So, I am doing a full detail this weekend. Here is a copy of the note I made on facebook.

[quote]
So, it has been far to long since I have given my MINI a proper interior exterior detailing. I have long sense given up on having people do it for me (ever since they scratched her), so I do it myself now, and love it. So here are things that will be done.

Exterior

0. Take before pictures
1. Wash with dawn dishsoap
2. Clay all panels, wheels and windows
3. Mask off trim
4. 1-2 (depends on panel) complete passes using an air powered random orbital and Griots polish 3
5. 1 pass using Prima Amigo and the random orbital
6. 1 hand pass using Prima Epic on all panels and wheels
7. clean all black plastic trim using Black Wow
8. Take after pictures


Interior

1. Vacuum
(1.5: Remove front seats [maybe])*
2. Attempt to remove blood stains from seats**
3. Clean all plastic with a plastic cleaner***
4. Clean off all windows with Prima Clarity
5. Spray down all plastic with Prima Nero
6. Spray down all vinyl type surfaces with Prima Nero
7. Clean painted surfaces with Prima Slick and the protect surface with Prima Hydro

Engine Bay

1. Remove all loose dirt with water and rags.
2. Spray down intercooler cover Prima Nero

Total time is going to be around 2 days. [quote]

So, before I can tackle this I have 3 problems that need solving.

*: I want to remove my front seats so I can do a good thorough vacuuming around the usual crevices and underneath them. The only thing is that the Bentley manual states that the bolts that hold the rails in place should be replaced while doing this. Are the bolts anything special or would some high grade bolts from a hardware store work?

**: I have a few small blood stains on the driver side seat (nosebleed FTL), and I need a way to get rid of them. Anybody know of anything I can use on them? I was thinking of something with enzymes like natures miracle.


***: I need something to clean off the plastic trim. I have no time to wait for something from an online store, so would something like 409 be SAFE to use? The Prima Clarity bottle also says it works as a plastic cleaner. Is that for real?


And there you have it, the plan for this saturday, sunday and monday!. Apparently its going to be really hot here this weekend...

 

I find a regular crevice tool gets alllmost everything. You can get a car detailing vacuum attachment kit at Sears for like $15 and it gets EVERYTHING (that's what I use).

Blood - I don't know if Nature's Miracle will get it out. I don't think so. You can try it, if it doesn't work there is stuff you can get called Blood Buster. I use it at work for getting blood out of uniforms/jerseys during games so athletes can get back into play. But I've only ever found it online....but it WORKS.

Do you have Slick? That's what I use on the internal plastics.

 

Got plenty of slick, didnt think to use that.

Luckily the blood stains are pretty small, so if I dont get those out right away it isnt a huge problem.

 

Have fun SomeGuy!!! My MCS is sitting in the parking garage at work nice and hidden form the elements (bird poo). I recently detailed min and its still nice and shiny. I Clayed, ploshed and waxed em. He came out beautiful, hes going to be 1 year old This July 24th

 

HAPPY (early) BIRTHDAY

 

hydrogen peroxide takes blood out of anything...

 

Yeah, but it can also yellow colored fabrics in the process.

 

I am new to detailing (haven't even gotten my MINI yet, but it should be at the dealers next weekend) but I have been trying to figure it all out by reading this excellent forum. i have a question: if you did the Black WOW before the other treatments, would you be able to skip masking off the trim?

 

This is how I do it!

I hate tape.

 

that's why ya gotta wash it away with soapy water when you're done...

 

I'm not a pro about detailing but I do know a lot about blood Comes from years as an ER nurse. H2O2 will take blood out to an extent. Like Mel says, it does leave a yellow spot on colored & white fabrics. And if any remains on the fabric it will continue to work by either eating away the fabric or bleaching the color out(think bleached blondes) So it's not always the best choice.

If the stain is new, use plain old cold water to get it out followed by a detergent like Dawn. Rinse well. If it is old, brush as much of the blood out as possible, dilute the H2O2 to 50/50 & dab on, then rinse really well with cold water. Oxy Clean works also but I don't know what it does to the color of the fabric!

Lois

 

I'm with Mel on this, BW first=no taping. I don't hate taping, but it adds time to the process.

I'm going to experiment today with Banana Gloss wiped on the trim first, to see if it would work like Black Wow from keeping Epic off the trim.

Mark

 

The stain is about a month old, so I guess it falls under the category of old. Thanks for mentioning what H2O2 does to fabric, I had no idea. I will take your advice LouieLo.

I had heard that you could just apply BW and then not have to tape, but I wasnt sure I believed it. I'll try that when I do some work on the other parts of the car today (wow, it's 12:30).

I got the roof done today and really wasn't satisfied with my results. Polish 3 doesn't seem to be strong enough because there was still a pretty decent amount of swirling when I finished polishing. I finished up with Amigo which hid a bunch of the swirls, but it is far from what you would call perfect. This is my own fault though, when I bought the stuff to do this I was definitely being penny wise and pound foolish.

 

I never use to tape when I used my PC, but I have learned that taping is well worth while, but thats my .02

 

Ok, so here is a question. About 8 hours after I waxed one of my panels I had to take my MINI out (no choice in the matter). Is the wax still going to be any good? It seems fine for now, but I haven't been in this situation before so I cant really say.

 

Oh totally...it should be fine! It just takes 24 hours to fully cure, that's all.

 

Thats a relief. I have been spreading the work out over the course of the week, I have one panel left, after that it's just little detail that need cleaning here and there. Most of those are going to involve q-tips, black wow, or both of those. But so far it looks amazing.