Best way to clean trunk and door jams

ONR. If it is really dirty, OPC with a soft brush, then rinse with low volume/pressure. I either use the PW with power off or pressure/garden sprayer to rinse so it is controlled and doesn't get interior wet with anything more than a light mist.
 
I assume you mean the door to front fender jamb that has the hinges, and can hold a lot of leaves, dirt, & grease coming off the hinges, etc...

You will want to do these in conjunction with the first wash of the vehicle, so that all the messy stuff is done once and never have to get in there again, except to perhaps polish the opposite door to middle body jamb area, after all the cleaning, rinsing is completed..

This hinge is usually the hardest to do because its only accessible from one side..

I will spray a good APC in there (Meguiars APC+) and use long handled brushes to get as much as can be reached, rinse with anything, even your garden hose with a on/off valve set to really low, and rinse out all the stuff that comes out, really well...

Dont worry too much about getting it surgically clean and perfect because the next time it rains and you drive in it, sometimes, dirty water gets blown back in there...

Try to manage the grease on the hinge rollers so it doesnt get everywhere, ruin your nice towels, and you need to leave it on there to help lubricate the moving parts that get the most wear..

I also use a VX5000 Steamer sometimes, to really knock stuff out fast, and because its really hot, it heats up everything which speeds the drying...

The Trunk jamb hinge is usually pretty dirty but much easier to work around since you can get to it from all sides... Same process, spray, brush, rinse, and be careful to not get the water into the trunk itself...

The Trunk jamb itself does get really bad, and in WA where I used to live, I would sometimes find little trees growing in there in really neglected vehicles... Leaves, seeds, etc., fall in there, they get wet, they get hot, turn to compost, mold, more water, heat, etc., and you know what happens next..

Just spray your Cleaner in there, and brush - both the jamb and the upper part of the trunk lid that goes over the jamb might be pretty bad, and then follow the upper part of the trunk lid edges all the way around..

Good luck !
Dan F
 
Either ONR in a spray bottle or Optimum Power Clean if it's REALLY dirty. Spray either solution liberally and take a soft bristle brush (raceglaze brush set) and rub away to the jam. I've cleaned some pretty nasty door jams recently with this method and it works pretty well. One was so bad I had to use OPC undiluted.
 
For those of you that clean out the door jambs, do you need to reapply a lubricant or grease?
 
Solid advice here! It's the way I've been do mine for years

Stokdgs said:
I assume you mean the door to front fender jamb that has the hinges, and can hold a lot of leaves, dirt, & grease coming off the hinges, etc...

You will want to do these in conjunction with the first wash of the vehicle, so that all the messy stuff is done once and never have to get in there again, except to perhaps polish the opposite door to middle body jamb area, after all the cleaning, rinsing is completed..

This hinge is usually the hardest to do because its only accessible from one side..

I will spray a good APC in there (Meguiars APC+) and use long handled brushes to get as much as can be reached, rinse with anything, even your garden hose with a on/off valve set to really low, and rinse out all the stuff that comes out, really well...

Dont worry too much about getting it surgically clean and perfect because the next time it rains and you drive in it, sometimes, dirty water gets blown back in there...

Try to manage the grease on the hinge rollers so it doesnt get everywhere, ruin your nice towels, and you need to leave it on there to help lubricate the moving parts that get the most wear..

I also use a VX5000 Steamer sometimes, to really knock stuff out fast, and because its really hot, it heats up everything which speeds the drying...

The Trunk jamb hinge is usually pretty dirty but much easier to work around since you can get to it from all sides... Same process, spray, brush, rinse, and be careful to not get the water into the trunk itself...

The Trunk jamb itself does get really bad, and in WA where I used to live, I would sometimes find little trees growing in there in really neglected vehicles... Leaves, seeds, etc., fall in there, they get wet, they get hot, turn to compost, mold, more water, heat, etc., and you know what happens next..

Just spray your Cleaner in there, and brush - both the jamb and the upper part of the trunk lid that goes over the jamb might be pretty bad, and then follow the upper part of the trunk lid edges all the way around..

Good luck !
Dan F
Click to expand...
 
dc52nv said:
For those of you that clean out the door jambs, do you need to reapply a lubricant or grease?
Click to expand...

Not really because if your using APC and a low flow of water to rinse, it's not that much more water, no more than might be in there from driving in heavy rains and such.
 
Beemerboy said:
Not really because if your using APC and a low flow of water to rinse, it's not that much more water, no more than might be in there from driving in heavy rains and such.
Click to expand...

Right, unless you go hog wild with a heavy degreaser and scrub the hinges, you're not likely to remove the lubrication there for the hinges.

As a side note, since snowy (yuk) weather is coming, I spray those areas heavily with WD-40 to help prevent the salt spray from getting a hold in the jambs & hinges.
 
Stokdgs said:
I assume you mean the door to front fender jamb that has the hinges, and can hold a lot of leaves, dirt, & grease coming off the hinges, etc...

You will want to do these in conjunction with the first wash of the vehicle, so that all the messy stuff is done once and never have to get in there again, except to perhaps polish the opposite door to middle body jamb area, after all the cleaning, rinsing is completed..

This hinge is usually the hardest to do because its only accessible from one side..

I will spray a good APC in there (Meguiars APC+) and use long handled brushes to get as much as can be reached, rinse with anything, even your garden hose with a on/off valve set to really low, and rinse out all the stuff that comes out, really well...

Dont worry too much about getting it surgically clean and perfect because the next time it rains and you drive in it, sometimes, dirty water gets blown back in there...

Try to manage the grease on the hinge rollers so it doesnt get everywhere, ruin your nice towels, and you need to leave it on there to help lubricate the moving parts that get the most wear..

I also use a VX5000 Steamer sometimes, to really knock stuff out fast, and because its really hot, it heats up everything which speeds the drying...

The Trunk jamb hinge is usually pretty dirty but much easier to work around since you can get to it from all sides... Same process, spray, brush, rinse, and be careful to not get the water into the trunk itself...

The Trunk jamb itself does get really bad, and in WA where I used to live, I would sometimes find little trees growing in there in really neglected vehicles... Leaves, seeds, etc., fall in there, they get wet, they get hot, turn to compost, mold, more water, heat, etc., and you know what happens next..

Just spray your Cleaner in there, and brush - both the jamb and the upper part of the trunk lid that goes over the jamb might be pretty bad, and then follow the upper part of the trunk lid edges all the way around..

Good luck !
Dan F
Click to expand...

Dan,

You never cease to amaze me. Your detailed input to a myriad of questions is invaluable to those of us that are soooo trying to learn.

Thank you so much.
 
Mi Hermano Tomas !

I am glad to help !
Hang on there and I might just be up there someday and will be happy to do the work for you !
Dan F
 
You could spray an APC and hose or PW. I've always just wiped with a wet/damp ONR soaked MF towel. (For this kind of ONR use I use the inexpensive MF towels you get in housewares at Wally World).
 
Heh heh, I sometimes think I get more appreciative passenger comments on doorjambs than anything else!

Gee, it's been ages since I've had to do nasty jambs, hope I never have to tackle that job again. Get 'em nice, keep 'em nice.

For the initial BIG JOB, it's easy to control what's going on if you clean with swabs/etc. and solvent. When I get a new-to-me used vehicle I often do that instead of going the steamer/APC route as I've found I'm better able to control the whole process, especially stuff like filthy runoff.

Once you get 'em clean (preferably polished to smooth the often-rough paint, and certainly LSPed) it's easy to keep them nice. I use BHB, first with regular shampoo mix and then again with rinse water, for the initial work and then a bit of rinseless wash on the drying towel, only resorting to stuff like swabs when I really need to. Now and then I do a quickie pass with a spraywax/WOWA sealant, hardly ever have to do a full redo (thankfully the polishing is almost always a one-time job). The gentle washing seldom cleans off the lube and hinges/latches don't seem to need much lubrication anyhow.

As with engine compartments/wheel wells/undercarriages, it's really not that big a job to keep things nice once you get the first big job done. TDuring a maintenaqnce wash, the jambs take me even less time than the engine compartment, with occasionally a few extra minutes to relube things (hint- use a pinpoint oiler to keep things tidy).

Specific tip- you can often squeeze a MF in the gap between the leading edge of the (front) door and the back side of the front fender to clean out that area nice and fast. First with shampoo mix to clean, again with rinse water, then a final go with a rinseless wash during the drying process.

Maybe it sounds nutty to do such stuff on daily drivers, but hey...drains plug up, things start to rust... bad stuff in general happens when things are dirty. That's beside the whole "my stuff is clean" aspect of it ;)
 
Follow-up - it occurs to me we may be missing something here. The inside door (e.g. jam) areas may also be deserving of some LSP, like say a spray wax, to make those surfaces more "self cleaning" moving forward.
 
MiVor said:
Follow-up - it occurs to me we may be missing something here. The inside door (e.g. jam) areas may also be deserving of some LSP, like say a spray wax, to make those surfaces more "self cleaning" moving forward.
Click to expand...

I usually take an old foam hand application pad and wipe it around the door jambs, trunk lid etc to get a coat of wax or sealant on them. I'm not trying for defect removal in these areas just a quick coat of protection. Often I do use a spray wax since I discovered the Ultimate Quik Wax. I've also noticed that since these areas of the car aren't as "exposed" to the elements, the wax hold up longer.
 
I always presoak doorjambs with degreaser (3:1 if concentrated, or straight if using "Castrol Superclean") and let it dwell, then I'll come back and spray again, and agitate with a long bristled brush (paintbrushes work well). do this a few times and then rinse with a pressure washer.

After that dry them with a towel and they're usually sparkling clean compared to what they were. If it's a really nice car or really picky customer I'll go over them again with a towel and quick detailer.
 
StumpyDetailing said:
I always presoak doorjambs with degreaser (3:1 if concentrated, or straight if using "Castrol Superclean") and let it dwell, then I'll come back and spray again, and agitate with a long bristled brush (paintbrushes work well). do this a few times and then rinse with a pressure washer.

After that dry them with a towel and they're usually sparkling clean compared to what they were. If it's a really nice car or really picky customer I'll go over them again with a towel and quick detailer.
Click to expand...


Hey, you stole my cleaning method :cool: :D
 
Even in the Pro/customer situations, I'd think that you do a vehicle's jambs/etc. in a big way once and then it's just easy maintenance. Well, easIER maintenance..
 
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