or whatever else.

The thing that I am having issue with is the where and the how. Whiiich is pretty much all of it now that I think about it lol

I don't really see a good place on a door panel to test this on to see if it will leave a white spot, I mean everything on a panel is pretty visible. Also spraying it seems like it would make a pretty big spot.

Are we talking about using a qtip to apply it somewhere? My question with that is would that even apply enough product to really test it out?

How do you all do a test spot to see if its going to harm vinyl and where do you do it at?

also I guess the last question to this is ....if it does discolor it .. then what? Dilute it more .. use another product?

*What are the interior cleaners you all use and feel are safe for interior cleaning for plastics and Vinyl pieces? and at what dilution? I have seen recommendations for McKees Fast interior detailer, Pinnacle Vinyl and Leather Cleaner, and some Nextzett stuff. I have mainly been using as of recently Megs APC diluted 10:1. I have only had an issue with one car ..luckily one of the family's secondary older cars... but that's the last one i want to discolor Vinyl on.

oh and the cars I have been getting do need a good scrub down to get clean. These cleaners that say good for dusting or light dirt aren't going to do it. I need something that can really clean dirty areas.

Thanks again!
 
I rub product with a mf towel on the underside of the door panel on the plastic paneling that sits next to the interior seals when you close the door. The other option is on the passenger aide, i go further down than the glove box or even on the inside of the glove box. I rub in with a mf towel, buff it off and see if it does anything. Another good place is to test it on the inside of the grab bars foe the passengers or inside the space of the doors where they usually let you put a water bottle or sometimes it's just a map pocket.
 
The bottom front of the rear seat, where the passengers calf rests.
 
I read your other issue. Anyone who has been detailing for a while has had some kind of disaster happen unfortunately . Hopefully we learn from our mistakes. My personal rule of thumb for interiors is start with the weakest product. 98% of interiors I clean require a ph neutral soap with water and some good ole fashioned elbow grease. Tiny horse hair brushes worked in small circular motions works really well..... time consuming but safe. As far as testing areas for stronger products.... between seats, underside of door handles, carpeting under a seat and areas like that can be your friend. Also use task specific products. Companies have dedicated products that help lessen the chances of a catastrophe. With so many contaminants in interiors and various surfaces, There is no miracle product that allows you to properly clean an interior in 5 minutes. Take your time, be patiently thorough and feel free to work up a sweat.
 
I personally don't believe a test spot is really necessary unless you are are working on a late model car, re-dyed leather, or you are using an aggressive degreaser on a heavily soiled interior. Really, it comes down to common sense. If it looks like the leathers coating has started to fail on a spot, just try cleaning those areas by spraying your cleaner directly onto a microfiber towel and lightly rubbing the towel over those areas rather than spraying it directly onto the leather and scrubbing with a non-abrasive scrub pad or brush.

I used to use Megs D101 APC and D108 super degreaser for interior cleaning but was never overly happy with their cleaning ability or the fact that it irritated my skin more than other cleaners. D101 @ 10:1 was too mild for effectively cleaning body oils out of leather Super Degreaser seemed unnecessarily aggressive. I still don't get why they discontinued D103 APC+

I personally keep several different APC's and Degreaser on hand now.

M37 high-intensity APC+
-My primary leather and vinyl cleaner. When diluted at 7:1 dilution I feel it is better at removing oils and grease than D101 is while being just as safe. I know it says that it "never leaves behind a residue" but that is a bit ridiculous of a claim because if you use it and wipe it across a wood veneer or a clear plastic gauge cluster it will absolutely leave behind the same residue film that D101 leaves behind. That isn't an issue because I always go back over everything with D114 or ONR

3D Orange Degreaser
-I keep this diluted @ 10:1 and use it as a prespotter for carpet and upholstery. It's also extremely effective at cleaning body oils out of leather seats.

3D Carpet & upholstery shampoo
-I dilute this light at 20:1 and use it as my general carpet and upholstery cleaner. It's very gentle which is why I like it.

Nexzett 1z Blitz APC
-This is the most gentle APC I've ever used. Diluted 30:1 I can use it on virtually any surface safely and it doesn't dry out my hands or irritate my skin. Plus it smells incredible. I generally use this to clean car seats, steering wheels, arm rests, upholstery, leather. This is my favorite maintenance cleaner and it's the first bottle I reach for when I don't think ONR/d114 will cut it and an APC isn't needed. It's also great at cleaning tile floors.
 
Dr Oldz said:
I read your other issue. Anyone who has been detailing for a while has had some kind of disaster happen unfortunately . Hopefully we learn from our mistakes. My personal rule of thumb for interiors is start with the weakest product. 98% of interiors I clean require a ph neutral soap with water and some good ole fashioned elbow grease. Tiny horse hair brushes worked in small circular motions works really well..... time consuming but safe. As far as testing areas for stronger products.... between seats, underside of door handles, carpeting under a seat and areas like that can be your friend. Also use task specific products. Companies have dedicated products that help lessen the chances of a catastrophe. With so many contaminants in interiors and various surfaces, There is no miracle product that allows you to properly clean an interior in 5 minutes. Take your time, be patiently thorough and feel free to work up a sweat.
Click to expand...


lol ya I learned. I am not going to use degreaser again no matter how diluted I make it, and I will not ever listen to Darren of Auto Fetish Detail about how he uses Super Degreaser safely for those areas either lol.

I have been trying to use a horse hair brush just to make it a litle easier/faster than a detail brush going in circles. But if that helps with the issue of staining then I might have to do that more. I might look at some other dedicated interior cleaners... just doesnt seem to be a whole lot that comes in concentrated gallons that you can dilute like Megs APC... unless its another APC.
 
mwoywod said:
I personally don't believe a test spot is really necessary unless you are are working on a late model car, re-dyed leather, or you are using an aggressive degreaser on a heavily soiled interior. Really, it comes down to common sense. If it looks like the leathers coating has started to fail on a spot, just try cleaning those areas by spraying your cleaner directly onto a microfiber towel and lightly rubbing the towel over those areas rather than spraying it directly onto the leather and scrubbing with a non-abrasive scrub pad or brush.

I used to use Megs D101 APC and D108 super degreaser for interior cleaning but was never overly happy with their cleaning ability or the fact that it irritated my skin more than other cleaners. D101 @ 10:1 was too mild for effectively cleaning body oils out of leather Super Degreaser seemed unnecessarily aggressive. I still don't get why they discontinued D103 APC+

I personally keep several different APC's and Degreaser on hand now.

M37 high-intensity APC+
-My primary leather and vinyl cleaner. When diluted at 7:1 dilution I feel it is better at removing oils and grease than D101 is while being just as safe. I know it says that it "never leaves behind a residue" but that is a bit ridiculous of a claim because if you use it and wipe it across a wood veneer or a clear plastic gauge cluster it will absolutely leave behind the same residue film that D101 leaves behind. That isn't an issue because I always go back over everything with D114 or ONR

3D Orange Degreaser
-I keep this diluted @ 10:1 and use it as a prespotter for carpet and upholstery. It's also extremely effective at cleaning body oils out of leather seats.

3D Carpet & upholstery shampoo
-I dilute this light at 20:1 and use it as my general carpet and upholstery cleaner. It's very gentle which is why I like it.

Nexzett 1z Blitz APC
-This is the most gentle APC I've ever used. Diluted 30:1 I can use it on virtually any surface safely and it doesn't dry out my hands or irritate my skin. Plus it smells incredible. I generally use this to clean car seats, steering wheels, arm rests, upholstery, leather. This is my favorite maintenance cleaner and it's the first bottle I reach for when I don't think ONR/d114 will cut it and an APC isn't needed. It's also great at cleaning tile floors.
Click to expand...

lots of good info in here, thanks for all of that! The M37 looks like something I might try.. I like the ability to dilute it down, even though its not a dedicated interior cleaner. The Nextzett is another one I was looking at getting due to a recommendation from my other thread. That looks like a good one... although I dont know how I feel about gentle, as long as it cleans good I dont care.

for spots on carpet I have been using folex .. followed by APC at 4:1

I`ll have to try the other products you mention at some point as well. My main thing that scares me is the panels discoloring on me again.
 
RMarkJr said:
I`ll have to try the other products you mention at some point as well. My main thing that scares me is the panels discoloring on me again.
Click to expand...

Just because you have 1 strange case doesn't mean you have to wipe your shelf clean and start anew... Instead of overreacting maybe you should just let it slide and be thankful it happened here and not on a customer's vehicle. Darren preaches about using Megs APC for 20+ yrs.. Do you think he'd still be using it if he had the kind of situation you had happen frequently? No.

You said it's a Pontiac Sunfire or something? TBO, I'd blame the cheap material in that car over the APC..
 
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