Vinyl cleaner

[Charles Morgan]

I have a lot of interior vinyl to clean in my W114 coupe restoration project. Much of it is very dirty, and with the grain of the vinyl the dirt is difficult to remove entirely (before and after photos shown for an armrest cleaned with good old fashioned all purpose cleaner below) .

I intend to test some aerospace 303 on the finished result but any suggestions for something that will really shift the dirt effectively?

 

[flango]

Decosol Vinyl cleaner used to be the stuff years ago, don't know if you can still get it, was bright orange and no other product ever came close to it, was fantastic for those 1970's cars with Vinyl seats and roofs

 

[Ted]

Thishttp://www.maplin.co.uk/p/servisol-antistatic-foam-cleanser-400ml-jp18u
Should do the job.
I used to use it for cleaning textured vdus coated with nicotine stains and other dirt and it drew the ingrained stuff out a treat.

 

[Charles Morgan]

The servisol works very well on the side panels that are pure vinyl. The armrests have a different surface and it was less successful in lifting the remaining dirt.

I've found some Decasol online and will also give that a go when it arrives. There's tons of roof lining to do!

 

[flango]

As I remember trick with decosol is nail brush or tooth brush on heavily soiled areas. The other day I also saw on a forum where someone was using one of those body mops from the shower with good results

 

[bolide]

Decosol was great but I suspect technology has moved on a bit! I swear by the Autoglym interior cleaner with the green-on-white label. It's a non-cationic surfactant, not a soap, and it works by removing the electrical bond between the dirt and the surface so the dirt just floats off

You have to use it in the right way, but it works brilliantly on dashboards, wood, plastic, carpet, cloth and leather seats. The only thing it's not brilliant on is glass - Nilglas is better

It can leave streaks if you're careless so wet the whole area in one go and remove with a wet cloth, rinsing it every time you use it. I use a small brush on dirty areas

You should be careful on old plastic with a finish - if you use anything too aggressive, or a solvent, it can damage the surface or dissolve the foam core or parts

Another useful thing is an Autoglym magic sponge

The final sanction is thinners and a rag…

Nick Froome

 

[a111r]

'Value' wet wipes are a pretty strong cleaner (i.e. you don't want to use them on your baby's botty) and are always clear up cruddy steering wheels, arm rests etc.

Unbranded iso propyl alcohol (IPA) is my degreaser of choice. Bought by the litre or 5, it has many uses.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Right, I decided to have a test of the Autoglym Vinyl cleaner (£7.49 for 500ml from Halfords) side by side with the Servisol (£4.99 for 400ml from Maplins).

This is what they are up against - the n/s sun visor. Pretty manky after decades gathering dirt in the car. In the interests of a scientific comparison I used two micro fibre cloths of like cleanness (both had been washed recently) and followed the instructions to the letter of the respective cleaners.

First the Servisol - you shake the can, spray it and it foams rapidly and instantly on contact. There being no instructions on the can I simply cleaned it off the moment it stopped foaming. No dripping from the fluid.

Result

Then the Autoglym - the instructions said squirt and leave for a few minutes, so I made a cuppa while I waited.

Result (on the left hand side) - not bad either, but it had three minutes to the Servisol's seconds, needed a lot more scrubbing with the cloth and was very liquid so would drip from the car ceiling.

Close ups using the Macro on my Nikkor lens

Autoglym

Servisol

Conclusion - the Servisol was a better cleaner with less spillage and a very rapid effect. I'm sure if left a bit longer it would have been even better. For what I need - the Servisol really does do the job, the Autoglym an honourable second.

 

[Charles Morgan]

The Servisol also smells a bit like an old red wine past its best but still not dead, a very redolent scent for me!

The black in the corners of the photos is vignetting from the polarising filter not me being idle.

 

[Marku]

Looks good having tried Autoglym and Meguairs. What I need is something that will recolour as well.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Respraying vinyl is the only way to put a lot of colour back, but Aerospace 303 will return some depth and sheen.

 

[bolide]

Aerospace 303 will return some depth and sheen.

Careful, Charles, it sounds you're on the slippery slope to OCD car cleaning!

Nick Froome

 

[Charles Morgan]

That ship sailed months ago Nick!

 

[Howard]

Charles , have you tried some dilute TFR ?

Not sure you'd want to use it on nappa , but it's great on vinyl.

 

[stevehg]

Sorry, I've just seen this. I'd also recommend bilt hamber's surefex HD, as an affordable solution for this. Advantage with SHD, is that has multiple uses at different ratios of dilution, so it's very cost effective.

You might want to try some gtechniq C4 on some of the darker vinyls. Should bring some of the original colour back and protect.

cheers, Steve

 

[Charles Morgan]

I looked up TFR and got the urban dictionary definition first!

I'll see how far my servisol gets first, being a can I suspect a lot less than I'd like.

 

[bolide]

Advantage with SHD, is that has multiple uses at different ratios of dilution, so it's very cost effective

It seems we're back to your other addiction, Charles, wine!

Nick Froome

 

[Charles Morgan]

One of my other addictions! I don't dilute it though...