So Who can tell me what happened here? Pictures ... its pretty bad.

RMarkJr

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ok so I did this car. I first used a meguiars super degreaser on it diluted 10 to 1. I sprayed it and right away started to scrub and spread it out. I noticed the it streaked white-ish spots like this. I got the car back yesterday and then used APC at 10 to 1 dilution and it made it worse.

The car here is a 1997 Sunfire

The good news is that this is the car we got from my Grandma when she passed and not a customers car.

The odd thing is that I have used APC with many cars and this has not happened yet.

I am trying to see if anyone has any ideas as to why this happened and what to look out for to prevent this from happening again. Seeing this makes me worried that it could also happen on a customers car and that would be bad.

Like did the protective finish come of the panel? Is there even a protective coating? Is there something to look for to know this will happen? Are cars before a certain year more likely to do this? There has got to be something .. some way of making sure that this does not happen again.

Thanks for the help

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An older car like that (or any car) if using a apc strong or diluted it's always good to test a small spot first instead of just spraying, rubbing and going to town. Not really sure what to do here. Looks like the damage may be permanent.
 
An older car like that (or any car) if using a apc strong or diluted it's always good to test a small spot first instead of just spraying, rubbing and going to town. Not really sure what to do here. Looks like the damage may be permanent.

ya i think its permanent... I am going to try my hand in vinyl dye here real soon on it .. so I am looking forward to doing that


On interiors do people use Megs APC at 10:1 .. or something weaker to make sure that doesnt happen?
 
Appears to me that it was still too strong at 10:1. Most likely will need to dye that area and try to blend, or paint the door panel with a vinyl/plastic paint.
 
Appears to me that it was still too strong at 10:1. Most likely will need to dye that area and try to blend, or paint the door panel with a vinyl/plastic paint.

ya looks like it was. All I ever hear about the APC is how safe it is and everyone uses it 10:1 and even 4:1... hell they even use megs Super Degreaser 10:1 for interiors with no issues.


I am going to try and dye the whole panel and see how it turns out. Never done it before so I`ll see how it goes. Is there a protective coating on vinyl parts like that after they are dyed from the manufacturer?
 
Looks like vinyl or the dye in the vinyl is becoming unstable. Similar to the beginnings of a clear coat failure.

Did you try a small test spot on the other door panels? That might shed some clues.

Tom
 
Did you neutralize that area with water?
 
Looks like vinyl or the dye in the vinyl is becoming unstable. Similar to the beginnings of a clear coat failure.

Did you try a small test spot on the other door panels? That might shed some clues.

Tom

I did some other areas and they were fine. The passenger door is the worst .. but the drivers door has a very light stain on it. The dash an everything else came out fine.

Is there a coating on these panels thats over the dye?
 
Did you neutralize that area with water?

No I did not .. this happened pretty much before I could get the brush on the panel. It wasnt quite this bad until I went over it again with APC
 
Put some leather conditioner on it and see what happens.
 
Unfortunately, that will likely require redyeing of the panel to fix. An interior dressing may lessen the appearance though.

I'd say the mistake you made was using a very strong degreaser on a surface without testing it first. Super Degreaser is really meant greasy engines and other soiled exterior surfaces, not necessarily interior panels. D101 would have been the better choice, but even with it, it is always best to test it first if you haven't used it on that surface before.
 
Interesting that no where in the threads anyone picked up on your first statement....

I first used a meguiars super degreaser on it diluted 10 to 1. I sprayed it and right away started to scrub and spread it out. I noticed the it streaked white-ish spots like this.

That's the issue right there. When working with degreaser you have to understand that anything that can stain, like a plastic etc, will. This is one of the reasons Wolfgang came up with Total Engine Cleaner http://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-total-engine-cleaner.html as an alternative to Degreasers. Whenever I use degreasers I have go back over everything with BLACKFIRE All-In-One Tire Cleaner & Protectant.

When I use Wolfgang Total Engine Cleaner on engines now that are fairly clean, no need to go back over unless you want to coat and dress.

You can try to use the BLACKFIRE AIO and see if that works. If not, you'll have to live it it. From here on out, use pH balanced product already mixed like Pinnacle Vinyl Leather Cleaner or McKees Fast Interior (which I now LOVE!). http://www.autogeek.net/mckees-fast-interior-detail.html
 
ya looks like it was. All I ever hear about the APC is how safe it is and everyone uses it 10:1 and even 4:1... hell they even use megs Super Degreaser 10:1 for interiors with no issues.


I am going to try and dye the whole panel and see how it turns out. Never done it before so I`ll see how it goes. Is there a protective coating on vinyl parts like that after they are dyed from the manufacturer?

There are aerosol sprays that can be used as a protective layer, but not sold here. I'd suggest that after you dye it, let it cure for a few days than put something like WG cockpit trim sealant over it for protection.
 
During my "degreaser is good for everything" phase, I did the same thing on my own vehicle. Also, I smeared up all the labels on the window switches lol. That's how I learned about using full strength degreaser inside a vehicle.
 
Sorry this happened to you, but that certainly looks like permanent discoloration. My advice, invest in a quality interior detailer since it will save you this headache. My recommendation, get the one from Nextzett it's awesome. I use to use degreaser and APC for everything too, but after getting dedicated cleaners for pretty much every part of my car, ironically I find less use for the "all purpose" cleaners. They just simply do an inferior job, and the risk they damage parts is real.
 
Interesting that no where in the threads anyone picked up on your first statement....



That's the issue right there. When working with degreaser you have to understand that anything that can stain, like a plastic etc, will. This is one of the reasons Wolfgang came up with Total Engine Cleaner Wolfgang Total Engine Cleaner as an alternative to Degreasers. Whenever I use degreasers I have go back over everything with BLACKFIRE All-In-One Tire Cleaner & Protectant.

When I use Wolfgang Total Engine Cleaner on engines now that are fairly clean, no need to go back over unless you want to coat and dress.

You can try to use the BLACKFIRE AIO and see if that works. If not, you'll have to live it it. From here on out, use pH balanced product already mixed like Pinnacle Vinyl Leather Cleaner or McKees Fast Interior (which I now LOVE!). McKee’s 37 FAST Interior Detailer

Ya thats when it first happened... and It might have actually been diluted 20:1 now that I am thinking about it. Mainly because I was waiting 2 and a half months for the APC to come in and wanted to do something.

The APC did make it worse ... but maybe because it was already compromised.

I will have to look into that McKees fast interior stuff. I was really wanting to stay with something that came in a gallon that was able to be diluted like the APC. But the safer way might be to go with that. Even though I have not had any issue with my car or the other cars I have done which is interesting.
 
There are aerosol sprays that can be used as a protective layer, but not sold here. I'd suggest that after you dye it, let it cure for a few days than put something like WG cockpit trim sealant over it for protection.

mainly my concern is after dying it is that at some point its going to need to be cleaned again and I dont the dye to come off during the cleaning process.
 
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