Hi, my name is Brent Dicesare,
I'm one half of WD Detailing,
and today we're going to be cleaning
a really moldy Buick Reatta
that sat outside for over 22 years.
The owner took me into his backyard,
and as soon as I saw this one specifically,
I knew we had to do it.
When we opened the doors, the first thing
that we found was a ton of mold
and what looks like a mouse nest
beginning to form at some point.
All in all, this car smelled absolutely horrendous,
and it was just disgusting.
So, the first thing that we're doing
is working on the engine bay,
and that means getting rid of
all of the leaves and anything that piled up
over the years in the jamb of the bay.
After that, we went ahead and we used
a pressure washer and some degreaser on it.
And after we finish the engine bay,
we moved on to the wheels.
So, when cleaning the wheels,
the first thing we'll do is pressure wash them off,
just to get a cleaner surface.
And then we'll spray our wheel and tire cleaner on them
and use a couple different brushes
to get into the wheel crevices
and on the face of the rim
and then behind the rim and in the barrel.
Then, after that, we'll spray everything away,
leaving a really clean wheel.
Now we're getting ready to pressure wash
and clean the outside of the car.
We wanted to use our paint-safe degreaser first
to loosen up all that mold and grime
before we actually took a pressure washer to the surface.
And then we started pressure washing,
which is by far the most satisfying part
of any detail that we do.
So, our process with pressure washing,
we always like to try to work from top to bottom.
So the first thing we did was the roof.
So we went to the hood after that,
and then the sides,
and then the rear.
Just watching the pressure washer go in straight lines,
taking away those years of grime,
just feels so good inside.
I can't even explain it.
And then, after having all that pressure washed off,
we'll go ahead and spray the entire car down
with our foam cannon.
So, here we're using the foam cannon,
and the reason for that is because
after pressure washing the car,
there is still grime and dirt left
on the surface of the paint,
and the foam cannon really just helps add more soap
to the paint than putting soap in a bucket would.
And when you're washing the car off
with microfiber mitts,
it makes it easier to do, and quicker.
After we wash it off, we spray the ceramic spray,
just to give it some protection
before moving on to the interior.
So, in our first round of vacuuming,
we knew that this car was really bad,
so we weren't going to get everything.
So we definitely were going to need to use
the drill brush and extractor later on.
This area looks like mice made a nest,
and they were both leaving their droppings behind
and also bringing some food or different materials
from the inside of the car that they could find.
We were able to vacuum that up
and actually get it pretty clean.
So, when we work on doors that have leather
or vinyl or anything like that,
we're pretty much using the same process,
especially when they're covered in mold.
The first thing we'll do is use Tri-Clean,
which is a cleaner that kills 99.9% of bacteria,
and then we'll use soft-bristle brushes
and sometimes a steamer from a distance,
just to kill the bacteria and kill the mold,
and then we'll wipe it away.
And we'll spend a decent amount of time
on each section of the car
to make sure that we really get it clean
before moving on to the next one.
We repeat the process with the steamer
and the Tri-Clean throughout the entire interior,
including the steering wheel,
which was covered in a very thick layer of mold,
worse than any steering wheel we've ever seen.
So, what we're using is the Tornador,
and that's pressurized air,
and it's using it to dry it off
and also blow out any product that could be
in the cracks or anything like that.
Older leather can definitely be tougher to work with,
because if mold sits on it for a long time,
it can damage it, it can remove the dye,
and you also have to be really careful with the steamer,
because if you spend too much time in one area
or you get too close, it can definitely damage it.
And after we clean the interior components,
we'll go ahead and focus on the carpets,
and the first thing we'll do
is spray our extractor soap into the carpet
and we'll get it wet,
and then we'll use the drill brush
to agitate it into the fibers of the carpet
to help release any stains or any dirt that's in there.
And then we'll use the extractor to suck that all away.
And after the interior's completely clean
with the leather and the vinyl, anything like that,
we'll go ahead and use a leather conditioner.
That way, it can bring back the softness
and the suppleness,
but it also leaves it with a nice shine.
And then some of the final things that we do
to the car is cleaning the windows,
and we add a tire shine
to give the car those finishing touches,
so when the owner actually sees it,
it gives that wow factor.
All in all, this detail probably took us
around 12 hours over the course of one day.
And just looking over the final result of the car,
we couldn't have been happier
with the way it turned out.
Even though there was some damage
to the exterior with the paint,
everything else absolutely was fantastic.