Cleaning Interior Panels and Upholstery

[wcarroll@outrageous.net]

I just finished cleaning My Avanti door panels for the third time and finally had some success!!

My Avanti had been re-painted with the interior intact and was likely sanded/prepped with the windows removed and un-masked -leaving a nasty gummy like residue on the interior. It was most prevalent on the upper portions of the door panels which are a light beige color.

I tried a slew of methods including soapy water, simple green, and upholstery cleaner, but all they did was make the gummy mess worse.

I finally tried some of Target's knock-off Mr. Clean Eraser sponges with a bit of water and they worked great!! They removed all of the gummy residue and made the panels look like new again without resorting to harsh chemicals.

I thought for sure I was going to have to re-dye the beige vinyl, but now I don't think I'll have too!!

http://community.webshots.com/user/s2dbaker?vhost=community

[StudeRich]

That sounds really good, I sure hope it does not have any long term damaging effects like they say products like Armour-all have on vinyl.


StudeRich at Studebakers Northwest -Ferndale,WA

[ivorydan]

I've been told that gummy residue is actually a byproduct of the chemical breakdown and deterioration of the vinyl itself. Dan

[okc63avanti]

I have never heard that Armour-all could have long term damaging effects on vinyl. If this is so where did you read it and what would be a better alternative?

<div align="left">John</div id="left">

<div align="left">'63 Avanti, R1, Auto, AC, PW (unrestored)</div id="left">

[53k]

quote:Originally posted by wcarroll@outrageous.net

I just finished cleaning My Avanti door panels for the third time and finally had some success!!
My Avanti had been re-painted with the interior intact and was likely sanded/prepped with the windows removed and un-masked -leaving a nasty gummy like residue on the interior. It was most prevalent on the upper portions of the door panels which are a light beige color.
I tried a slew of methods including soapy water, simple green, and upholstery cleaner, but all they did was make the gummy mess worse.
I finally tried some of Target's knock-off Mr. Clean Eraser sponges with a bit of water and they worked great!! They removed all of the gummy residue and made the panels look like new again without resorting to harsh chemicals.

I don't know about the knockoffs, but the Mr Clean erasers work pretty well even on stained cloth upholstery.




Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. '64 Daytona Wagonaire, '64 Daytona convertible, '53 Commander Starliner, Museum R-4 engine, '62 Gravely Model L, '72 Gravely Model 430

[barnlark]

This has been discussed at length. IIRC, among other folks, BP has over 25 years of happy experiences with Armor All, as have I. The only place I've heard rumors of Armor All damage has been here on occasion. For cleaning gummy stuff, including any adhesive-type residue, I've had great luck with simple Goo-Gone without damage to anything.

[fmarshall]

Mr. Clean Eraser is really good. It works so well, because it is a ceramic sponge. It is micro-sanding. I used it on my bathtub, when I thought it needed to be refinished. It was simply amazing.

For vinyl interior cleaning, I have used SEM, as it was recommended to me by an upholstery shop. It worked really, really well.

http://semproducts.com/Catalog.asp?prod=78

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63 Avanti R2, 4-Speed, 3.73 TT
Martinez, CA

[wcarroll@outrageous.net]

This gummy coating was definitely related to the body prep -it's the second time/car I've had to deal with.

And I like Goo-Gone too, but sometimes the smell can be a little obnoxious.

The only thing I would advise against using the eraser on that I've tried and had bad results with is a gel-coated boat hull. It worked great to remove the dock/bumper rash but ended up dulling the surface and leaving it susceptible to discoloration. I guess I should have tried polished it back out, but I never got around to it.

http://community.webshots.com/user/s2dbaker?vhost=community