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The worst stain

Debra Gorgos

Debra Gorgos

Active member
Calling all detailers.

I am wondering if you all can help me with an article: What is the worst stain/mess you have ever seen? How did you tackle the clean-up? My friend spilled a gallon of liquid laundry detergent and took it to a detailer. Is that a bad mess in your opinion?

Please share your stories and let me know and thanks!
 
Any extractor should be able to remove liquid laundry detergent with multiple passes. Things with bleaches, dyes, protein stains are much tougher to remove. One of the worst we ever tackled was a guy who had a mini van and had shot a deer in Texas and put the meat in a large cooler and forgot to close the drain. Blood ended up draining through the seat fabric and all the way into the foam cushion.
 
It will take some time depending how large the area is and how much spilled. I would lay into it with my extractor BUT its gonna foam like the dickens. My dirty water tank is going to get jammed with foam and I would have to stop often and take care of it. Its also going to keep making more and more soap. You will feel like you aren't making a dent for a while. It can be done but it will take time to get all the way to the bottom.
 
My worst was 5 gallons of clam soup in the back of a mini van. No lid on it driving 65 on the highway. Another car starts to pull out in front of them and they mash the brakes. All 5 gallons were evenly distributed from the back to the front of the van. It was horrible...wound up removing seats and carpets and starting from the bottom up.
 
I’ve been detailing cars on and off since 1969.

My worst stains included India ink and copier toner that people spilled inside work vehicles and children that drew on inside of their parent’s car with permanent magic markers.

Bleaching can oxidize ink stains but it’s very tough on fabrics. I prefer to use commercial spot remover (solvent) followed by soil extractor.

As for one gallon liquid detergent, I would not use soil extractor.

Detergent is biodegradable but there are bacteria that will consume it giving off a mildew smell.

If spill is on carpet, I’d remove seats and carpet. Carpet is then flushed with water and the detergent that percolated through to floorboard can be mopped up. Extraction may not get all of this.

If spill is in trunk area, remove liner and follow same procedure.

I’d follow this up with ozone treatment to help remove smells.
 
soapy said:
Any extractor should be able to remove liquid laundry detergent with multiple passes. Things with bleaches, dyes, protein stains are much tougher to remove. One of the worst we ever tackled was a guy who had a mini van and had shot a deer in Texas and put the meat in a large cooler and forgot to close the drain. Blood ended up draining through the seat fabric and all the way into the foam cushion.
Click to expand...

Wow. Was it salvageable? Did you use an extractor for that? How many hours did it take?
 
Many years ago when I owned a detail supply company I had a shop I sold supplies to that had a brand new Cadillac in which a guy pulled into his garage and blew his brains out. They didn't find him until after 2 weeks. I have never smelled anything like that since and hope I never do. We tried almost everything without success to remove the smell and bloody mess. They finally had to completely strip the interior and replace everything including new wiring. At least back then that was a much easier and cheaper thing to do than it would be today.
 
We removed the seat cover and had to do multiple flushes on the foam cushion. We then gave it a heavy dose of odor eliminator and ozone and put it back together. Seemed to take care care of the smell and stain.
 
Debra Gorgos said:
Dairy + clams = nightmare. How long did it take to clean?
Click to expand...

Solid 8 hours with two guys. Not including drying time and ozone.

I had a car that had a suicide associated with it. It had a mostly glass roof and a large amount of the "contamination" exited the car. NEVER could get it out of the seatbelt though.
 
I would like to take all of the stories mentioned here and use them for an article feature. Can I start with yours, Soapy?
Any extractor should be able to remove liquid laundry detergent with multiple passes. Things with bleaches, dyes, protein stains are much tougher to remove. One of the worst we ever tackled was a guy who had a mini van and had shot a deer in Texas and put the meat in a large cooler and forgot to close the drain. Blood ended up draining through the seat fabric and all the way into the foam cushion.
Click to expand...

I can be reached at debrag@autodetailingnews.com
 
robert roman said:
I’ve been detailing cars on and off since 1969.

My worst stains included India ink and copier toner that people spilled inside work vehicles and children that drew on inside of their parent’s car with permanent magic markers.

Bleaching can oxidize ink stains but it’s very tough on fabrics. I prefer to use commercial spot remover (solvent) followed by soil extractor.

As for one gallon liquid detergent, I would not use soil extractor.

Detergent is biodegradable but there are bacteria that will consume it giving off a mildew smell.

If spill is on carpet, I’d remove seats and carpet. Carpet is then flushed with water and the detergent that percolated through to floorboard can be mopped up. Extraction may not get all of this.

If spill is in trunk area, remove liner and follow same procedure.

I’d follow this up with ozone treatment to help remove smells.
Click to expand...

Hi, Bob. Can I use this for an article? I can be reached at debrag@autodetailingnews.com.
 
The biggest problem I have found in detailing is that people usually only want to pay the minimum amount possible. I doubt that anyone would be willing to pay the extra few hundred dollars it takes to remove a complete interior to eliminate the remaining 5% of laundry soap that would be left by just doing extracting. In the middle east they would pay for this but not in the US.
 
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