Florida sand & Jetta interior = Bad combination

[DLR Detailing]

I have a new found respect for all Detailers that have to deal with ground in sand on a daily basis. :bow

Being from Indiana, all I ever deal with is clay mud, road salt and tar. The only sand I see is from the Spring Break vehicles. I have always been able to handle this small amount.

I just finished an '02 Jetta that I didn't realize had spent 3/4 of its life in Florida before being purchased by the currrent owner and brought back to Indiana.

The sand didn't "appear" until I started vacuuming and brushing the carpet in preparation for shampoo/extraction. It seemed like the more I vacuumed & scrubbed, the more sand came out of the carpet. After several passes with the extractor, I finally decided to call it quits. :surrender

I decided the floor mats and trunk carpet mat would be easier to clean by manually scrubbing/shampooing with a brush on my pc, pressure washing, then vacuuming up what was left with the shop vac. Was I ever wrong! I never did remove all the sand. I think that I would have been money ahead to pitch the original mats and buy the customer new ones. :yikes:

Sorry guys for the long rant. I would like to hear from the Detailers that see this on a daily basis. How do you deal with all that sand and still be efficient? :wall :help:

:thanks
Dave

 

[nikro000]

Dave -
Yes, here in New Mexico sand is as abundant as sun, chilli and Jalapeno peppers.
I can imagine tht a car that was opearted in a sandy area but seldom cleaned has a sand problem. Whenever I deep clen the carpets in my and my wife's car I use the little green machine. The sand is out afterwards. For the mats I use the big bissell carpet cleaner - the "Push the water in and suck it back out process" seems to work fine for light to moderate sand contamination. Yours however seems to be a pretty bad case. I am sorry that you had such a hard time.

 

[Brenton]

Beautiful sand is ahard to get out. Almost ipossible
An air compressor helps.

 

[Stephan]

I agree with PEI an aircompressor helps loosen up some of the burried in sand, also I have the brush attachment for my PC, and it really brings alot of the dirt up to the top.

My usual regement (on heavily soiled areas) is to vacuum, use the pc, vacuum again. At that point if it looks like most is out, I go to my extractor, if not I repeat the process. I have found if there is still alot of dirt and or sand still left in the mat and I go to my extractor, all I am doing is creating mud.

 

[Troy@Protekt]

A good vacuum and a stiff brush used together.

VW's are among my least favorite cars to detail because of the materials they use for their interiors.

 

[Brenton]

VW's are tough.

 

[DLR Detailing]

Thanks guys for the responses! :bigups

I wasn't thrilled with the results of the interior, especially for the amount of time spent. The customer was very pleased so I guess that is the main thing. It just seemed like the fabric didn't want to let go of dirt and lint particles and most of the trim had some sort of weird coating/paint on it that was peeling and flaking off.

I'll never complain about another Suburban or Expedition again. :notme:

Thanks Troy for such a great place to hang out! :dcrules

Dave

 

[Troy@Protekt]

most of the trim had some sort of weird coating/paint on it that was peeling and flaking off.

You would think that after making these cars for as long as they have they would figure out that coating is not a good idea. I've had customers complain to the dealer about that coating and the dealer won't do anything.

I'll never complain about another Suburban or Expedition again. :notme:

Sure u will. As long as there are people out there that continue to treat them like rolling restaurants for their kids and let them have candy and gum in the back seats, there will always be a detailer out there wondering why he chose this profession.

assout::surrender

 

[Troy@Protekt]

BTW, I am doing a VW bug tomorrow morning.

:excited::huh:

She has already warned me that it is not in good shape too.

:yikes:

Anyone want to come help me with it?

:notme::redface:

 

[DLR Detailing]

If I could get a flight out of Indy to Florida on short notice, I'd be there. It would give me a chance to work with and learn from "The Man". :dnaughty:crazy:

That could be a new business venture for you Troy. Hold "training classes" for all of your scheduled details. Charge the students to learn from the Master and charge the client to detail their car. Of course, only experienced detailers would be "accepted" into the classes. :rofl

Dave

 

[Pockets]

Anyone want to come help me with it?

:notme::redface:

Sure :yay if you buy the ticket lol

DLR my moms car had years of sand in it from my sister horseback riding in it. I just used water scrub brush and vac and it seemed to get most of it out but there is still some in there but its at the bottom and i don't have the tools to get at it.