Steamer put micro wrinkles in leather seat.

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Mattarbenz

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Ok so I'm detailing a 2015 F350, the owners said please focus on the driver seat because their dog had left them a liquidy bowel movement surprise while traveling. They said they cleaned it up as best they could with what they had available on the road. This was about 2 weeks ago. They did not advise what they cleaned it with, however they called me right after it happened, I told them if they had it cleaned up pretty good they could steam a small towel in the microwave and let it sit on the poo area and wipe off until I could get it in.
I finally got it today and was surprised to see that it looked perfectly clean too me, the wife said if you put your nose down close you can still get a trace of smell... Ok.
So I vac'd the creases out, spayed a microfiber with 10:1 apc and wiped it down.
Fired up the steamer and secured a towel over the upholstery end turned it down to a pretty low flow and started to go over the seat bottom. Right in the left rear corner where the wife said you could smell a trace of dog poop the surface of the leather micro wrinkled up like it plastic that had been held over a camp fire. No other area reacted like this.
I have rubbed in wg leather conditioner about 5 times hoping that the spot will hydrate and reverse this action but I am at a loss here....
aeb65ae86a23c41882be313b642e79df.jpg


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Mattarbenz said:
Fired up the steamer and secured a towel over the upholstery end turned it down to a pretty low flow and started to go over the seat bottom.
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What exactly do you mean by this? Which steamer do you work with?
Ford truck? I'm assuming that's not actual/real leather? If it's actually vinyl [as it appears to be] my 1st guess is that you may have left the steamer on the area for too long causing the "plastic" or vinyl or leather if you wish to call it that to actually melt.. It looks like melted plastic in the pic.

Also, what kind of towel did you use to cover the steamer nozzle? If you used microfiber it could possibly be that the microfiber itself melted into the pleather which might just be what you're looking at. Just 1 more reason I use cotton terry towels whenever I use the steamer.
 
Yeah, looks like the plastic(vinyl/urethane) coating on top of the leather got too hot.
 
The steamer is a vapamore forza
1000, you can dial the psi down to a low output which I do when steaming seats so I don't get my hand that is binding the towel around the upholstery head. I was working in the same speed as I always have, and done the whole back seat. It was a cotton terry towel, there's nothing stuck or on the seat, it just shriveled right in that spot.
I'm wondering since that is the exact spot that they were complaining about if some cleaning agent was used and saturated into the area that the steam reacted with?

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I would try to find out what they used as a cleaner. Maybe there was something in the diarrhea, digestive enzymes or something, that made the coating separate from the leather. Then the heat affected the coating and it shriveled up because it was not attached to the leather like normally?
 
Unfortunate situation. Seems like you did everything correct.
 
Well now that stinks.Now they will blame you and want it repaired.Common sense when you use these hot steamers. I personally would of sprayed a enzyme cleaner first.Good luck on this one .
 
Yes, I never thought about enzyme.. The bad part is the seat looked just fine, I wasn't even attacking a stain or a visible problem, and I couldn't really smell anything but thought at least I'll stream it and disinfect the area. I'll probably be in for a replacement seat bottom cover at least.

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Man, that sucks. This is what scares me about steamers for interiors. Same with heat guns. You gotta be sooooo careful. Hope they understand and dont try to murder you (financially speaking) for a mistake.
 
Using a steamer to clean interiors can sometimes wind up as risky if not more than using a rotary to polish the paint...

Closest call I've ever had with a steamer on someone else's car was when I was in the process of steaming the dash on a Cadillac when I suddenly noticed the wood trim on the dash begin to warp/melt before my eyes. I was like "no no no please no"! Lol. I stopped just in time and the customer never mentioned it so yea... Could've been a disaster. Lol.
 
I'll let you all know how my conversation goes with the owner. I felt so sick to my stomach when I saw it.

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Mattarbenz said:
I'll let you all know how my conversation goes with the owner. I felt so sick to my stomach when I saw it.

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I know I have and I am sure most of us have been there too man!!! Just man up to it and do what is RIGHT from here. That is the best way to handle it. I broke the "Thunderbird" lettering on an 03 I did a while ago while drying the car. It had like 45k miles on it and it was his pride. It was late at night when it happened and I couldnt call the customer. I felt so sick to my stomach like you do and I got on ebay to order a NOS one for it. In the morning I took some shoe goo and repaired the one on the car. Called the customer and told him what happened. When he came to get the car I showed him and when the new emblem showed up I delivered it to his house. Dunno if he ever put it on yet but he was more than happy with just the repair job. I WASNT. lol
 
Now just to clarify, would any kind of "insurance" be able to save the day in this situation? I'm thinking no? And if that's the case, when what in the heck is it any good for? [besides a surprise hurricane rolling through and sweeping the vehicle out of your garage and blowing it a half mile across town].

Maybe then you'll be able to make an insurance claim and get to pay your deductible? Lol.
 
Yeah, that's the bite with garage keepers, doesn't cover workmanship. Creative reporting to a good natured insurance guy maybe?

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Mattarbenz said:
Ok so I'm detailing a 2015 F350, the owners said please focus on the driver seat because their dog had left them a liquidy bowel movement surprise while traveling. They said they cleaned it up as best they could with what they had available on the road. This was about 2 weeks ago. They did not advise what they cleaned it with, however they called me right after it happened, I told them if they had it cleaned up pretty good they could steam a small towel in the microwave and let it sit on the poo area and wipe off until I could get it in.
I finally got it today and was surprised to see that it looked perfectly clean too me, the wife said if you put your nose down close you can still get a trace of smell... Ok.
So I vac'd the creases out, spayed a microfiber with 10:1 apc and wiped it down.
Fired up the steamer and secured a towel over the upholstery end turned it down to a pretty low flow and started to go over the seat bottom. Right in the left rear corner where the wife said you could smell a trace of dog poop the surface of the leather micro wrinkled up like it plastic that had been held over a camp fire. No other area reacted like this.
I have rubbed in wg leather conditioner about 5 times hoping that the spot will hydrate and reverse this action but I am at a loss here....
aeb65ae86a23c41882be313b642e79df.jpg


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Click to expand...

That is unfortunate, and probably would have happened to any of us here, as your technique is the norm for steam cleaning leather seats. I recently attempted to scrape off some sticker residue on the inside windshield for a customer, and didn't realize until it was too late that she has window tint on the inside! My razor blade sliced right into it. I got lucky though, there was also a long crack in the windshield, and when I offered to pay for the re-tint, she said not to worry, she's getting the windshield replaced anyway. In my experiences, if you man up to your mistakes, customers normally respect that, and it builds trust.
 
Happy ending to this story! The owner came with his wife to pick up the truck. He was over the moon happy with the results of the detail, of course I was highlighting all the goodies I threw in extra and the wonderful results of the paint work before we got to the bad news. Finally I said now, here is the problem area and pointed to the seat. The wife immediately stuck her head on the seat and took a big whiff and smiled and yelled happily, "no more poop smell, thank God!"
Yes I said but there are little wrinkles in that area, " oh, I did that" she said. " I've scrubbed that area almost every day with clorox, peroxide, dawn, shampoo, everything I could think of to get the smell out" ....
My knees bent and I laughed and said thank you!
The owner said Ahh, it is what it is, kinda hard to see when your ass is sitting on it anyway, handed me full payment, said he'll call to get wife's car done next and his buddies are waiting to see the truck, and he is tickled pink, so they will be calling soon.
I bid him farewell with a handful of business cards and am now having a cold "relief" beverage.
Thank you guys for the support and quick responses, I've dodged a bullet of my imagination. Lol.

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Great news, you lucked out. :cheers:

So I'm just curious, are you going to start using the Vehicle Inspection Form in the future?

It's like an insurance policy for you and your customer. :props:
 
You know, I'll admit, I have it, and 80% of the time use it, and these folks were in a hurry to make an appointment and dropped off and ran. Others drop off at night and put keys in drop box I don't get. May have to start demanding the unconvince of ensuring a meet and greet and vif every time.

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Inconvenience, spell check got me.

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Mattarbenz said:
You know, I'll admit, I have it, and 80% of the time use it, and these folks were in a hurry to make an appointment and dropped off and ran. Others drop off at night and put keys in drop box I don't get. May have to start demanding the unconvince of ensuring a meet and greet and vif every time.

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When I bought my Harley back in 1996 aka "custmsprty" they would always do a walk around when I dropped it off. One time they did work, screwed up my drive belt by leaving something rubbing against it and it protected me, they had to replace the drive belt and the part it was rubbing against, it was over $500.00. My Hyundai dealership always does a walk around and asks if you want the "free wash"lol. But the point being, they are protecting themselves. That lady could have easily said WTFaAnd lied to you and demanded you replace the seat. CYA always :props:

PS My Nissan dealership doesn't and I force them every time to do a walk around and I make the service manager sign off on it. Maybe one day he'll catch on.
 
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