Minivan interior by Northeast Detailing!

[Kristopher1129]

I see a lot of exterior work being shown off on the forum. But, I don't see interior work being shown off very much. I take a lot of pride in my interior work!

I know a lot of detailers hate interior work. But, I really don't mind it. I find that a top notch interior job blows customers away more often than not.

Here's a minivan I did for a customer who brings me a lot of auction vehicles. Typically with auction vehicles, I tend to not spend a whole lot of time on them. In todays case, a customer rescheduled...so I ended up with more time than I thought. So, I figured I'd take some pictures, and show you guys kinda how I do things for interiors! Hope you like it.

Here she is...
Looks pretty mean huh?

Clearly, I had my hands full on this one. The first thing I attacked was the carpets. I always start with carpets first. I use the air hose with an extension gun to blow out underneath seats, and in cracks and crevices. Then soaked the carpet, and mats in APC. I followed up with a Mytee Lite II hot water extractor.

I usually wet the area a bit with the extractor, then scrub with a vinyl brush...THEN extract. I find that method to work great. Produces results such as this...

You probably noticed in these pictures that the leather and vinyl had been done at that point as well.

For vinyl and leather...I swear by using the Magic Sponge method!! Magic sponges can be used on both leather, and vinyl for phenomenal results!

Magic sponges, leather/plastic cleaner from Malco, and a clean microfiber always does the trick for me.

For vinyl, I'll sometimes spray directly on the vinyl and scrub with the magic sponge then wipe with the micro. Produces great results.

For the leather. I do things a bit differently. I spray directly on to the sponge. This ensures that no spotting will occur. A lot of times if you spray a leather cleaner directly on the leather...it creates spots very quickly.

Spray on to the sponge, then scrub gently. Wipe down with a micro to finish up. Here's a great example of the results you can get.

Before any cleaning...

Half has been cleaned..

After being cleaned, and conditioned...

For conditioner...I swear by Malcos Leather Conditioner. I absolutely love the stuff. Also, it may sound strange...but yes, that is a cloth diaper in the below photo. I order them in bulk, and use them strictly for leather conditioner. Why? Cause the stuffed center they have really holds the conditioner in. You can prime the towel with conditioner, and really get good spread time with it...

Like I said...LOVE Malcos conditioner! I wasn't kidding...

So, there ya go. Hope you guys enjoyed! :dblthumb2:

 

[ALLN1WASH]

Awesome job Kristopher, serious turn around!

 

[A.P.A.D.]

nice job! great post after the discussion earlier about doing great jobs on the interiors.

that steering wheel was nasty btw! how many gloves do u go through?

any tips for carpet cleaning without a hot water extractor?

 

[bhrees]

excellent work and thanks for the magic sponge trick!

 

[2gHiBoost]

Excellent work! Seeing an interior turn around like this is impressive. When I was looking at the before pictures, I couldn't imagine trying to do this on my own. I wouldn't know where to start! lol.

 

[Bates Detailing]

Like always - you did a great job man!!! rops:

 

[Kristopher1129]

Thanks guys! I actually left out a pretty key step that I also do. That would be the Tornador! I use the Tornador strictly for dressing. I prefer to clean the vinyl by hand, and with the magic sponges. Then follow up with the Tornador for dressing.

I used to use the Tornador as a cleaning tool. But, I just find it much more useful as a dressing tool. :dblthumb2:

 

[Dr Oldz]

Nice turn around! That was pretty nasty!!

PS... I'll be sending your WG DGPS out tomm.

 

[Kristopher1129]

nice job! great post after the discussion earlier about doing great jobs on the interiors.

that steering wheel was nasty btw! how many gloves do u go through?

any tips for carpet cleaning without a hot water extractor?

Thanks man! Yeah, the steering wheel was pretty grimy and beat up. It had a lot of worn out spots on it. I had to actually be pretty gentle with it, cause it was pretty much falling apart. The finish was just done for.

As for the gloves...believe it or not, I only used one pair the whole time. Ever since I started buying the black Nitrile gloves here on autogeek, I pretty much can't destroy them, ha. Except for when I use my tree sap, paint transfer, or tar remover chemical.

As for the extractor tips. I did give a couple tips on the extractor in my explanation of how I do carpets. There's not many secrets to an extractor though.

I always presoak the carpet with a chemical while the extractor is warming up. Before I extract, I always wet the carpet area a bit and scrub with a vinyl brush. I do that because when you wet it down...it reactivates whatever product you used to soften the stains. Then, when you scrub...it really breaks them down. Followed by the hot water extractor to suck it up...there's not much that can withstand that.

Also make sure your using a good extractor mixture in your machine. Sometimes I throw in a bit of deodorizer for a good smell. :dblthumb2:

 

[Kristopher1129]

Nice turn around! That was pretty nasty!!

PS... I'll be sending your WG DGPS out tomm.

Awesome! Thank you very much :dblthumb2:

Wanna try some of that Malco leather conditioner? Stuff rules and smells EXACTLY like leather. Let me know!

 

[jimmyjam]

Beautiful work Kristopher!!

 

[Kristopher1129]

Beautiful work Kristopher!!

Thanks Jimmy! Nice work yourself with those videos for the Optimum spray gun. I can't wait to get one of those for tire shine now. :dblthumb2:

 

[ScubaCougr]

Love a good interior detail...that's where the person paying spends most of their time. Going to remember the magic sponge tip. Thanks!

 

[jsgntulok]

Need to exercise extreme care using a magic eraser bar on leather and soft vinyl. I used to use them but not anymore. More than once I removed finish from vinyl, fortunately in inconspicuous spots. Now for tough spots, I use Megs APC and a soft brush. Another advantage of this process is I can remove more of the soil/stains from the cracks in leather seats.

 

[Kristopher1129]

Need to exercise extreme care using a magic eraser bar on leather and soft vinyl. I used to use them but not anymore. More than once I removed finish from vinyl, fortunately in inconspicuous spots. Now for tough spots, I use Megs APC and a soft brush. Another advantage of this process is I can remove more of the soil/stains from the cracks in leather seats.

I don't think EXTREME care is needed. That might be a bit exaggerated IMO. I've scrubbed at particular spots pretty heavily and never removed a finish. If you're removing finish...you're clearly going overboard. It shouldn't take more than 10 seconds to remove something off the surface of vinyl or leather. If it doesn't come out right away...you're probably best leaving it alone.

The only time I've ever removed finish was in a particular case where the leather had been repaired and the customer didn't mention it to me. Obviously a repaired finish isn't something you'd want to use the sponges on. I've never had a problem getting dirt out of the cracks either. I just put pressure on the leather with my left hand and spread crevices, and cracks open as I go. (sounds dirty, haha)

Vinyl brushes work good in some cases. But, I think the sponges do a more thorough job. The brushes are tough to get a nice even, clean look with. Plus, whether you spray the cleaner on the leather, or dip the brush in first...it's typically easy to create spotting. Of course if you're using APC...spotting is less likely. But, I don't find APC to be all that great for bringing back leather.

I'm the opposite of you. I used vinyl brushes for years, then switched to the sponges. I like them. I still use brushes obviously...but, more sparingly. I actually did a back to back test many times. I cleaned with the vinyl brush, then went in with the sponges to see if I could take it a step further. The sponges definitely came out superior in every test. We all have our ways I guess! :cheers:

 

[Mazda.Mark]

Thanks man! Yeah, the steering wheel was pretty grimy and beat up. It had a lot of worn out spots on it. I had to actually be pretty gentle with it, cause it was pretty much falling apart. The finish was just done for.

As for the gloves...believe it or not, I only used one pair the whole time. Ever since I started buying the black Nitrile gloves here on autogeek, I pretty much can't destroy them, ha. Except for when I use my tree sap, paint transfer, or tar remover chemical.

As for the extractor tips. I did give a couple tips on the extractor in my explanation of how I do carpets. There's not many secrets to an extractor though.

I always presoak the carpet with a chemical while the extractor is warming up. Before I extract, I always wet the carpet area a bit and scrub with a vinyl brush. I do that because when you wet it down...it reactivates whatever product you used to soften the stains. Then, when you scrub...it really breaks them down. Followed by the hot water extractor to suck it up...there's not much that can withstand that.

Also make sure your using a good extractor mixture in your machine. Sometimes I throw in a bit of deodorizer for a good smell. :dblthumb2:

nice job! great post after the discussion earlier about doing great jobs on the interiors.

that steering wheel was nasty btw! how many gloves do u go through?

any tips for carpet cleaning without a hot water extractor?[/QUOTE]

I think he meant for tips if you do not have an extractor...like me...so care to indulge me on cleaning by hand?:xyxthumbs:

 

[Bates Detailing]

nice job! great post after the discussion earlier about doing great jobs on the interiors.

that steering wheel was nasty btw! how many gloves do u go through?

any tips for carpet cleaning without a hot water extractor?[/QUOTE]

I think he meant for tips if you do not have an extractor...like me...so care to indulge me on cleaning by hand?:xyxthumbs:

With or without an extractor I always spray the stains with a prespray, then agitate the spot lightly with a brush and using a white terry cloth I dab each spot continuously changing to a clean area on the cloth - until the cloth doesn't pick up any more stain. This can be hard on the fingers but gets most of the stains out. Then since you don't have an extractor, I would spray it all down evenly with an APC let sit for a minute - can agitate with a brush...... then using hot water - pour in small areas and use a wet/dry vac to soak it up. Basically an extractor without the PSI! Prehitting each spot has always been the crucial step for me when doing carpets..... especially since I have had to produce quality turn arounds with crappy rented cold water next to nothing psi "extractors" at times. Hope this helps!

 

[Kristopher1129]

nice job! great post after the discussion earlier about doing great jobs on the interiors.

that steering wheel was nasty btw! how many gloves do u go through?

any tips for carpet cleaning without a hot water extractor?[/QUOTE]

I think he meant for tips if you do not have an extractor...like me...so care to indulge me on cleaning by hand?:xyxthumbs:

Ooooooh! Whoops, haha. Cleaning by hand and getting great results is pretty tough.

Presoaking with a chemical will still definitely help. If you run into carpet in the condition like the pictures I posted...you're probably kinda screwed, ha. But, the average dirty carpet can be cleaned by hand...I just don't think it will technically be AS clean.

If you're WITHOUT (haha) an extractor. I would presoak with your chemical of choice. I have different ones depending on the stains. Then go around and mist water and scrub before you vac. Kinda like a pseudo extraction I guess.

Another thing I do sometimes. I use my Tornador foam gun. It creates a thick foam you can then scrub in, and wipe with a clean micro. That works pretty well.

Another trick I've seen used is using a pressure washer. Presoak, then hit the carpet quickly with a pressure washer, and vac up. I actually use this method for things like crystalized road salt.

That's all I can really think of right now. When it comes down to it...you kind of need an extractor IMO. You'll just never get maximum results without one. But, you gotta do what you gotta do! :dblthumb2:

 

[mdb917]

Excellent job! rops:

I enjoyed seeing an interior for a change. Most people seem to spend a great deal of time worrying about this polish or that polish and we don't get a chance to see interior work done to this level.

 

[dad07]

Great turnaround Kristopher....:dblthumb2: