Tailored Automotive Detailing: 04 Accord V6 - Moldy Recovery
75,000 Miles
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.
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).
! Nice work, David!
