Joe Dirt's Wedgie

Yeah, it sounded funny worded that way. Yes, I let my 6 year old name the car. When I mentioned that it was Wedgewood Blue, the name was blurted out in 5 seconds.

She's Deep Wedgewood Blue with a Dark Graphite leather interior.
105,000 miles, a V8 AWD of course, and sporting leather chaps inside.

So, the work starts- I need to swap over my audio stuff, visors, auto dimming mirror, rims and tires, trailer hitch, front lights, put in a new leather wheel and clean the hell out of the truck. I can't help but do that...

 

[BigRondo]

:notworthy Joe, you continue to impress with the Dirt Tips. I thought I was good but I can't hold a candle to your mad skills.

 

[sport97]

I think meguiars owes you a check. You have probably got them more sales by showing off your work using their products and recommending them than their commercials get them. I for one use your recommendation on mequiars products.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Thanks for all of the comments guys- I just enjoy doing it I guess. I am going to sponge one of the door panels tonight for some more inspiration. The panels are easy- the seats and wheel take time, and a lot of magic erasers. You just have to be careful with them, they are in effect minimal sandpaperish stuff. But, I have yet to work through, I'm using a very very light pressure and a wet magic eraser.

Tim- As for shoe cleaner, I think that might be ok- something like Saddle Soap which I've used before. The major issue is getting the crud off the item. The spray leather conditioners and cleaners don't really do much for me unless you get the junk cleaned off first. For what it's worth, my wheel is on the verge of wearing through as well, and I didn't bust through last night. Just be careful up top.

The best pic I've got showing the effects and effectiveness of the magic erasers is this one from Shamrock:

Once pores are open the conditioner and oils really do their magic. Tonight it was even better after sitting all day. I will condition the wheel once a week to stop the wear-through now. Most auto leather has a protective coating on it, which is why it's always "shiny dirt" after using cleaners and conditioners. I don't want shiny dirt, I want clean and conditioned, nice and soft, like this:

Megs is good stuff- Mother's is good stuff too, just like the boutique products, I've just never been let down by Megs yet. Their forum is top notch too, very helpful, and the Techs are active members and very helpful indeed.

For those of you with perforated leather, don't use that cream I have above, there is a clear gel in a spray that has pretty much the same composition, but won't fill all of the perf dots with white residue... It's still a Gold Class product, just a different application specific for perforated leather.

Nate- stay tuned... I did the carpets when I got it on the great tear-out and obviously the steering wheel- the door and trim panels and dash have yet to be cleaned properly...

 

[sean99]

Do the magic erasers take the shine off the leather? Can you use the magic erasers if you still want a factory shine to the leather?

 

[Joe Dirt]

They will remove the shine. The shine is a combination of dirt and oils, the brand new Ex's from teh factory did not have a shine to the surfaces. That builds up as they're exposed to the elements, dirts, and oils.

Again, if you use the Magic Erasers- be careful. They can be non-pigment friendly. I was detailing a Lightning and noticed that the dark Graphite dash (same color as my interior) was streaking after hard pressure on the ME's, where the lighter Gray seen above in Shamrock would not show anything no matter how long I scrubbed. Always test on an inconspicuous spot first. I tried under the glovebox on the Lightning, saw the streak, and adjusted pressure accordingly.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

and joe, just so you feel better

thats what evil looked like after i took the tupperware off......nice eh? notice you can see the frame, but no pinch weld or inner rocker!

 

[Joe Dirt]

Ok all, here is a quickie. Go detail your Ex's!!

One 2000 XLT door panel, previously owned by a smoker. 107,000 miles, gross.

Wet up the Magic Eraser

I'm in Dark Graphite, that means very light orbital/circular pressure so I don't streak the hard plastic (like Karate Kid- wax on, wax off...) The vinyl inserts are pretty stout though.

Here you can see some quick comparisons. ME'd on the left, not yet cleaned on the right. Line is evident.

Stop for a new Sierra Mist Diet Cranberry Splash. Dammit these are good...

After we're done, grab some QID for some protection

Vinyl after

Freshly cleaned panel

 

[Joe Dirt]

Wow Tim- gotta love road salt and moisture, eh? I'm lucky- I still have the inners and they're in pretty good shape. Only spun out one lower running board retainer bolt. Well, partially- I remember doing that on Snowball, so when I felt the retainer spinning, I Vise Grip'd it...

 

[1AJeremyD]

Joe any suggestions on bringing back the love on the cloths seats? Haven't really attempted anything yet. I'm more of a rip and remove kind of guy instead of a polish a clean one so wax and cleaners is a foreign thing to me.

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

lookin good joe i should have u come out here to cali and clean inside of my sport. and also i am a smoker as well. my inside of my sport needs a badly detail inside and out.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Jeremy- probably going to need either an extractor like the Bissell 'Little Green Clean Machine' here:

which is popular, for some real work, or you can get away sometimes with the poor man's extractor system, outlined in a thread HERE. It does work though...

With Aerosols, Tuff Stuff is decent and smells nice, but you'll use a lot of it if your seats are bad, but for aerosols, it's my choice. I think I've tried everything out there within reason, and it does the best overall job for the price.

HERE is a nice thread...



Sam- I'd love to roll out to Cali!

 

[Keeper0311]

Sam- I'd love to roll out to Cali!

Plenty of us out here. Come hang out in the summer.

 

[sodjer6]

Never thought to try those Magic Erasers...I am going to grab a few and get my interior cleaned up

I also just discovered that Cranberry splash Sierra Mist - very addictive

 

[1AJeremyD]

Joe, I used probably close to 3 cans of APC on the seats and they are still.....well not up to par with even being considered dirty lol. I might have to try the power wash deal you did with the floors lol. Last guy who owned my X had a couple of dogs....which equaled to about 6 or 7 of them. They obviously got to take a few rides with him, meaning everywhere he went from how the seats look and smel lol

 

[vroomzoomboom]

those bissell machines work really well. i have used one of those to clean a truck i had bought to fix and resell and it did a really good job, and have used it to clean the carpets in evil as well. i've even used laundry detergent in it, and it removed some spots that i didnt think were going to come out.

 

[1AJeremyD]

I like the laundry detergent thought. May grab some snuggles on the way home. Then I wouldn't want to leave me truck lol

 

[vroomzoomboom]

i cant say how well the liquid detergent will work, i used crystals.
now, back to joe!

 

[BrianDye]

How much do you want to come down to the Newport area and do my interior

Ive tried most of the stuff you've said on here, and cant ever get it to come out as clean as yours!

How about a nice exterior detail too

 

[Hitchhikingmike]

Great work! I like old cars much better than newer ones when they are in the same condition as newer cars, such as your. Heres to old cars and trucks!

... screw new cars.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I would pull a seat and test under there, in case the detergent will be harsh and discolor- just be sure NOT to use a detergent with a bleach additive....