Removing Armorall

[Rick]

Ok really, it's not my fault. We picked up this 02 Corvette that got a really thick and heavy armorall job on the whole interior. It's horrible, I could hardly grab the steering wheel without it slipping out of my hands. Ohh yeah, plus it smells bad.

Anyways, is there any magic way to remove this junk? I sprayed some 8:1 APC+ on a part then wipe it off. The slickness is gone, but you can see where the APC+ had sat a little while that it has less residue there. I think I've got it cleaned up to the point where I could dress it with some real Meguiar's stuff, but I really want to make sure this stuff is entirely gone before I do that. Would 39 have any advantage over APC+? Thanks.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey,

In that situation, I have found that #39 works very well. Just be sure to apply a Meguiar's dressing like #40 after using the #39.

Good luck and post some before and after pics if you can. :)

Tim

[scrub]

I'd vote #39 over APC.

If sprayed directly on the surface APC+ might leave behind spots (almost stains) where the cleaner was applied. I would try to avoid that. I've had great luck using #39 to remove wax stains on black plastic.

Good luck.

[Rick]

Alright, thanks. I think I have about half a bottle of 39 left somewhere. I'll see if that takes care of the rest. I took a before pic I'll post when I have an after one for comparison.

[Mike Phillips]

Just a suggestion, you might try using a cotton terry cloth wash rag, or towel, saturated with some #39 and kind of scrub the surfaces down really well. Wipe off any excess with a clean terry cloth towel and then go over everything with some #40 as this product has some light chemical cleaners as well as conditioners and a couple of applications of this, worked in well should help finish cleaning the surface of anything the #39 loosened and any residual #39 will conditioning it and giving it a over all uniform appearance.

Mike

[Rick]

Well, 39 seemed to work a little bit better than APC+. There still was some left over, but I went back over everything with 40 like you said and now the interior is no longer slippery.

Here's the before picture:
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/193armorall.JPG

It looks cheap and tacky, too slick. Plus it had already started to gob up the dust in it.

And here it is all cleaned up, 40 on the dash and other like surfaces. Detailer line leather cleaner/conditioner on the leather, and the carpets cleaned with ACP+:
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/19340-med.JPG

Anyways, thanks again. I'm off to work on the exterior.... Mike, you had mentioned Corvette's have hard paint right? This should be interesting.

[Mike Phillips]

Originally posted by Rick
Well, 39 seemed to work a little bit better than APC+. There still was some left over, but I went back over everything with 40 like you said and now the interior is no longer slippery.

Here's the before picture:
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/193armorall.JPG

It looks cheap and tacky, too slick. Plus it had already started to gob up the dust in it.

And here it is all cleaned up, 40 on the dash and other like surfaces. Detailer line leather cleaner/conditioner on the leather, and the carpets cleaned with ACP+:
http://archive.meguiarsonline.com/gallery/data/500/19340-med.JPG


Wow! That is such an improvement. Nice work. Looking forward to your impression of the clear coat on the Corvette.

Mike

[Rick]

Well, I'm ozoning the interior right now to hopefully get rid of the armorall smell for good.

The exterior proved quite a formidable opponent. First off I pretty much used up the rest of half a detailer mild clay bar I had left on it. It almost seemed like it had never been clayed in it's 70K miles (Btw, I lied it's a 01). I went with 83 on the rotary, which even that barely phased it, and I really don't want to get any more aggressive that that. I finished with NXT at dusk so I really don't know how it looks in the end till tomorrow, but it's deffinitely an improvment.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey Rick,

That interior looks soooooooooooo much better!!! :bigups :bigups

And, as you are now well aware, some Vettes have very hard paint!! Take a look in the daylight first and then decide if going more aggressive is needed.

Good luck and post some pics when done! :)

Tim

[Buellwinkle]

I just don't understand why these detail places do Armorall (or whatever dressing they use), I don't know anyone that likes it. I feel your pain, I had to remove it from my daghter's car a few times (we prepaid $200 when we got the car for 6 full details). Now my wife's car had the interior cleaned at the car wash and it's full of Armorall and all we wanted was the rugs and seats shampooed (I know there are good products to do this but I hate doing interiors).

It takes a lot of towels and a lot of vinyl cleaner and it's still doesn't 100% disappear, and the smell, eewwww! Maybe Meguiars can come out with an effective dedicated product that specifically targets Armorall. I would be first on line to buy it.

[Rick]

Well, as an update 83 on the rotary barely phased the swirling on the Vette's clear coat. It does look better, but no where near what the same treatment on any other vehicle would have done. I didn't quite realize just how hard Corvette Paint was, sheesh!

Anyways, after ozoning the interior the armorall smell is now gone. I might also mention that using a tooth brush with 39 down in those crevices where the armorall had accumulated helped remove it.

[Tim Lingor]

Hey Rick,

Just to make sure that the paint is indeed really hard, try two test spots. One with #82 Swirl Free Polish and a W-8006 Polishing Pad and another spot with #84 Compound Power Cleaner and a W-7006 Cutting Pad. See which one the paint reacts to. I suspect, the paint is hard.

Keep us posted! :)

Tim

[Mikeyb]

WOW.....


What is APC+...........???


And is this the best stuff for cleaning carpets....?

Cheers....

Mike

:xyxthumbs

EDIT:

Just being silly...... I've just woken up.....

All Purpose Cleaner +

[Rick]

(Sorry, we've drifted way off topic for interior care)

2HartFord, I don't own any compound power cleaner. The only more aggressive thing than 83 that I have is either medium or heavy cut cleaner, and I really don't want to get too aggressive with a car thats likely not staying around very long anyways. But like Mike said before, Corvette's come with very hard factory paint, and it appears this one had been through some car washes in it's life.

It looks much better the way it is anyways. Claying it alone made it noticeably more glossy. The interior was the main focus.

[newbie]

I actually had the same problem with Armor all. I will never use their products again.