I got a call from a woman that suffers from a pulmonary disease. After a brief discussion on the phone we setup an appraisal time and date. During our short discussion, she told me that her father had used her car to go to the airport recently and left her car in the long-term parking. He left it with the back windows down. Well, we have had quite a bit of rain in the past month, and that week was no exception. Since then, mold had bloomed and she was now unable to drive the car.
Between the time of the call and our meeting, I called a friend of mine who works for a mold removal company and he gave me some suggestions. SO I made a preliminary list of items I would need to attack the blooms: Distilled White Vinegar, LeatherMasters Mold Killer, Biocide Auto Vaccine, Protein stain remover, 1Z Klima Cleaner, and a new Cabin Filter. I had some of these already, but some I would have to get.
When I met with my potential client, I took a walk around the car and then looked inside. It wasn't as bad as I had thought, but it was not good. It smelled awful and I could see where she would not only be afraid to drive it but didn't want to either.
We went inside to discuss my plan for the vehicle where I described how I would work through our 5-Step detailing procedure called Godspeed Precision.
I created some personalized price point packages for her vehicle and explained each one thoroughly. I also let her know that no mold removal is absolute 100%, there may be spores that will escape my reach. But the goal is to significantly reduce/eliminate the mold on the car's textiles and improve air quality. She finally decided on one that involved a extensive interior restoration and a wash/clay/wax exterior. I was going to pick the car up and have it for a few days. We thanked each other and I took off and went back to the shop to place some orders.
Here's the car when I brought it home a few days after our original meeting:
A few summers ago, so kids were pouring acid on cars in her neighborhood and hers was one of the unlucky ones.
The Mold!!
The Crud!!
Here's the stuff I had to buy to get this job done the right way...bye-bye mold.
The Auto Vaccine in Action- I let it sit in the car for 24 hours to do it's job. It did a wonderful job of permeating the pores of the vehicles textiles as well as every nook and cranny. Whether it killed the spores I won't know, but the smell was gone 100%! After 24 hours, I removed the vaccine and opened the doors for about 3 hours. During this time, I also mixed the Vinegar and the Mold Killer into a sprayer and began to spray the entire car's interior (including vents with the air on recirc).
Once I felt like I had sufficiently done what I could to kill the mold, and I let the interior dry out. I began my more traditional interior work. I set up a table and brought the mats out. I mixed Hit-temp Protein Stain remover and diluted TOL APC and began to pretreat the mats and upholstery.
I also got my tunes, ryobi noise supressing headset, and my new griots DA setup with a blue carpet brush (guess who in the reflection).
I also extracted the entire upoholstery of the car.
Once the carpet fiber were done, it was time for the leather. I again used TOL APC diluted 10:1 mixed with some mold killer I had left. Here are some 50/50 shots (after only one pass with the cleaner).
AT this point the interior was coming along nicely and the product selection, time, and effort were paying off huge dividends. I picked up some BH brushes, my previous leather cleaner solution, and went to town over all of the dash, console, seats, etc. I then dressed it all with Wolfgang's INterior Protectant.
Before I finished up I wanted to ensure no spores made their way back into the cabin, so I replaced the cabin filter. Good thing too.....I think it has missed it's 15K mile replacement mark! You can see the old one and new one side by side.
Just the new going back into place.
Almost done!! I went around with the vaccum again wiped everything down. I then nourished the leather with Leatherique Pristine Clean. One more wipe to inspect everything. Finally I got around to putting the mats back in.
End in site. I washed the car using my Karcher 3.49, hot water, AG Foam Cannon, a Dodo Wookie Mitt, and TOL Soap. After blasting the crud, I worked in the soap and cleansed the pores. Then I clayed using WG Poly Clay and ONR. I then did a final wash. Paint was topped with PB EX-P and OCW. Tires were dressed with Hotshine (she wanted them shiney) and undercarriage with Griots UCS. Windows go IG. Here are the afters (INterior too):
Finally, before I valeted the vehicle back to the owner, it was time to treat the AC core for any little guys that may be left in there. 1Z Klima Clean does a great job and leave a hint of citrus behindwhen you turn on the air. I took a cell phone pic as I began inserting the tube into the vent.
The owner was thrilled to death and has scheduled some follow-up services already. She has also begun telling her family who to have detail their cars from now on! I hope you enjoyed the cleanup and transformation
Between the time of the call and our meeting, I called a friend of mine who works for a mold removal company and he gave me some suggestions. SO I made a preliminary list of items I would need to attack the blooms: Distilled White Vinegar, LeatherMasters Mold Killer, Biocide Auto Vaccine, Protein stain remover, 1Z Klima Cleaner, and a new Cabin Filter. I had some of these already, but some I would have to get.
When I met with my potential client, I took a walk around the car and then looked inside. It wasn't as bad as I had thought, but it was not good. It smelled awful and I could see where she would not only be afraid to drive it but didn't want to either.
We went inside to discuss my plan for the vehicle where I described how I would work through our 5-Step detailing procedure called Godspeed Precision.
I created some personalized price point packages for her vehicle and explained each one thoroughly. I also let her know that no mold removal is absolute 100%, there may be spores that will escape my reach. But the goal is to significantly reduce/eliminate the mold on the car's textiles and improve air quality. She finally decided on one that involved a extensive interior restoration and a wash/clay/wax exterior. I was going to pick the car up and have it for a few days. We thanked each other and I took off and went back to the shop to place some orders.
Here's the car when I brought it home a few days after our original meeting:
A few summers ago, so kids were pouring acid on cars in her neighborhood and hers was one of the unlucky ones.
The Mold!!
The Crud!!
The Auto Vaccine in Action- I let it sit in the car for 24 hours to do it's job. It did a wonderful job of permeating the pores of the vehicles textiles as well as every nook and cranny. Whether it killed the spores I won't know, but the smell was gone 100%! After 24 hours, I removed the vaccine and opened the doors for about 3 hours. During this time, I also mixed the Vinegar and the Mold Killer into a sprayer and began to spray the entire car's interior (including vents with the air on recirc).
Once I felt like I had sufficiently done what I could to kill the mold, and I let the interior dry out. I began my more traditional interior work. I set up a table and brought the mats out. I mixed Hit-temp Protein Stain remover and diluted TOL APC and began to pretreat the mats and upholstery.
Also at this point, since I was going to have the doors open for a long time, I setup a battery tender. I like doing this to ensure I have no problems starting a car up after a long detail.
I also got my tunes, ryobi noise supressing headset, and my new griots DA setup with a blue carpet brush (guess who in the reflection).
After working the brush into all four mats and the entire upholstery, I broke out some lane cleaner and the Aztec. Here's a good 50/50 of what an extractor can do even after you've cleaned the mats.
Once the carpet fiber were done, it was time for the leather. I again used TOL APC diluted 10:1 mixed with some mold killer I had left. Here are some 50/50 shots (after only one pass with the cleaner).
AT this point the interior was coming along nicely and the product selection, time, and effort were paying off huge dividends. I picked up some BH brushes, my previous leather cleaner solution, and went to town over all of the dash, console, seats, etc. I then dressed it all with Wolfgang's INterior Protectant.
Before I finished up I wanted to ensure no spores made their way back into the cabin, so I replaced the cabin filter. Good thing too.....I think it has missed it's 15K mile replacement mark! You can see the old one and new one side by side.
Just the new going back into place.
Almost done!! I went around with the vaccum again wiped everything down. I then nourished the leather with Leatherique Pristine Clean. One more wipe to inspect everything. Finally I got around to putting the mats back in.
End in site. I washed the car using my Karcher 3.49, hot water, AG Foam Cannon, a Dodo Wookie Mitt, and TOL Soap. After blasting the crud, I worked in the soap and cleansed the pores. Then I clayed using WG Poly Clay and ONR. I then did a final wash. Paint was topped with PB EX-P and OCW. Tires were dressed with Hotshine (she wanted them shiney) and undercarriage with Griots UCS. Windows go IG. Here are the afters (INterior too):
Finally, before I valeted the vehicle back to the owner, it was time to treat the AC core for any little guys that may be left in there. 1Z Klima Clean does a great job and leave a hint of citrus behindwhen you turn on the air. I took a cell phone pic as I began inserting the tube into the vent.
The owner was thrilled to death and has scheduled some follow-up services already. She has also begun telling her family who to have detail their cars from now on! I hope you enjoyed the cleanup and transformation
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