We’ve all seen that one car or truck on the road… Dirty, covered in what looks like 2 years of grime, and oxidized paint that has dropped the resale value beyond measure! But how does a car care company with 18 years of providing premium chemical experiences and over 50 years of detailing expertise showcase what they can really do?
Being a brand that is largely followed on social media… we got called out. We have a tendency to use newer, exotic, and luxury cars to showcase premium products in our photo and video coverage, so it’s understandable we got put on the spot! Enter a 2017 Jeep Wrangler with roughly 15k miles owned by one of our marketing folks here at Adam’s. During one of our many offload adventures, we came across a decently sized mud hole that wasn’t too thick, but had a TON of water that would make for a great splash on a skeleton jeep. After about 4-5 healthy passes through the mud hole, a group of friends grinning from ear-to-ear, and a not-so-sturdy styrofoam cooler, we had ourselves one dirty jeep. See below.
Now to the stuff you’re all here for: The Cleaning Process.
To preface this wash segment, we were told by our Founder and Chief Detailer, Adam Pitale, that it was not yet worthy enough for our wash bay with half the mud of Colorado being packed into places beyond reach! The Jeep is washed bi-weekly using our Ultra Foam Shampoo, was clayed 1 month ago using our Visco Clay Bar, and dried with Detail Spray and an Ultra Plush Drying Towel. 2-3 months ago, the hood was waxed 50:50 with Patriot Wax and Ceramic Paste Wax for gloss comparison.
That being said, our Team went to work with a de-mudding wash, rear windows off and all. See Below.
After a thorough cleaning with our pressure washer and an extension wand, we started to see the original color of the jeep. Oddly enough, Earthy Orange isn’t a factory color option.
As the original color began to show its way through with just a strong stream of water, we could start to see what fun we were in for on restoring this Jeep back to factory shape.
To break down a heavy contamination and begin lifting the remnants of the trip, we reached for our Foam Cannon and Ultra Foam Shampoo to let the suds go to work with pulling the heaviest dirt off.
After about a 3-4 minute dwell time, the soap was really starting to show signs of engaging the dirt and removing it from the surface. We wanted to blast it with soap first before putting a 10" Car Wash Pad and Microfiber Wash Mitt to it!
In this case, our 5 Gallon Bucket and Grit Guard were key and critical components to this process to safely take away dirt from our wash pad and put them out of the wash process.
Once we removed all the heavy dirt and grime, we rinsed the Jeep off thoroughly to get a clean slate for the hand washing process.
The wheels, tires, and fender wells were treated with our Wheel Cleaner and Tire & Rubber Cleaner accordingly, using a Wheel Brush, Wheel Woolie, Tire Brush, Trim & Lug Nut Brush, and Fender Brush.
Once the hood was washed with a wash pad, we opened up the engine bay for a thorough cleaning of the inside plastics, covers, and inner fenders. We wanted to be sure to remove any dirt around the engine as dirt holds heat and could hinder the performance over time if dirt settles into spots that are more temperature focused. Using our Tire & Rubber Cleaner and a Trim & Lug Nut Brush, we were able to reach hard to access areas and get in the nook and crannies.
The windows of the jeep were left down during the “adulting” but the front window took a beating! Luckily, the window was sealed with our Glass Sealant, so cleaning the dried muck and grime off was a breeze.
We wanted to clean the fender liners and body panel pinch welds perfectly, so we removed the fender lining to access the bottom half of the engine, inner fender wells, and electrical components. On the rear portion of the Jeep, we took our time cleaning the exposed springs, differential covers, and control arms and the mud had solidified from the wind and heat.
One of the token qualities of a jeep is it’s soft top. It’s rugged appearance and design allows you to lose the windows on the fly or cover up on a hot day. That being said, the soft top need a thorough cleansing after the mud had dried on the vehicle for about 36 hours! To conquer this task, we coated the soft top, roll bar covers, and padding in Leather and Interior Cleaner as it’s. a strong cleaner, but gentle enough to not stain or remove pigment from the black fabric components.
Once fully rinsed and clean enough for the detail area, the Jeep was air blown with our Master Blaster Revolution. Having this much dirt to remove required having soap and cleaners blown into places out of sight for towel drying— We reached for the air accessory to tackle this obstacle.
Now for the interior…. Boy, did we get what we asked for! Step one was to open up each and every door to see the damage done, next it was onto winning the lottery of All in One Interior Cleaners, or our Leather & Interior Cleaner.
Each door was sprayed down thoroughly to let the new micellular formula do its thing and break up the grime and dried dirt. The surfactants did an excellent job of bring the dirt to the surface, but because there was an unusual amount of build up, we wanted to reapply with a series of fresh Microfiber Utility Towels to avoid scratching and damaging the Jeep’s interior components.
Luckily, the Jeep is “Trail Rated” and designed for abuse… maybe not this level, but we’re up for the challenge. Using a Cockpit Brush, and Trim & Lug Brush, it allowed us to get around the locking components, door jambs, door handles, and door panel seams just fine.
For the cloth interior floor mats, and fabric seats, we sprayed our Carpet and Upholstery on each seat and allowed to soak for 4-5 minutes, then applied product to a Cockpit Brush and agitated in circular motions. On cloth or fabric seats, you wanted to be sure to target the seat from every angle possible so you do not have the nap of the material steered in multiple directions.
We could have vacuumed up the soiled product with our Shop Wet Vac, but using a carpet extractor with a heated pump was a smarter option to pull all of the dirt out at once… After all, Will needed his vehicle back to get to work the next day!
After dressing the cleaned interior with Leather Conditioner and Interior Detailer on the appropriate areas, the Jeep was turning around rather nicely.
To dress the engine bay, we grabbed a can of our In & Out Spray to add the icing the cake of the token V6 engine.
To dress the tires and running rails, we grabbed a VRT Block and VRT to leave a clean, crisp, satin shine.
The fender wells and frame components were treated with our Undercarriage Spray to leave it as close to invisible as possible.
Lastly, the body and wheels were treated with our Ceramic Boost 2.0, the new formula will serve as a 3-5 month stand alone sealant, which should last us until the next “call out.”
And behold, the finished product— a 2017 Jeep Wrangler, clean and pristine, ready for the next obstacle. We learned a lot through this project and hope you did too.
We’re patiently waiting for the next one to show you the power of our products.
