Help : Client spilled Stabil Diesel Gas Treatment onto floor mat, let sit, now in carpet/padding...how to remove odor and stain

JJZ4MR

JJZ4MR

New member
So today I was asked if I can remove the Stabil from the mat and carpet/padding in a 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee with black carpeting. About 5 oz spilled and it was left in for about a week. Want to know how to best remove the smell and stain.
 
JJZ4MR --
Too bad its petroleum based and left so long on the floor.. A really good Cleaner combined with Steam and Extraction would be the least damaging process to try first..

I would see about pulling up the carpet on that side, see if the padding is ruined and replace, clean all the StaBil off the metal floor wherever it wandered in a week, with a Degreaser, replace the padding, try to get the right product to remove the StaBil from the carpet, steam and extract for a long time, that carpeted area..

In my shop, I have Meguiars APC+, Meguiars Super Degreaser, Meguiars Odor Eliminator, and a couple of other items from CarPro, along with the Steamer and Extractor, that would all be used to remove the oil and the odor..

Whatever you end up doing, be very mindful of the color of the carpeting even if its black, so that you dont start taking the color of the carpeting away, which will now cause another big issue.. Please be careful...
Dan F
 
Last edited:
OK, I will search for the PB Enzyme. I don`t have a "real " extractor YET, just a Rug Dr cleaner. I was hoping to not have to pull up the carpet, but seems like the only way. I thank you for your insights...I`ve always hated interior cleaning, now I hate it more.
 
meant to add - Poorboy`s Enzyme should help with the odor and staining some, but you might need a an APC/Degreaser for the petroleum nature of the stain as well - good luck!
 
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that stuff may have eaten the rubber up pretty good after 5 days. I spilled some on plastic in the trunk of my 335d and it permanently discolored plastic pieces. The smell stayed around for months even after using CG deodorizers/cover ups. I scrubbed and scrubbed and nothing really helped. Time will be the best thing to remove the smell. Good luck.
 
Sounds more like a comprehensive insurance claim to me. If the diesel sta-bil is anything like diesel itself. That smell is almost impossible to ever get rid of. The voc`s from it in a closed up car could definitely case some health issues too. If I were a professional detailer I wouldn`t take on that liability. Let his insurance take that liability instead.
 
JJZ4MR said:
OK, I will search for the PB Enzyme. I don`t have a "real " extractor YET, just a Rug Dr cleaner. I was hoping to not have to pull up the carpet, but seems like the only way. I thank you for your insights...I`ve always hated interior cleaning, now I hate it more.
Click to expand...

JJZ4MR --
The Rug Dr. Cleaner is better than nothing, so good for that..
Yes, you have to remove everything since oil soaks until it runs into something (Like the metal floor) that it cannot soak into as easily...And it never really dries up...
You won`t know how bad it is until you at least carefully pull up the carpeting on that side and have a look..

Please set the Client`s expectations now, so he/she is aware that this is not like spilling a Starbucks Grande Latte back there - this is much worse, because its petroleum based and it was there for a long time, which caused it to soak more in all directions - before - it got to the steel floor...

I actually love Interiors, because of the huge challenge they sometimes are, and I want to test myself all the time..
In that quest, I have seen some pretty bad things in there, that I would have never seen if I didn`t love this job and got to be this good at it.. :)

Where are you ? If you are in Northern California, please bring it over and let`s use my equipment on it.. I`m all ready to go..
Dan F
 
Your best bet to get everything out would be a water claw. As for the smell. After 5 days and counting it has probably leached into the rest of the upholstery. I would steam everything in the interior and use a ozone machine. If this equipment isn’t available to you you might want to pass on this one if it’s a customers vehicle. It would be better to pass on it than try it and not be able to get everything out.
 
There`s always the option to replace the carpet + padding + whatever else the stuff got spilled on. The dealer would handle something like that.
 
Enzymes won’t eat petroleum at all. Infact it will kill them. They eat organic matter.

There maybe specialized stuff for oil spills but you don’t find that off the shelf. I’d focus on hot water extraction to remove the residue first Not steam but water extraction to flush out odor causing liquid. I’d pretreat with Dawn to break it down and get defoamer for the recovery tank and charge by the hour. This will be a multi step process. Good luck.
 
For tough grease stains I use WD-40. Sometimes it takes a lot of it to get it out. Once the stain is out, a normal degreaser will get WD-40 out.
 
Coleroad said:
Sounds more like a comprehensive insurance claim to me. If the diesel sta-bil is anything like diesel itself. That smell is almost impossible to ever get rid of. The voc`s from it in a closed up car could definitely case some health issues too. If I were a professional detailer I wouldn`t take on that liability. Let his insurance take that liability instead.
Click to expand...

Unless comprehensive insurance is dramatically different where the client lives (than in NJ), this is not a covered loss. If the item had spilled as a result of a collision with another object(collision), or one with an animal (comprehensive), it would be covered due to the proximate cause of the loss.
 
briarpatch said:
Unless comprehensive insurance is dramatically different where the client lives (than in NJ), this is not a covered loss. If the item had spilled as a result of a collision with another object(collision), or one with an animal (comprehensive), it would be covered due to the proximate cause of the loss.
Click to expand...
If your comprehensive coverage only covers animal damage. then you need to get insurance from someone else.
 
Coleroad said:
If your comprehensive coverage only covers animal damage. then you need to get insurance from someone else.
Click to expand...

Trust me.....it covers much more than that....I spent many, many years in claims......but I`m not aware of comprehensive that covers something randomly spilling in a vehicle...I was speaking to the only circumstance I could think of where comprehensive would cover something spilled....if your insurance company covers that, then please PM me their contact info

P.S. my apologies to the OP for temporarily hijacking your thread...best of luck with your situation
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top