TLTrance

Ack! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! I had a massive two-drink simultaneous spill in the car today. Milk tea and iced mocha...

The worst part about the spill is that while it was spilling (cups/containers were falling), my wife was trying to catch them, but in the midst of doing that, the containers were essentially being juggled.. So you can imagine that the inside of the car (passenger side) looked as if a drink exploded in the car! Not her fault, so no nasty comments about allowing wife to have drinks or anything like that! AHem.

It got everywhere... The instrumentation, the passenger side airbag, glove box, side pillar airbag, window, seat, carpet (!), etc. It even leaked all the way behind the passenger seat to the rear. Fuuuuuuuuuuck again.

So, I managed to clean up most of it that was accessible, but my concern now is that there is certainly some of it that is underneath the carpet where the seat rails are (the part that the seat is fixed to), and everywhere in between. There's also some of it in between some of the buttons on the instrumentation that will take a lot of micro-cleaning to get out.

Long story short, its basically 95% clean. However, the remaining 5% will probably take 400% the effort/time that it took to clean the first 95%.

Question is: What is the best interior detailer that is around the SF/Peninsula area? I live in Burlingame so its best if its closer than not. I guess what I'm trying to avoid is two things: 1. Any possible odor and 2. Any area where I can still see the spill. (I don't really care if there are parts I can never seen that is stained)

I guess I just want to have a detailer do his/her best to clean out whatever is left in the car as much as possible, but also just give the inside of the car a good ass-cleaning. I'm embarassed to say that I've never detailed the inside of the car before, so its well overdue. The car is turning three on March 26, so maybe it'll be a good bday present for her.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

did you take any pics...i know this sucks really bad and all, but i cant help but laugh a little bit...

what you really need is someone to take apart the whole interior and clean it out...i would say at a minimum you should have the carpets cleaned...

ncinirator

Nothing my my TL except water. Coffee in a spill proof tumlber. Only I CAN DRINK COFFEE.. NO FOOD IN THE TL!

shooter

LOL ! I always volunteer to drive my wife's car if she wants to eat or drink in the car ..... no edibles in my TL ...

Will Y.

You might try calling Mike Harvey Acura in Burlingame (assuming it's still in business-- that's where I bought my Integra in 1987) and getting its recommendations for a detailer (as opposed to body shops). Probably will cost $120-200 if Bay Area prices are the same as here in LA.

However, you may be able to do a better job than most detailers because you know where the mess is. It sounds to me like you should wipe everything within reach, including carpeting, again with wet and then dry towels, even if you decide to have a detailer go over the car. I would use moist Q-tips to deal with areas around buttons. Use distilled water to moisten the Q-tips and for small towels while wiping the transmission shifter console.

Oh, and let us know how you managed to avoid putting the drinks in the two console drinkholders before they dropped...
[ibmovetowash&waxforum]

MR1

Agree with Will Y. second paragraph on. Most detailers will not go to the extent you desire for any reasonable price. Just put the time in and DYI.

ns00

bforbrian

iTrader: (11)

lol @ ns00

well, if it makes you feel any better, my friend just barfed in the back passengers side.. he didn't even give me a warning or anything, just barfed on the window and all over the door.. i prefer iced tea and mocha...

evnash

damn. that dude would be cleaning it up with his shirt!!!

darksom1

Like my ex always said: T.M.I.!!

aznt1217

damn brian... that sucks balls. FEBREZE THAT

rksokol

For carpeting, I use a SpotBot with OxyGen2. It gets everything out.

I would also get one of those cleaner wipe packages and popsicle sticks. You could wrap the cleaner wipe around the stick for getting into vents and other small areas.

Good luck!

enigmaos

iTrader: (4)

Be-in my TL

Igot some coffee stain on my girl's TL, it is the taupe interior, and it got on the seatbelt near my waist... any chance it can come out? It was this stupid lady's cafe mocha with extra whip cream...small one, but kinda shows brown.

ncinirator

Give it a try. I dont like my interior color (parchement) whish I got black, but got on ok deal so hell with it.

Evader

Simple Green! I swear by the stuff... and when you're done it works great on your exhaust tips too :o) You can pick up a bottle almost anywhere. Target, Walmart, Autozone, Pepboys etc.

avs007

Milk Tea and Ice Mocha? Pssst, that's nothing.... Many moons ago, I was on my way home from a potluck. I had a HUUUUGE pot of Chinese Hot 'n Sour soup in my back seat... I asked my friend to hold the pot. (This pot was one of those restaurant sized pots, as another friend's dad was a chef at a chinese restaurant, and made soup for our potluck).

Anyways, as I turned, the pot tipped over and spilled Hot n' Sour soup EVERYWHERE. Even after a thorough cleaning, you could still smell the soup weeks later.

When I yelled at my friend for not holding the pot, she said, "Oh you meant you wanted me to hold it the whole time?"

timmahh

I drink sugar free things in my car!

I remember when I had my Corolla I had an un-opened diet dr pepper in the cup holder; the car had the alarm w/ a glass break microphone, I heard it go off so when I went outside I saw that the DDP can exploded from the heat and made a wonderful mess.

JetJock

Hey guys...I feel you pain..but if you want a good laugh...check this story out!!

Several years ago....one of my friends made a huge pot of "Chili con Casa" for a party. It was milk, cheese, chili peppers and tons of spicy shit. He strapped the Crock Pot into the back seat then drove to the party. Along the way...he had to make a panic stop and the whole pot spilled into the seats and carpet. Needless to say....it was impossible to clean...after a few weeks...his car smelled like shit....vomit and barf smell comes to mind. If you think you've got problems with Moca.....this true story might make you feel better.

Malayalee King

iTrader: (1)

yo, theres a place down here in san jose and mountain view. PM me if you want their info. 100-500$ but if you just want the interior more like 100-200.

TLTrance

No pics.. Although in hindsight, that would've been awesome to share in something that would make people go "awwwwwwwww fuuuuuuuuuuck"

Yeah, my biggest concern is the carpet... I definitely sucked it all up, then watered it down with plain water, and did it all over again. I will probably do the same again this weekend, just to be sure there's no more "drink" left...

One other question. The drinks also got onto the fabric covering the pillar where the side airbags come out of... There doesn't seem to be an easy way to clean that due to the fabric's consistency... Any suggestions?

ncinirator

Like I said, I drink water.



One time, when I was a teen in school; I had my revenge against one of my arch nemesis. I took a can of tuna fish, opened it and poured it down the vents under the windshield.