Imagine driving with a can of paint in the backseat of your car and you hit an unexpected bump, resulting in spilled paint all over the upholstery. That catastrophic image is relatively unlikely, but certainly not impossible. In fact, it's an issue that our technicians at Spiffy have come across on a number of occasions. Paint spills of any kind require a comprehensive plan of attack to prevent the wet paint from staining your car's interior.
Let's dive into what the best DIY practices are for spilled latex or acrylic paint in your car, before taking our most recent experience as an example of how our Technicians handle the problem.
As soon as you discover a paint spill in your car, it's crucial to begin treatment while it's still wet. Latex paints have a habit of drying quickly, which will only make the removal process more difficult. Your first step should be to act immediately by removing as much of the wet paint as you can. That doesn't mean grab a bunch of paper towels or rubbing alcohol, as those will hardly address the excess paint gathering in your seats.
If you have a shop vacuum handy, that can be a great first step for minimizing the problem before dealing with the potential stain. Most importantly, be sure to keep the stain wet while soaking up the remaining paint with a towel or sponge.
In the case of this appointment, the paint had spilled earlier in the day, so our technician had to use alternative measures to handle it. By utilizing our heavy-duty professional detailing equipment on the seats, such as a pressure washer and chemical paint stripper, we were able to address the dry paint on the surface of the seats.
From there, it was a matter of handling the spilled paint that had soaked into the rear seats, as well as the water we used for the dried paint. Fortunately, we have upholstery extractors that use a combination of hot soapy water with a powerful vacuum to remove paint trapped within the seat upholstery.
We have to give a big shout-out to our amazing technician Zach, who put in the hard work necessary to achieve such a stunning result. If you find yourself with a mess in your car that seems out of control, like spilled paint, be sure to act fast and trust the experts by making Spiffy your go-to cleaning solution!
Posted in Car Care
