Seat Cleaner

[reglus03]

5-6 hours sounds about right for 1 person on a really bad car.
Me and my partner would split the work. Really heavy car would take about 1hr-2hrs.
Heavy seats stain and heavy headliner, we're talking about 2hrs.
If car has sand and pet hair, we're talking about 3hr plus. I cannot imagine myself doing interior alone 6hrs for 1 car lol. I would totally hate my job if it was just an individual worker for interior lol
An 8hr shift, we produce about 6 heavy car, no light car.

[sudsmobile]

If the seats are really hammered, you might have to go to much more powerful products.

Let me give you an example. 2 weeks ago I did a deluxe interior cleaning for a client. This is my highest package where I spend about 5 to 6 hours just on the interior. His car was a 2006 Volkswagen Passat and his beige leather seats had never been cleaned.

I always start with a 10:1 Meguiar's APC+ cleaning using a soft brush on dual action polisher. After the cleaning was done, I could barelly see a difference between the cleaned seat an the dirty one. So I went at it again using a hand brush and applying pressure. Again, no real difference. I switched to Meguiar's Super Degreaser 4:1 with a hand brush. This time I saw a major improvement but the seat was still dirty. I could see uneven colors in the leather and there were clearly dirty spots. So I switched again to an orange degreaser. This time the seat came perfectly clean, even on parts I had not touched before.

After wiping everything down with a damp microfiber towel to remove all the degreaser, I applied Meguiar's Gold Class Leather cleaner and conditionner. The seats looked brand new.

Leather is coated with a clearcoat similar to what you have on the paint. It's extremelly durable. Leather cleaners are designed to clean delicate uncoated leather, so they are too weak for any real cleaning. Usually an APC will do a good job, but sometimes they are simply too weak for very heavy dirt and grime from years of use on leather.

Here are the pictures: Vokkswagen Passat 2006

And sometimes when you use too strong of a cleaner or degreaser, it can streak the leather, especially older leather.

[Eldorado2k]

And sometimes when you use too strong of a cleaner or degreaser, it can streak the leather, especially older leather.

What happens when that streaking occurs? How do you remove it?

[Calendyr]

5-6 hours sounds about right for 1 person on a really bad car.
Me and my partner would split the work. Really heavy car would take about 1hr-2hrs.
Heavy seats stain and heavy headliner, we're talking about 2hrs.
If car has sand and pet hair, we're talking about 3hr plus. I cannot imagine myself doing interior alone 6hrs for 1 car lol. I would totally hate my job if it was just an individual worker for interior lol
An 8hr shift, we produce about 6 heavy car, no light car.

I enjoy interior cleaning except when I come across a vehicle with heavy salt that just won't come out no matter what I do. For years I have been searching for a solution and then Yvan Lacroix told me to use ONR at car wash dilution (256:1) I works on most car, better than vinegar or specialty salt remover products. I don't know how that is possible since ONR is PH neutral but I think what it does is reallly lubricate the carpet so the salt can't grab on to it. Anyway, works really well. And when it doesn't, vinegar seems to be able to break out what ever is not coming out. So far this year, no uncleanably salt and calcium

I have not had to deal with pet hair very often, In fact, only once or twice in the last 5 years. I do ask when people call and tell them it's by the hour to clean that and it can be expensive if there is a lot of it. So maybe that is why I have not been forced to deal with it, they take it to a car wash or other detailers I guess LOL Fine with me.

[Calendyr]

And sometimes when you use too strong of a cleaner or degreaser, it can streak the leather, especially older leather.

It's possible. Never happened to me. I don't think that orange degreaser is necessarily stronger than super degreaser. I have not looked at the MSDS for both but I am willing to bet Orange degreaser is lower PH. The cleaning boost very likelly come from the orange oils that lubricate the dirt away from the surface. I would love for a chemist to explain both cleaning actions but in my experience orange degreasers are the most effective cleaners I have used short of full blown solvants. It's very versatile being able to clean most surfaces, it can remove tar easilly, same with bug guts. I have used it to remove stains when a stain cleaner would be ineffective. Never experienced issues such as streaking or damage to the surface. I think super degreaser is more likelly to damage, since it's very alkaline.

As for the age of leather, it really depends on 2 things:
1- Is it coated leather. If it's not, then I would not use anything other than a leather cleaner on it (or perharps a damp microfiber cloth first)
2- Is the leather cracked. If it is, the clearcoat/paint on the leather is compromised and you have to be careful

[Coopers ST]

It's possible. Never happened to me. I don't think that orange degreaser is necessarily stronger than super degreaser. I have not looked at the MSDS for both but I am willing to bet Orange degreaser is lower PH. The cleaning boost very likelly come from the orange oils that lubricate the dirt away from the surface. I would love for a chemist to explain both cleaning actions but in my experience orange degreasers are the most effective cleaners I have used short of full blown solvants. It's very versatile being able to clean most surfaces, it can remove tar easilly, same with bug guts. I have used it to remove stains when a stain cleaner would be ineffective. Never experienced issues such as streaking or damage to the surface. I think super degreaser is more likelly to damage, since it's very alkaline.

As for the age of leather, it really depends on 2 things:
1- Is it coated leather. If it's not, then I would not use anything other than a leather cleaner on it (or perharps a damp microfiber cloth first)
2- Is the leather cracked. If it is, the clearcoat/paint on the leather is compromised and you have to be careful

My wife is into essential oils. Do you think adding a drop or three to apc or a degreaser would be the same as a orange degreaser?

[Mantilgh]

The orange oil boosted cleaners do work really well. I think they use very low percentage in them because the more you add the less foaming action you get.

The concentrated orange solvent cleaners are very good at removing oil and grease from carpet and fabric and it seems to dry faster than an APC product.

I only use the solvent type for extreme dirt/grease and you do need to be careful of type of surfaces you use it on for interiors. If used straight it will dissolve hardened gum and strip the color off of some plastics.


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[Calendyr]

My wife is into essential oils. Do you think adding a drop or three to apc or a degreaser would be the same as a orange degreaser?

I have no idea. I do not know how much orange oil is needed to clean. A few drops are very likelly not enough. I have seen videos explaining how to make cleaners using basic ingrediants and essential oils but the oils were used for other purposes such as adding the ability to remove mold or make the cleaner anti-bacterial. If I remember correctly something like 20 drops were needed in a small bottle to do that... when it comes to actual cleaning, I would think the oils are probably the larger part of the actual product. Again I could be wrong.

[Coach Steve]

The rule of thumb for cleaners derived from essential oils is that they make up around 3 percent of your mixture. So, for every fluid ounce of liquid, or 2 tablespoons of dry product, add 18 drops of essential oil. There are lots of websites dedicated to the recipes of all manner of products and cleaners.

[sudsmobile]

The rule of thumb for cleaners derived from essential oils is that they make up around 3 percent of your mixture. So, for every fluid ounce of liquid, or 2 tablespoons of dry product, add 18 drops of essential oil. There are lots of websites dedicated to the recipes of all manner of products and cleaners.

Who knew?