Cleaning the interior when magic eraser and brushes dont cut it??? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

KAdams4458 · #1 12-18-2007, 02:41 PM

Years of funk, eh?

I actually took the insane route, and stripped the interior of the car to clean everything. Stiff toothbrushes, terrycloth towels and Murphy's Oil Soap works pretty well, and won't harm the finish of anything. Dawn dish soap also works well on parts you can actually saturate with water. Unfortunately, there's not a quick solution if the dirt is really ground in. Mercedes seem to be full of textured panels that hold dirt like nothing else I've ever seen. The MB-Tex on the seats was insane. Scrubbing in small circles with a toothbrush was the only way to loosen the dirt. In the end, I still had to strip the upholstery off and actually hosed the loose grime away with running water. I scrubbed, rinsed, and repeated until there was no more dirt left. The driver side seat upholstery took four hours of cleaning alone.

The only spots where I found Magic Erasers to be useful was the headliner and door jambs. I used up three of them cleaning just the headliner.

strelnik · #2 12-19-2007, 11:07 AM

[quote=KAdams4458;1707963]Years of funk, eh?

Murphy's Oil Soap works pretty well, and won't harm the finish of anything. Dawn dish soap also works well on parts you can actually saturate with water. Unfortunately, there's not a quick solution if the dirt is really ground in.
quote]
Murphy's is a vegetable oil -based cleaner so it won't harm cloth or synthetics. Simple Green does not have the power needed, I have found.

But here's something that will freak you out regarding dirt in VINYL or LEATHER ONLY. PAM spray cooking oil. Spray the PAM on, the alcohol used to emulsify the oil and provide propellant is just enough to dissolve dirt, then mix it with the oil. This can then be wiped off after sitting and soaking for maybe 2-3 minutes. Then wipe with a paper towel and reclean with Murphy's or Mr Clean or whatever.

If you use this on leather, after cleaning follow it up with Connolly's Hide conditioner or neat's foot oil.

And your whole car can smell like an Italian salad

instead of other things

strelnik

winmutt · #3 12-19-2007, 11:19 AM

[QUOTE=strelnik;1708959]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KAdams4458

Years of funk, eh?

Murphy's Oil Soap works pretty well, and won't harm the finish of anything. Dawn dish soap also works well on parts you can actually saturate with water. Unfortunately, there's not a quick solution if the dirt is really ground in.
quote]
Murphy's is a vegetable oil -based cleaner so it won't harm cloth or synthetics. Simple Green does not have the power needed, I have found.

But here's something that will freak you out regarding dirt in VINYL or LEATHER ONLY. PAM spray cooking oil. Spray the PAM on, the alcohol used to emulsify the oil and provide propellant is just enough to dissolve dirt, then mix it with the oil. This can then be wiped off after sitting and soaking for maybe 2-3 minutes. Then wipe with a paper towel and reclean with Murphy's or Mr Clean or whatever.

If you use this on leather, after cleaning follow it up with Connolly's Hide conditioner or neat's foot oil.

And your whole car can smell like an Italian salad

instead of other things

strelnik

And that is why I dont use that stuff for cooking. Nothing beats good old butter or oil.

Douge · #4 12-19-2007, 04:22 PM

I did a little interior cleaning this morning and used a fairly potent degreaser and it cleaned it up very well. I just sprayed on and wiped with a damp microfiber. Wherever I took the time, it got all of the dirt out of the pores and lines in the tex.

Its a commercial product but similar to the bulk degreasers you get at home depot. Zep 50 and the like.