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Touching up orange dashboard stitching
Hi all, new member but long time clean car-obsessive.
I recently bought a 2021 Nissan Titan PRO-4X, my first ever new car...and first ever truck. Unfortunately, my trusty Einszett/1Z Cockpit Premium seriously messed up the [vinyl?] dashboard. I felt absolutely sick. The dealer, my local Cquartz/Xpel shop, and even an auto interior repair place weren't 100% sure what happened but it almost looks like it dissolved some of the finish or clouded it. It's baffling as I've used this product on my other car with zero ill-effects. We tried numerous other cleaners to see if it was just residue but nothing worked.
Our only solution was to re-dye that portion of the dashboard which worked fairly well. Despite their very best efforts to mask, however, some of the orange contrast stitching did get a bit of overspray and now looks a shade darker in spots. 95% of people probably would never notice this but since it is right in my line of sight above the instrument cluster, it's driving me nuts! To the untrained eye, it would probably just look like dirty or faded stitching. Below are two photos showing the difference in the stitching color.
I am unsure how to fix this but had a few ideas:
1. Orange fabric marker -- cheap and low risk
2. Orange paint applied with ultra-fine dabbers -- cheap but higher risk
3. ???
4. Replace dashboard -- expensive
The interior repair place advised against using something like diluted laundry detergent on a toothbrush to clean the overspray from the stitching as it might remove some of the new dye they laid down? I certainly don't want to undo $300 worth of work and be right back to where I was. Replacing the dash is of course last-resort.
As an aside, I'm also insanely paranoid now about using anything to clean this truck's interior.
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Re: Touching up orange dashboard stitching
Originally Posted by dparm
Hi all, new member but long time clean car-obsessive.
Welcome to AutogeekOnline!
Originally Posted by dparm
I recently bought a 2021 Nissan Titan PRO-4X, my first ever new car...and first ever truck. Unfortunately, my trusty Einszett/1Z Cockpit Premium seriously messed up the [vinyl?] dashboard. I felt absolutely sick. The dealer, my local Cquartz/Xpel shop, and even an auto interior repair place weren't 100% sure what happened but it almost looks like it dissolved some of the finish or clouded it. It's baffling as I've used this product on my other car with zero ill-effects. We tried numerous other cleaners to see if it was just residue but nothing worked.
Bummer man.
I don't have any experience that I can recollect with the Einszett line of products. Just one of the brands I've never played around with?
Originally Posted by dparm
Our only solution was to re-dye that portion of the dashboard which worked fairly well.
Too late for these two recommendations then, both agitated lightly with a horse hair detailing brush or just massaged over the stitching with a microfiber towel and then blotted out.
303 Multi Surface Cleaner
Hydrogen Peroxide
Originally Posted by dparm
Despite their very best efforts to mask, however, some of the orange contrast stitching did get a bit of overspray and now looks a shade darker in spots. 95% of people probably would never notice this but since it is right in my line of sight above the instrument cluster, it's driving me nuts! To the untrained eye, it would probably just look like dirty or faded stitching. Below are two photos showing the difference in the stitching color.
I am unsure how to fix this but had a few ideas:
1. Orange fabric marker -- cheap and low risk
2. Orange paint applied with ultra-fine dabbers -- cheap but higher risk
3. ???
4. Replace dashboard -- expensive
The interior repair place advised against using something like diluted laundry detergent on a toothbrush to clean the overspray from the stitching as it might remove some of the new dye they laid down? I certainly don't want to undo $300 worth of work and be right back to where I was. Replacing the dash is of course last-resort.
As an aside, I'm also insanely paranoid now about using anything to clean this truck's interior.
The thing you want to to is difficult and tricky. Outside of what I would have tried above, I'm not sure what else to suggest?
Here's your pictures,
In your gallery here,
dparm Gallery - AutogeekOnline Gallery
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Re: Touching up orange dashboard stitching
Originally Posted by Mike Phillips
Too late for these two recommendations then, both agitated lightly with a horse hair detailing brush or just massaged over the stitching with a microfiber towel and then blotted out.
303 Multi Surface Cleaner
Hydrogen Peroxide
Thanks Mike, the interior repair guy tried a few of his cleaners just to be certain -- he uses them to prep surfaces prior to painting (degreasing). I also tried P&S's Xpress Interior Cleaner, diluted dish soap, and Sonax's foaming fabric cleaner. We even tried a heat gun to see if it was something that could be softened up and wiped away but no cigar.
Any thoughts on the fabric or paint pens? I have seen people use these to turn white stitching another color, but that's arguably the easiest application.
Nissan quoted me $3500 to replace the entire dash. That's a lot less than I expected, so my plan is to just try the fabric marker or dabber of paint, and if I really mess it up or hate the result, I can always just let Nissan deal with it if it still bugs me.
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Re: Touching up orange dashboard stitching
Originally Posted by dparm
Thanks Mike, the interior repair guy tried a few of his cleaners just to be certain -- he uses them to prep surfaces prior to painting (degreasing). I also tried P&S's Xpress Interior Cleaner, diluted dish soap, and Sonax's foaming fabric cleaner. We even tried a heat gun to see if it was something that could be softened up and wiped away but no cigar.
Those are all good options. The problem with this type of thing is the stitching or STRING is simply difficult to clean due to how it's embedded into the vinyl material and - it's simply not the easiest thing to clean anyways.
Originally Posted by dparm
Any thoughts on the fabric or paint pens?
I have seen people use these to turn white stitching another color, but that's arguably the easiest application.
No thoughts about the paint pens - never used one.
If you can get one - just experiment and test in an inconspicuous area. If you can make the stitching in an inconspicuous area look good you can make the stitching in full view look good.
Take one for the team...
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Re: Touching up orange dashboard stitching
That's the plan: start with the fabric marker, then move up to the paint if no improvement. Fortunately these can be quickly wiped away before they dry if anything weird happens.
Will report back once the products show up later this week and I give it a try.
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Super Member
Re: Touching up orange dashboard stitching
If you're seriously considering replacing the dash at $3,500 I'd go a step farther and see what they might do on trading it for another new truck.
Dashboards and all the attached components (especially in new cars) are not really designed for disassembly and reassembly. So many parts are simply snapped together with plastic clips, studs, and sockets. Disassembly is nearly impossible without some compromise to those components and fasteners and there is more than a good chance that you'll end up with rattles and squeaks.
Unfortunately the cure may be worse than the disease... Sound familiar?
As hard as it might be, your best course of action is probably to just live with it as is.
I feel for you. And while some may think you're crazy obsessing over a minor issue, not me, I completely understand. That said, you really do need to give serious thought to the potential unintended consequences before proceeding with any major disassembly of the dash in a new car.
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Re: Touching up orange dashboard stitching
Originally Posted by 2black1s
If you're seriously considering replacing the dash at $3,500 I'd go a step farther and see what they might do on trading it for another new truck.
Dashboards and all the attached components (especially in new cars) are not really designed for disassembly and reassembly. So many parts are simply snapped together with plastic clips, studs, and sockets. Disassembly is nearly impossible without some compromise to those components and fasteners and there is more than a good chance that you'll end up with rattles and squeaks.
Unfortunately the cure may be worse than the disease... Sound familiar?
As hard as it might be, your best course of action is probably to just live with it as is.
I feel for you. And while some may think you're crazy obsessing over a minor issue, not me, I completely understand. That said, you really do need to give serious thought to the potential unintended consequences before proceeding with any major disassembly of the dash in a new car.
That was at the back of my mind as well...dashboard reassembly could trade one problem for another.
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Super Member
Re: Touching up orange dashboard stitching
Welcome to AutogeekOnline!
If you go the marker pen route you may want to look
into Pentel Color Pens they’re a good quality marker.
and of course test in an inconspicuous area.
good luck.
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Re: Touching up orange dashboard stitching
I’d test in an inconspicuous area first but after what Eldorado2k did with this seat belt, I’d give LA’s Total Awesome (LATA) a shot.
Filthy seat belts...
I also ordered Chemical Guys Lightning Fast Carpet Cleaner and Nonsense Surface Cleaner after seeing what another member did to a nastily stained headliner. I used (one of?) them on a dark stain in the light tan fabric behind my rear armrest and it was gone in an instant. Who knows what the stain was since my kids did it.
Other than that, I’d probably go for a marker to make it a consistent color and would stay away from having the dash removed. There might be a few high end car audio guys that I would trust to remove the dash but I could count those on one hand that I’m familiar with and confident could do it correctly.
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