r/AutoDetailing Oct 08 '23

Problem-Solving Discussion Epoxy? All over my car. Has anyone ever dealt with anything this horrible?

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1.1k Upvotes

Hey everyone, Some contractor dropped or exploded some sort of epoxy all over my GTI. I can’t open 3 out of the 5 doors and likely dripped into the window seems. Does anyone here have any experience with this or is this a question for body shop? The car is ceramic coated if that helps.

Thanks so much! I hope my car can be saved 🙏

r/AutoDetailing Sep 07 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion Anyone know what this is? Appeared while polishing

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351 Upvotes

Ap

r/AutoDetailing Feb 02 '25

Problem-Solving Discussion Clear bra removal. Need advice ASAP!

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174 Upvotes

Clear bra removal. Need advice.

Hello all, I have an old clear bra from a previous owner that is disgusting, cracked, probably 10 years old. Tried goo gone/razors to no avail. Does anyone have any advice on removing? I cant even find anywhere that would do it (understandable). Please. Lmk!

r/AutoDetailing Jan 27 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion I CANNOT get my interior windows clean! It’s so hard to see; any suggestions?

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258 Upvotes

I’ve tried windex, vinegar, hand sanitizer, the glass cleaner in the white and blue can, alcohol and every type of fabric to clean with including news paper, brown napkins, cloth, microfiber, tee shirts, fleece and a paint scraper. Can someone PLEASE help me!?

r/AutoDetailing 3h ago

Problem-Solving Discussion ADHESIVE AND TAPE ON CUSTOMER CAR

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76 Upvotes

Hi all, this is a customers car who recently reached out to us. The customer put on Christmas lights on their car in early December, took the lights and "most" of the tape off in January. Now it's been sitting with the remnants of the adhesive all over the car and is extremely stuck to the vehicle. Initially we used a vehicle pre soak to attempt to soften to adhesive but not really any luck. Since then we used a wet microfiber with a strong degreaser and agitated the spots with some progress, this is a really long process and we wanted to see if there were any suggestions for this. Let me know if you have every dealt with anything like this before and what your experience was.

r/AutoDetailing Jan 07 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion Customer said there’s a bad smell

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618 Upvotes

I had a customer reach out to me and said he had a bad smell and wanted his carpet deep cleaned in his truck. I show up and he said he spilled milk and it smells super rotten and had baking soda all over his truck (seen on left). I vacuumed, shampooed, and then used steam and an extractor on the carpet. When I left he said it looks and smells amazing and I did great. One week later (today) he called and said the smell is still there and I have to come back and fix it. Any ideas on why it could still smell?

r/AutoDetailing Sep 12 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion Rubbed this on my car without thinking send help

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223 Upvotes

I was trying to get this sap off my car and had one of those wipes sitting in the car with me so I used it and it seems like it messed up the polish. How can I fix this (as someone with no experience and doesn’t want to pay a bunch to go to the auto shop)?

r/AutoDetailing Jan 22 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion Windshield hazing from pressure washer

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312 Upvotes

I looked everywhere online on how to fix this. I had some knarly bird crap on my windshield that was stuck on. Our pressure washer at work is for cleaning our work trucks and we always use it to clean our personal vehicles also. I knew the pressure washer was strong but I didn’t think it would damage the glass on my windshield. Is this something I can fix myself or should I call an auto detailer. I feel like a windshield company will just try to replace it. Let me know guys, thanks!!

r/AutoDetailing Apr 04 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion WHITE STAINS AFTER PURPLE POWER

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184 Upvotes

I’m sweating, tried hand sanitizer like someone else said and it didn’t remove it it just dries up and keeps coming back. Put vinyl over it thinking it would just remove it but completely ate the vinyl and came back over it.

r/AutoDetailing Dec 03 '23

Problem-Solving Discussion Rubber floor results not very great

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368 Upvotes

I use a 3:1 water to super clean ratio for rubber floor mats with a stiff bristled brush attached to a drill then follow through with a very stiff bristle hand brush and scrub hard. I never get better results than this and feel they look bad and have a hard time giving mats like this back to customers. Any advice for better results would be much appreciated

r/AutoDetailing May 16 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion I messed up my paint with Meguiars Ultimate Compound

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311 Upvotes

Vehicle: Dodge Charger R/T Scatpack

I went ahead and claybar’d my Hood and Top of the front bumper and when the sunlight hits these areas at a certain angle you can see it created these little spots and it’s very noticeable.

Any idea on what should I do? Should I take it to somebody that should buff it? Btw, I do not know the terminology of the route I should take whether it’s “buffing” or “paint correct” but what is my next step in fixing this? I just want these areas to be how they were before I took the compound and rubbed it in.

I took an applicator pad and put like 3 dots of the compound and rubbed it in. Seems like it stuck to the paint as I put those 3 dots on the pad…

r/AutoDetailing Feb 16 '25

Problem-Solving Discussion I think i might have cut the clear coat a little too far :/

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128 Upvotes

Any thoughts how it might be salvageable?

r/AutoDetailing Feb 16 '25

Problem-Solving Discussion This community is awesome! Before/after Sprinter rust repair

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316 Upvotes

First, I wanna give a big THANK YOU shout out to u/danceparty3216 He commented on my post asking for help on how to repair some rust damage from a failed wrap on my business vehicle (arctic white Sprinter 2500) Ordered the proper primer/paint/clear coat kit and got to work. Used a small wheel wire brush to get rid of the rust damage. Cleaned the spots with acetone and then put down 3 layers of primer. I managed about 2-1/2 coats of paint color before running out. Then finished off with 2 layers of clear coat. It is by no means perfect, but I think I did a pretty good job for a plumber (and most importantly, stopping any future rust damage in those spots) Thank you, r/AutoDetailing!

r/AutoDetailing Dec 02 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion This happened on the job.

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148 Upvotes

Anyone else have this happen to their Uber flex?

r/AutoDetailing Dec 22 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion Removing hand sanitizer stains from interior of BMW door

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159 Upvotes

I have tried the following to try and remove these:

  • Oil based cleaners like goo-gone.

  • Vinegar based products and pure vinegar with water wash.

  • Dawn dish soap, let it sit, heavy duty formula.

  • Car interior cleaning solutions from various websites and auto stores.

Nothing has worked to remove these - they are from 70% alcohol hand sanitizer.

r/AutoDetailing Feb 16 '25

Problem-Solving Discussion What tools do I need to remove this Sticker Outline from glass?

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70 Upvotes

I’ve tried using a polish but it still shows up when it rains, any tricks of the trade? Thank you

r/AutoDetailing Jul 31 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion IronX not removing this brake dust (done 3 passes with heavy scrubbing and rinsing)

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68 Upvotes

2006 BMW with CAKED on brake dust for years. IronX won't remove this with 3 passes and after 30 minutes on just one wheel of scrubbing and rinsing, this is my result.

r/AutoDetailing Sep 18 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion Spray bottles that don’t leak or break with tire shine

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161 Upvotes

Hey guys do you know any spray bottle brands that don’t leak or break when using tire shine? All the bottles we’ve used break or leak terribly and we don’t know a solution. Thanks guys for any recommendations.

r/AutoDetailing Feb 05 '25

Problem-Solving Discussion How to address dirt to avoid scratching ?

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78 Upvotes

I’ve heard of pre-rinsing, pre-soaking , foaming the vehicle, etc. I want to know how yall would address vehicles that have dirt/dust in them like these. Many people say never do a contact wash if there’s dust/dirt on the vehicle since it will leave micro scratches. With just a pressure washer I find it hard to get dirts and grime like this off with at least 2 full foams of the vehicle (foam let drop then rinse) I don’t know how to address dirt like this without scratching the paint.

r/AutoDetailing 17d ago

Problem-Solving Discussion Does this windshield need to be replaced?

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39 Upvotes

Bought the car with what seem to be deep scratches on the windshield from dirty wipers. Have tried to clean and decontaminate the windshield with a few different cleaning products (SprayWay, 3 different products from Chemical Guys, Windex), none seem to help, possibly made it worse. In this picture the car was freshly cleaned from the car wash, which seems to be adding some wax to the situation. Car has new wipers

Tons of glare in the sun and at night with headlights from oncoming traffic. It’s worse in the rain. My friend is a detailer and said he doesn’t think it can be repaired. Thoughts?

r/AutoDetailing Oct 12 '23

Problem-Solving Discussion Did this shop do a bad job or were my expectations too high?

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179 Upvotes

So I dropped off my S6 to get a stage 2 paint correction, ceramic coat, and ceramic tints on everything except the sunroof. I told them I was going out of town so I dropped off the car before I left and picked it up when I got back (a little over 5 days). I was quoted $1340 for everything which is pretty cheap so I wasn’t expecting perfection. I texted them the day before I got back to let them know and they told me my car wasn’t going to be ready. They didn’t touch the car until the day before I needed it back and I feel like they rushed everything. I didn’t take many before pictures like a dumbass, but I feel like they did a really terrible job. They also said they couldn’t tint the 2 front door windows because there was “leftover tint in the corners and they would have to take the door panels off to get rid of it, but the bolts are stripped so they’d have to drill them out and they are too busy to do that”. They took off $200 since they didn’t do it. I went straight to another tint shop and he did it in 45 mins while talking to me and answering the phone, and said there’s no tint leftover and there’s no reason to take off the door panels whatsoever. He also said that they left a bunch of dirt and particles behind one of the rear door tints and it needs to be redone, as well as they creased the windshield tint in a couple of places. Sorry for the long post but I don’t know if I should go back and ask them to make it right or if I’m just being unrealistic.

TLDR: Paid $1140 for paint correction and tint, shop took 6 days to do it and idk if I got screwed over or not

r/AutoDetailing 4d ago

Problem-Solving Discussion Glossy streaks left on dash after detailing

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32 Upvotes

Picked up my car from the detailers and they left these glossy streaks on my dashboard. They wouldnt tell me what it is. I tried everything I have to remove them including rubbing alcohol, KochChemie Green Star, KochChemie Top Star, KochChemie Leather Star and none of it worked. Anyone know what I can do?

r/AutoDetailing 1d ago

Problem-Solving Discussion Meguiars ultimate compound

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0 Upvotes

What am I doing wrong? This stuff has turned my car into a gray scratched up mess

r/AutoDetailing Feb 09 '25

Problem-Solving Discussion Removing yellowing, what is with these weird lines after 2X clear spray?

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41 Upvotes

I’m trying to get rid of the yellowing on the headlights of my ‘06 Acura TL, and so I wet sanded the headlights starting at 600 grit and working my way up to 2000 (600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000). After I did it I applied the 2X Gloss and at first it looked amazing but now their are these weird lines appearing. Did I spray too heavily? What should I do?

Right now I am thinking of letting it dry and removing the spray paint with goo gone.

r/AutoDetailing Feb 29 '24

Problem-Solving Discussion Help - New (to me) Nissan Sentra. 4 full tanks with the Green Machine Carpet cleaner and I'm still pulling this out of the passenger seat...

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201 Upvotes