How to clean dried mud off textured interior plastic?

[780]

Got some mud on the drivers side interior grab handle and the upper door panel on the driver side read. For some reason it's stuck on there like effin clay. Tried Windex and paper towel. No go. Tried Mr. Clean and a microfiber towel. Nada. Picked up some Chemical guys interior cleaner. Nothing. What gives? Any tips / tricks / suggestions how I can get this mud out?

I'm perplexed. Can't say I've ever run into this issue before. It's mud. You'd think it would just wipe off, no?

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[fordtruckman2003]

Mud or concrete?

I've only used plain hot water for interior cleaning.

 

[Icecoldak]

Get a toothbrush

 

[780]

Get a toothbrush

Never thought of that. I'll give that a try. I still have some of the Chemical guys cleaner left.

Mud or concrete?

I've only used plain hot water for interior cleaning.

Mud. Good idea. Maybe the liquid being hot would help it dissolve.

 

[Eskram]

A steam cleaner will do the trick.

Edit: I have an older version of this - https://a.co/d/htGnS4P

 

[powerboatr]

steam, HOT water in a mildy damp cloth and soft tooth brush,

i would take the a pillar cover off and wash it in a sink with warm to hot water and soft brush to get it out of the little texture


dried mud is a stinker.

 

[HammaMan]

One of the easiest plastic / interior washing means is just a bucket with a gallon or so of hot water, hot as your hands can withstand, just a squirt of dish soap right before the water is where you want it in the bucket trying to avoid doing suds. The dish soap is a surfactant which helps the water to be 'clingy'. A clean terry cloth wrung out just enough to get things wet, but not so much you're losing water / chasing drips. Dab at it to get things wet, wash something else and then come back to it. You can clean nearly all of a vehicle interior with this, windows and all, re-dipping as needed. The trick is getting just enough water in the rag to be effective, but not so much it's running into cracks / etc.

Do not clean your IPC / gauge cluster plastic with this as it's really easy to scratch - use a microfiber w/ windex using the rotating wipe to lift dirt as you go -- everything else is fair game. If you have drink residues in cup holders, squeeze some of the water into them and come back to them. You can clean / degrease (typical human oils) just about everything in the interior using this simple 'free' solution. From there you go back over the windows with a very light glass cleaner application and apply surface dressings as desired (works great for initial window cleaning as you're only removing light water residue and not chasing shit around windows). If you've got excess product already on the dash or other surfaces a little bit more soap is required. To be clear this isn't an overly soapy solution to begin with, just a quick squirt. This removes dirt / oils / dust / and whatever else from the interior without leaving water behind. You can clean an area and then chase with a microfiber to dry faster.

By making cleaning a specific step for dirt and oils, everything else is faster / easier / requires less product and your applicators / microfibers are clean.

 

[Jmet8]

yes always start with the least aggressive method first. Warm water ring out microfiber towel roll as you wipe To keep from spreading it . Use multiple towels.

 

[fmdog44]

I usean old electric toothbrush for scrubbing evrywhere but i would go with steam. If water doesn't work on mud then it's not mud.

 

[780]

I usean old electric toothbrush for scrubbing evrywhere but i would go with steam. If water doesn't work on mud then it's not mud.

Haven't tried water yet. Tried windex, mr clean and a chemical guys interior cleaner.
It's def mud.

 

[fmdog44]

Haven't tried water yet. Tried windex, mr clean and a chemical guys interior cleaner.
It's def mud.

There are a lot of mudders here in Houston and the wand car wash floors are covered with mud after they do their runs. If you still believe it is mud hold a warm wet cloth on the area for however long it takes to moisten the mud.

 

[780]

There are a lot of mudders here in Houston and the wand car wash floors are covered with mud after they do their runs. If you still believe it is mud hold a warm wet cloth on the area for however long it takes to moisten the mud.

Thank you. I will try hot water next. It's def mud.

 

[parkerdog]

Take a medium size paint brush and cut the bristles off to half an inch or so. Then use that to rub dirt etc. out of texturing.

An old guy that details cars showed me this trick to get wax residue off the black plastic trim with the texturing. Basically a giant tooth brush with softer but still firm bristles.

 

[powerboatr]

Thank you. I will try hot water next. It's def mud.

well there is your problem, to much water to dirt ratio caused the mud mixture to loose its water molecules and dried to a new color of stain

 

[Jersey devil]

Use dish washer soap ( the kind used for dishwashers). It's great for treating stains on fabrics

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