Shop Press

Shop Press is the news and idea hub for everything related to working on cars and trucks, focusing on repair, technology, and wrenching lifestyle.

From the creative minds at:

FEATURE STORY

Hot Off the Press

Stress Test Vehicle Grounds

Pop quiz, no cheating: how many amps does the ground side of any circuit conduct? If you said, “As many as the hot side,” get yourself a gold star and skip this article. For the rest of us who weren’t born innately knowing the answer to that question, stick with me...

The Tightwad’s Way To Install Any Wheel Bearing Race

I don’t own a bearing race driver kit, and I haven’t in 20 years of fixing stuff. I also refuse to use sockets to drive a race. I learned a method a long time ago I’ll pass along to you newer techs: I use the race I’m replacing. I primarily have used this trick when...

Shop Profile: Locked N Loaded 4×4

I’ve owned two Jeeps–the 1973 Super Jeep CJ-5 featured in a previous Shop Press article, and a 2010 Wrangler Sahara. The reliability and my enjoyment of the former wasn’t “super” in any way despite American Motors’ best efforts at model name puffery, and the latter...

Check Out This Hacky Diag Tool

Disclaimer: Dorman Products purchased this kit at full price.In the interest of serious investigative reporting, I swiped the Shop Press credit card for $14.83 to try out a diag tool I thought looked super-cool: the relay bypass. What’s that? Short version: Imagine a...

Dealers make house calls. Why not you?

I had a great experience recently when my dealer’s service department called to ask if I’d like to schedule some routine maintenance needed on my SUV from one of their fleet of nifty new mobile service vans, with the promise that my cost would be the same as if I...

The very best way to remove grease from auto upholstery

by | Oct 10, 2024

I try to keep my customers’ cars at least as nice as they keep them. You probably do, too. The only problem is that I am perpetually filthy. I have a trick I’ve used for a long time on the occasions I’ve sullied a nice interior with grease or dirt. (I will never understand why people choose those light tans and sand colors.)

The first thing I reach for now is a surprising item: brake parts cleaner. I know, I know. You probably think it’s insane that I would reach for such a strong solvent, as I did when this tip was revealed to me decades ago.

But it works, and it works mint. Now, the usual caveats apply. Don’t use this on anything like leather or vinyl or alcantara; this is a cloth-only trick.

To this day, I still take a cotton swab and test the stuff out on an “invisible” spot. (Under the seats is a good bet.) I have never once run into any issues with modern-ish auto upholstery cloth, but I still check, and you probably should too.

Water pumps are often replaced because of a little coolant loss at the weep hole.
Photo: istock.com/memoriesarecaptured.

Blast a white rag with cleaner outside the vehicle, then dab the spot out. Colored rags often leach color in the presence of brake parts cleaner. I have found this out the hard way. Brake cleaner will also happily melt and discolor all sorts of plastics and other interior surfaces, which is why you shouldn’t spray anything directly in the vehicle.

The aggressive solvent gets to work almost instantly, carrying away grease and dirt and all mixtures thereof that your paws find daily.

After you get the interior looking good again, you better plan on airing out the car. The brake cleaner stinks to high heaven, and of course there are all the attendant health problems that come along for us now for your customer to deal with if you don’t allow that stuff to offgas for a bit. More acutely, your customer probably does not want a car that smells like your work shirt after a clean-and-adjust on a set of drum brakes.

I know it sounds crazy, but it really works. Try it on a beater with a shot interior, an old floor mat, or the next time you’re in a bind.

The articles and other content contained on this site may contain links to third party websites. By clicking them, you consent to Dorman’s Website Use Agreement.

Related Articles

Shop Press Comment Policy

Participation in this forum is subject to Dorman’s Website Terms & Conditions. Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline feedback
View all comments

Get Articles In Your Inbox

Subscribe to receive a monthly email summary of our latest Shop Press stories.

Shop Press

I agree to the above privacy statement and T&Cs

Thanks! You're now subscribed.