I had a brilliant idea and bought an ML320, now I need to clean it, many, many times.

[horatio]

I have half a pot of (light grey) gliptone dye I had made for a W211, could it be the same colour?

 

[Blobsta]

I have half a pot of (light grey) gliptone dye I had made for a W211, could it be the same colour?

I think I probably need a bucket of it as it would all need to be done. According to Lastvin.com the leather colour is 'Gray-268A' but that isn't on any of the resellers lists for leather dye, perhaps because these were US built cars there is a difference (as you can see in the spelling of grey).

It would be an interesting test to see how they come out even if the colour isn't exact to start with thank you.

 

[Milton7]

Just the car I would go for, I like one owner cars. I imagine a lot of people would ignore the one owner/distressed sale aspect of this car and become fixated on the dirt which is so easily sorted.

 

[Blobsta]

+1 for the snow foam and pressure wash, I did it between meetings today, pressure washed 2 or 3 times plus wet vac and drill brush. Getting better.

More filth on the internet for you!

 

[W1ghty]

+1 for the snow foam and pressure wash, I did it between meetings today, pressure washed 2 or 3 times plus wet vac and drill brush. Getting better.

More filth on the internet for you!

Have you now got mat shapes/shadows on the paving slabs buddy ?

 

[poormansporsche]

Wild stab in the dark, don't suppose you bought it from a Jamaican chap ? If so he's quite well known in the Sydenham Area ? (One of my customers )

 

[Blobsta]

Did you ever have a drink you didn't spill? This and my children ask why they can't eat and drink in my cars!!!

Seats are in the boot now, all the plastics are washed and now I have to work out how to get this mess tackled while I am in back-to-back meetings for most of tomorrow

You can see how the carpet has come back a lot after a first pass with the shampoo so there is definitely hope. Now the seats are out I can see the true scale of the problem of course but hey, it wasn't going to be fixed in one go.

That's enough for today.

 

[Gollom]

Did you ever have a drink you didn't spill? This and my children ask why they can't eat and drink in my cars!!!

Seats are in the boot now, all the plastics are washed and now I have to work out how to get this mess tackled while I am in back-to-back meetings for most of tomorrow

You can see how the carpet has come back a lot after a first pass with the shampoo so there is definitely hope. Now the seats are out I can see the true scale of the problem of course but hey, it wasn't going to be fixed in one go.

That's enough for today.

Don't do things by half do you!

 

[Blobsta]

Wild stab in the dark, don't suppose you bought it from a Jamaican chap ? If so he's quite well known in the Sydenham Area ? (One of my customers )

I only dealt with the grandson who was certainly not of Jamaican origin, he was as awkwardly white as I am . I think the owner was Gary? Car has always been registered in a business name, something scaffolding or other but of course you don't get previous keeper details anymore. I only guess at Gary as that was part of the email address for change of keeper but it had numbers and letters after it so no surname. I did tell the grandson that I would keep him updated as I go through and sort the issues which he said granddad would really like. I hope you do know him, it would be nice to get it all sorted out and then prove that it is being cared for still. Regardless of the condition it came to me in, he clearly loved it else he wouldn't have kept it for 21 years, your going to have some attachment to it after that time aren't you?

Mrs Blobsta drove it for the first time this evening and I happened to see her leave as she found the oddly resistive throttle having crept off the drive and catapulted herself up the road. It was described upon her return as "terrifying but ok once you know what to expect!" I am really looking forward to the new cable arriving at my local dealer as its got to come from Germany, currently that is spoiling the drive of this car I feel. I expect I'll feel like I need a paramedic for my wallet when the first batch of parts lands!

 

[Blobsta]

Don't do things by half do you!

"Treat 'em mean, keep 'em clean!" It's worth it when you get to the finished result and I swear once you done it once, you never view a secondhand car the same way! This is nothing in the grand scheme of stuff I've been up to in my spare time.

 

[Paulhick]

Can I ask what you used to clean the seats ?

 

[Blobsta]

Can I ask what you used to clean the seats ?

A mix of just about everything given the state of them, normally I would exercise a bit more care. I have used so far:

Woolies-Trim Leather Cleaner
Steam (from a distance as that seems a bit too much)
Fairy liquid
All Purpose Cleaner
Carpet shampoo Dirtbusters because I have a lot of it and it's a gentle soap
Magic erasers are my new favourite thing, 50 of them for under £7.00 on eBay, they don't last that long but they cleverly pull the dirt out of the grain in the leather as long as you use very light pressure, if you press hard they are less effective???
Hitting it with a shoe,
Yelling at them
Weeping.
Then leather care of your choice.

I'm having to do them and then let them dry off for a day before repeating as these are so bad they will just end up sopping wet and that ultimately isn't great for the leather either.

 

[Petrol Pete]

I just hope none of the OCD members who spend most of their time on the 'Detailing' section of this forum are not reading this . Most would have to have a little lie down in a darkened room

 

[Paulhick]

A mix of just about everything given the state of them, normally I would exercise a bit more care. I have used so far:

Woolies-Trim Leather Cleaner
Steam (from a distance as that seems a bit too much)
Fairy liquid
All Purpose Cleaner
Carpet shampoo Dirtbusters because I have a lot of it and it's a gentle soap
Magic erasers are my new favourite thing, 50 of them for under £7.00 on eBay, they don't last that long but they cleverly pull the dirt out of the grain in the leather as long as you use very light pressure, if you press hard they are less effective???
Hitting it with a shoe,
Yelling at them
Weeping.
Then leather care of your choice.

I'm having to do them and then let them dry off for a day before repeating as these are so bad they will just end up sopping wet and that ultimately isn't great for the leather either.

Thanks. Have got cream leather in my Audi and it needs a clean ( nowhere near as bad as yours) and I’ve never been able to find the right stuff for it.

 

[LeeJV]

Great work , looks Fantastic .
It's certainly very rewarding when you into the nifty gritty

 

[Blobsta]

Small amount of progress yesterday in result but in effort it was substantial. The tunnel actually looks worse for more than ten passes of shampoo, steam, brush and wet-vac as that is just how much dirt is ground in where there has never been a mat to protect it. I need to leave it now to dry and vacuum I think as hopefully this has loosened the debris and I can remove some of it then repeat this part again in a couple of weeks. Seat frames were jet washed and a first pass over the leather, pics later as the light was too low inside the car to photograph last night.

Before and after shots

 

[poormansporsche]

I only dealt with the grandson who was certainly not of Jamaican origin, he was as awkwardly white as I am . I think the owner was Gary

No worries, probably not then

Just thought it might be him, due to my customer being a mad hoarder (in the car that is !) Permanently completely full up with engine parts, cooker parts, legal documents all stacked up everywhere. He could barely see out the windscreen !

 

[Blobsta]

My youngest spent about 4 hours with me yesterday helping to clean the ML, I was amazed at the dedication from a 6 year old. It's a huge improvement!

 

[Fununcle]

Amazing job, all credit to you.

 

[MrGreedy]

I'd definitely give furniture clinic or another leather treatment company a call, and see what they can recommend colour repainting treatment, acknowledging your earlier comment about the leather colour. A bit if a job I know, but I'm sure those seats could look nearly as good as new for a few £10s and a bit (more) of your time.