YOUR AUTO DETAILING SOLUTION 636.231.5456

This section is divided into many different parts using sub headings in order to help you find the answer to your specific question quickly. Feel free to scroll down to the heading you are interested in. If you have any questions don't hesitate to subscribe, email, or call 636.231.5456 for the answer

INTERIOR DETAILING

DASH, CONSOLE, DOORS, ETC...

This specific area should not be over thought. Cleaning the dashboard, console, doors, and really all hard/textured surfaces inside the car can be very simple. This, however, is a place where many detailers slack and ultimately give very disappointing results. There are so many cracks and crevices within these areas they are easy to overlook and trust us... most detailers will! Again, we've found that they are much more interested in taking your money than they are in doing a quality job. That is where Revive Auto Detailing stands apart. We've had years to grow and improve, and we've learned how to cut to the chase, not waste time, and provide the results that our customers are after.

Regarding problem areas with the textured pieces inside the vehicle, the main issue we've found that may be problematic for a do-it-yourself person is called a "scuff mark." Most of the time these will appear on the threshold plate, and the lower part of the door where people drag their feet. We've attached a picture below in order to help you visualize it. You can be sure if you have had your vehicle for any length of time, you will see them. Most detailers lack the knowledge and experience on how to remove these and thus, another area is overlooked. Again, we have learned how to cut to the chase and provide the "new car look" that our customers are after without excessively separating you from your money!

If you are dealing with these frustrating scuff marks try a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Apart from that, hard interior surfaces are generally not a problematic area of a vehicle. For the do-it-yourselfers out there, an all-purpose cleaner is a great tool for cleaning almost every single interior surface that exists (including fabric). 

This is another one of the many areas Revive Auto Detailing stands apart. After we've finished thoroughly cleaning all hard surfaces within the car, we spend additional time going over those areas with vinyl, rubber, and plastic protector that not only protects those areas from UV rays but also restores their natural shine. 

LEATHER SEATS

Leather seats in a vehicle, for the most part, have been wildly over-complicated. We've been taught to think of leather as a delicate and fragile material when in reality, car leather could not be farther from that. As a rule, in this day and age, all leather seats in vehicles are manufactured with a protective plastic coating that surrounds them much like the clear coat on the outside of your car. Even in the nicest of cars, and believe us, we've tested this "in the field"... Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, even Rolls Royce, though the leather may be of higher quality, it all has the same protective layer on the outside. In many ways, this is good news. It means that leather is MUCH easier to clean than if it were simply exposed leather. The problem comes when you hire a low-budget, unskilled detailer to come and "clean and condition" your vehicle’s leather. Again, detailers often lack the experience and knowledge to properly clean, condition, and protect your vehicle’s leather.

A warning to the do-it-yourselfers: the car leather cleaners that can be bought at your neighborhood Auto Zone, Auto Parts, etc... as a rule, are very weak. This is because the retail product companies have to cover their backs, so they water down the product so much, that no one on earth could possibly mess up the materials in their vehicles by using it. We’ve listed some retail products below that, if you are trying to clean leather that is really dirty, will more than likely yield disappointing results.

With that being said, if your car leather is already clean, and you are looking for something to "condition" it, "shine" it, and "protect" it, then these products will work great. We personally recommend Meguiar's, (we use their professional products not available to the public) as it is one of the product companies we use professionally to shine and protect leather (after we’ve cleaned the leather with some professional detailing products and tools). 

CLOTH SEATS and Stain Removal/Reduction

This is a complicated topic that requires some explanation, so here we go. There are many different types of fabric materials that cloth seats can be made of, which makes this area especially difficult. For inexperienced and uninformed detailers, you can be sure that this will be an area where they will leave you unimpressed. We do stain removal/reduction often and, in most cases, with great results. However, we never promise a customer that we can absolutely remove a stain. There are many factors in stains removal/reduction (source: blood, dirt, grease, spills, urine, etc., the length of time the stain has set, and the type of substrate (plastic, leather, carpet, upholstery, etc.) the stains are on. Another factor is whether there was an attempt to remove the stains already.  Sometimes people attempt to remove the stain with the wrong "stain removal" chemicals and inadvertently set the stain in deeper or permanently. Our goal is always to remove them, but in some cases, the best we can hope for is a reduction.

There are two main fabrics cloth seats are made out of:

#1) A fabric that is much like traditional carpeting. The fibers are not too tightly woven, and this kind is much easier to clean.

#2) The second type of fabric is one that is much more popular today. It is a very tightly woven fabric that could almost be described as synthetic. It is extremely popular in new vehicles manufactured today. Since the first type of fabric is pretty standard and cleans much like any normal carpet, the second type is the one we’ll focus on. 

We tell all of our customers who have the second type of seats that we cannot promise perfection. Of course, we will be able to improve them, but we absolutely cannot promise 100% perfection. Normal fabric is made up of thousands of tiny, loose fibers, which dirt can be relatively easy to remove. This fabric, however, is so tightly woven that the dirt/stain sometimes cannot be pulled out. Spills are especially tricky here. Again, maintenance is better than the cure. We tell all of our clients to regularly clean these seats, especially if you are looking to keep them in perfect condition (which is what we do as we have these types of seats in our mobile detailing units/vans). Carpet Extraction and/or a professional Steam Cleaner seems to be the only way to clean these types of seats to perfection when they get very dirty, and most people do not have a carpet extractor or steam cleaner on hand. That, coupled with the right products, tools, and knowledgeable detailer, will prove to be extremely successful! Here are a couple of pictures of our work on these difficult cloth seats:

Again, not perfection, but you can see a dramatic difference. Not to mention these stained seats had sat for 8 years before we got to them.

Here is a great example of cloth seats that have been dramatically improved, but they're not perfect simply because perfection, in this case, was impossible. This is a coffee stain, which is especially difficult, and it was allowed to sit for a long time. Eventually, a replacement will be the only way to perfection if that is what you are looking for. 

CARPET SHAMPOO and STAIN REMOVAL/reduction

Another more complicated subject that will require some explanation, so buckle-up. Traditionally carpet is made up of thousands of loose fibers that over time collect dirt. The dirt gets lodged between these loose fibers and can be brushed and vacuumed out. If it only were that simple and stopped there. Like most everything in life, not all dirt is created equal, and over time, the carpet gets stained, builds up excessive dirt, people spill things on it, and more.

Most people tend not to clean their carpets regularly, and instead, call a detailer like us to do some carpet shampooing after the dirt has been allowed to sit for a very long time. We have learned how to clean the carpet very thoroughly over the years with the right tools and products, however, this is a perfect area to talk about managing expectations. Allowing excessive amounts of dirt/spills to sit in vehicle carpet for long periods of time may result in permanent damage! We know this is obvious, but again, managing expectations. An experienced detailer can dramatically improve it, however, 100% perfection may just be impossible. For carpets that are not excessively dirty, it does not need to be over-thought. They can easily be shampooed and protected with the right products and tools.

Many newer vehicles today are being manufactured with something that we like to call, "The Impossible Carpet." It really isn’t carpeting at all, and some of you may very well have this in your own vehicle. It would be more accurately described as a synthetic felt, like the kind you'd buy from Hobby Lobby/Michaels to do crafts. It's a rat’s nest of fibers connecting in every direction. One could spend literally hours, detailing and shampooing this to perfection, but most of our customers are not willing to pay what it would cost to bring it to perfection. The conversation usually goes like this; "We could spend hours detailing this carpet to perfection, but that's not really what you want, is it? You want the major stains removed, and the carpet to be vacuumed and shampooed, so we can bring this carpet to about 85% perfection. To go further than that would be unrealistic and unnecessary for a car that is a daily driver." The good news is that most of the time, this kind of carpet is limited to the trunk. A word of caution, getting sand or dog hair in this specific carpeting will be a nightmare. Just don't do it. Here are a few before and after pictures of some excessively dirty carpet that we have worked on:

As a quick side note: Ink spills on the carpet are extremely tricky, and most detailers will not even know where to start. Fortunately, we have done a lot of research, have a lot of experience, and are able to improve/fix many ink spills. However, this may also prove to be permanent damage to the car carpet. Again, even the best carpet shampoo only goes so far, maintenance is better than the cure.

FABRIC PROTECTOR

Fabric protectors come in many different configurations, but whether you're using Scotch Guard or some other well-known brand, we've found that, for the most part, they all work. Fabric protection is an area that most vehicle owners overlook, though it is an extremely important part of the equation if you want your seats and carpets to last. To clear up a misconception, when a fabric protector is applied to the carpet, it does not form an impenetrable layer of protection that keeps dirt from getting into the fibers. It simply makes the cleaning process much, much easier. Removing dirt and stains from a carpet that has been treated versus a carpet that hasn't been treated is much like night and day. Again, if your vehicle carpets/seats are treated with a carpet protector, they will still get dirty over time, but when you go to clean them, they will quickly look as good as new! 

For the do-it-yourselfers who would like to protect their carpet (which we highly recommend, especially if you have a new car) but are confused about which one to buy... don't overthink it. This is another area where the industry wants to mislead you and take your money. One bottle says "Cloth Seat Protector," another says "Carpet Protector," and yet, another says "Ultimate Fabric Protector," trust us, just pick one and use it. We have found that they all work just fine. The one that says "carpet" can be used on your cloth seats and vice versa. Of course, Scotch Guard is a great brand and very well-known. However, we've found that off-brands really do the job just as well. However, the best protection for all interior substrates is Ceramic Pro interior ceramic coatings. Yes, ceramic coating for the interior.

DOOR JAMBS

Door jambs are one of the most overlooked areas by low-budget, inexperienced detailers. They either avoid them altogether or simply do not know how to clean them. It is relatively simple. However, the right products are necessary. This section will be mostly for the do-it-yourselfers. Due to there being so many intricate parts in the door jamb itself, water will be necessary in most cases. It can literally be as simple as a good degreaser (paint-safe), a toothbrush, and a hose. Spray the degreaser, scrub all of the intricate parts, and simply hose off the degreaser with water. Possibly the only difficult part of cleaning door jambs is taking the time and having the discipline to clean every single part of the door.

This is another area where Revive Auto Detailing goes above and beyond. Most detailers will slightly clean the door jambs, hose them off, and move on, leaving residue and water spots behind. At Revive Auto Detailing, door jambs are degreased, steam cleaned if necessary, blown dry to keep water spots from forming, and finished with wax to protect and visually enhance. 

INTERIOR WINDOWS

For inexperienced detailers who lack the knowledge and products to clean windows correctly, this is an area that can be very, very frustrating. The main problem people find with the inside of their vehicle windows is a thick fog-like substance that forms on them over time. Even customers who don't smoke will find this film-like substance on the inside of their windows. This can happen naturally due to the dash and other plastic/rubber areas of the car off-gassing (especially during summer months). No amount of window cleaners like "Windex" or specialized vehicle window cleaners is going to remove this. We have several products in our arsenal that we use depending on the situation, but to make things simple, a 50/50 solution of water and rubbing alcohol will help you dramatically! 

We've found that most of our customers, and car owners in general, do not understand that windows must be cleaned before window shine is applied. Though Windex and other brands claim that their product will "clean," we can assure you if you're trying to clean the inside of a fogged/filmed car window, it will disappoint you. The simple fix is just to clean it first with rubbing alcohol and water, then use the window shine of your choice to bring it to perfection. 

Again, this is one of the many areas that low-budget detailers either do not understand or lack the self-discipline or knowledge to provide superior results. They shoot some window shine on and call it a day, and once again, we see another frustrated customer who spent good money on a detail that they did not get. Much of detailing is nothing more than having the self-discipline and patients to do a job correctly, and that is exactly what you get at Revive Auto Detailing & Paint Correction.

SEAT BELTS

Unfortunately, this is an area, not even the best detailer has a good answer. Seat belts usually are not a big problem unless #1) It is an extremely old car or #2) The driver is a smoker. In both cases, experience and research have taught us that it's best to either not get caught up in how your seat belts look or just replace them. Can we improve dirty seat belts, even the ones that are in cars where the driver smokes? The simple answer is yes, we can. However, it does take time, so instead of paying a lot of money for us to focus on the seat belts, we find that most of our clients simply do not worry about it (smoke/odor removal being the exception). That being said, on clients that want them cleaned, we find that a professional steam cleaner (we use a European steam cleaner, the ‘VX5000’) is the route to go for the best results.