Interior Product(s) Help...

[lugNutz]

Hi everyone! Apologies for the lengthy post- I am hoping someone in the audience has some experience with dealerships and detailing shops to help me narrow down commonly used interior detailing products. Background: I purchased my (used) car back in December and it had a full on detail done- carpets shampooed, leather cleaned and conditioned, suede cleaned, dash + doors + trim cleaned and dressed. Looked and smelled great. I have a plethora of products (mostly off the store shelf + some stuff bought on AutoGeek) to the likes of ArmorAll, 303, Meguiars, Mothers, Turtle Wax, Lexol, Chemical Guys, etc.- NONE of them have ever left my interior looking and smelling the same. My thoughts: I would venture a guess that the good smell likely came from the carpet shampoo, not the spray products. I called the dealership to ask what they use, and they pointed me in the direction of the detail shop that does their detailing. I called them too and they would not give me the brand/product names that they used because if I wanted the same results I would need to have them do it. Understandable- they like recurring business. Curiosity: Does anyone know what are some of the products that a detail shop would use on the interior? I am sure they don't go and buy all of their products at WM, but rather a commercial disty. All of the leather and plastic had a slight (non-greasy) shine, that lasted 2 weeks under daily use. Typical commercial carpet shampoo? The smell is fading but slightly there. I doubt that I will be able to recreate the detail at home, but I have never come close to that no matter what products I use, on any car.

 

[Rolla07]

Try the Meguiars pro line. Ones in beige bottles. http://www.meguiars.com/m-en/products?tags=1550,1551,1552&displayText=Interior+Maintenance

 

[Gebo]

Hehe... Stop by the shop and look around. Go the bath room. Bathroom may be in the back where the product is stored. You could get with the cleanup guys at the dealership and give them $20 to find out what the detail shop uses. It may be one of those private label deals where you couldn't purchase it anyways.

 

[ChevyMan93]

Honestly, i would go over to the autogeek or autopia forums and ask there, they are very knowledgeable. I follow autogeek detailing 101 on facebook and they are also very knowledgeable. I have learned a lot from them. There are so many different opinions it will make your head spin, youll just have to try them for yourself and decide, but they can give good suggestions. Personally i use 303 on the interior of my new truck to protect the dash from UV. I also use the 303 fabric guard to protect from stains on the cloth and carpet. I use Lexol cleaner and Lexol conditioner on leather. I usually dont have to extract the carpet but when i do, i use folex as a stain remover and agitate it, then use pure distilled water in the extractor to clean the carpet, usually rinse a few times with nothing but water to get the chemical out, and then let dry. If you have a smell problem, you can get an ozone machine off of amazon and it will kill the smells completely. Otherwise to get it to smell good, air fresheners. I personally dont use them, i just like to have either "clean vehicle" smell, or no smell at all.

 

[Donald]

I would go into the detail shop with a spy camera in your lapel and look around and talk to them.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I'm guessing they use a commercial grade silicone interior dressing. You can buy that stuff on Ebay usually in concentrated gallons. I've thought about doing that. Maybe something like this: http://www.detailking.com/landing-pages/tire-dressings-engine-dressings-interior-dressings/

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted By: ChevyMan93

Honestly, i would go over to the autogeek or autopia forums and ask there, they are very knowledgeable. I follow autogeek detailing 101 on facebook and they are also very knowledgeable. I have learned a lot from them. There are so many different opinions it will make your head spin, youll just have to try them for yourself and decide, but they can give good suggestions. Personally i use 303 on the interior of my new truck to protect the dash from UV. I also use the 303 fabric guard to protect from stains on the cloth and carpet. I use Lexol cleaner and Lexol conditioner on leather. I usually dont have to extract the carpet but when i do, i use folex as a stain remover and agitate it, then use pure distilled water in the extractor to clean the carpet, usually rinse a few times with nothing but water to get the chemical out, and then let dry. If you have a smell problem, you can get an ozone machine off of amazon and it will kill the smells completely. Otherwise to get it to smell good, air fresheners. I personally dont use them, i just like to have either "clean vehicle" smell, or no smell at all.

This +1.

 

[Lasthope05]

You most likely won't find any of they product's they used at autogeek or the likes. Most detail shops use bulk chemicals marked for high volume use like Ardex. I used to work at several detail shops and that's all that's used here iny area. Stuff you see at Autogeek is the boutique/high end detailing shops.

 

[ChevyMan93]

Originally Posted By: Lasthope05

You most likely won't find any of they product's they used at autogeek or the likes. Most detail shops use bulk chemicals marked for high volume use like Ardex. I used to work at several detail shops and that's all that's used here iny area. Stuff you see at Autogeek is the boutique/high end detailing shops.

False. Autogeek isnt a boutique or even high end dealer, they do have stuff like that, but thats not all it is. I can guarentee you more detailers than you could imagine order their stuff off of autgeek or autopia, except specialty items, like ceramics or nano coating that you need to be certified to use. A LOT of detailers use menzerna, meguiars, carpro, sonax, 3d, 3m, collinite, griots, g techniq, gyeon, jescar, lake country, leatherique, lexol, mckees. Just to name a few. Most of these are best bang for buck in detailing, and they also work exceptionally well.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted By: Lasthope05

You most likely won't find any of they product's they used at autogeek or the likes. Most detail shops use bulk chemicals marked for high volume use like Ardex. I used to work at several detail shops and that's all that's used here iny area. Stuff you see at Autogeek is the boutique/high end detailing shops.

+1 A lot of detail shops will use Ardex, Meguiar's Professional or Zep products. Local shops will use smaller but local/regional brands since the trucks are always around. Most detailers in the SF Bay Area use Production or P&S, the former is a old-school name with equally old-school products that somehow stay relevant. The local car washes will use mostly Zep(Ecolab) in the wash tunnel and either Meguiar's or Production for their a la carte services. The bigger dealer chains do have agreements or contracts with their snake oil suppliers for detail bay or even a captive company. Hendrick has a stake in MetroTech Chemical/First Place Finish which coincidentally enough is the alias of their Hendrick Autoguard paint/fabric protection "system". Griot's/Chemical Guys and anything on Autogeek/Autopia is for the passionate DIYer or high-end detailer.

 

[SatinSilver]

For the interior try some Surf City Dash Away. Works great on a variety of surfaces(cloth, plastic, etc.) and has a nice, pleasant scent. Money back guarantee.

 

[gofast182]

Originally Posted By: ChevyMan93

Originally Posted By: Lasthope05

You most likely won't find any of they product's they used at autogeek or the likes. Most detail shops use bulk chemicals marked for high volume use like Ardex. I used to work at several detail shops and that's all that's used here iny area. Stuff you see at Autogeek is the boutique/high end detailing shops.

False. Autogeek isnt a boutique or even high end dealer, they do have stuff like that, but thats not all it is. I can guarentee you more detailers than you could imagine order their stuff off of autgeek or autopia, except specialty items, like ceramics or nano coating that you need to be certified to use. A LOT of detailers use menzerna, meguiars, carpro, sonax, 3d, 3m, collinite, griots, g techniq, gyeon, jescar, lake country, leatherique, lexol, mckees. Just to name a few. Most of these are best bang for buck in detailing, and they also work exceptionally well.

Not necessarily false. Autogeek does have a wide range or products spanning from bulk to boutique and detail shops may purchase from there; however, that's not where dealerships are going to buy from. They're going to get Ardex or Zep. I worked at a Chevy dealership in college and Ardex was pretty much it. Polishes were 3M and glass cleaner was Sprayway but every other chemical was Ardex.

 

[SatinSilver]

I worked at a small used car lot as one of my first jobs and they used Zep cleaners there. I remember going down the line of cars and was told to do two things to spruce them up. Clean the inside windows, with I think it was Invisible Glass although I prefer Sprayway now. Then use Zep tire cleaner/wheel cleaner. Each wheel and tire would get the chemical sprayed on, scrubbed and rinsed. Some of the cars would get waxed inside the small showroom. Also had to cut the grass and other yard work, landscaping.

 

[Silverado12]

I use Dashaway too. It works very well.

 

[RTexasF]

After Satinsilver turned me on to Dash Away some years back there has been no need to search for something better. It is simply a superior product in all ways. SS, I thank you again.

 

[RitcheyRch]

Meguiars 57 or 303 Aerospace Protectant

 

[aquariuscsm]

I use leather conditioner on all the interior soft plastics/vinyls. I use Armor All Ultra Shine on the hard plastics.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm

I use leather conditioner on all the interior soft plastics/vinyls. I use Armor All Ultra Shine on the hard plastics.

Since your cars sit outside all the time, try some Surf City Dash Away. Cleans and protects, even works on fabric, steering wheels etc... And money back guarantee if you don't like it. One product for both hard and soft surfaces. I remember you liking one of their other products, the Barrier Reef Wax.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: RTexasF

After Satinsilver turned me on to Dash Away some years back there has been no need to search for something better. It is simply a superior product in all ways. SS, I thank you again.

Of course and you're welcome. Your advice over the years has helped me out a ton. Sorry for the late reply but I just saw your post. I usually check replies to posts after a day or two and only check them once. So glad I caught this one. I enjoy trying new products but it's hard to do in this case.