- A Seattle detailer spent eight hours cleaning the mold-infested interior of a Kia Optima.
- Mold was growing everywhere in the cabin, including seats, carpets, and the dashboard.
- The entire cleaning job cost the owner only $450, while the detailer took home just $135.
Maintaining a car is a lot like taking care of your own health: ignore it for too long, and you’ll find yourself facing a long list of issues. And while your body might not turn into a fire hazard, your car sure can. Luckily, there are detailers out there who can help nurse your ride back to something resembling normal – even if the pay isn’t exactly what you’d call “generous.”
The AutoDetailing thread on Reddit is filled with amazing tips on reviving a neglected car, but one particular post stood out to us recently. The detailer in question, user NetBeginning6609, was tasked with cleaning and detailing the interior of a 2010 Kia Optima.
If you’re wondering how bad it could get, just looking at the photos might make you reconsider ever sitting in a car again. And frankly, we can’t even imagine what the smell must’ve been like – we’re guessing “death and despair” with a hint of wet dog.
Read: Smart Tips To Wash Your Car Without Wasting Water
Over a grueling 8-hour stint, the Seattle-based detailer worked their magic on the Kia sedan. The biggest issue that had to be addressed was the mold. It can be seen growing across the seats, dashboard, carpets, steering wheel, and transmission tunnel, and it required a thorough cleaning to remove.
While most of the visible mold was eradicated, extracting the spores from some of the fabrics proved to be a tough job. It’s one thing to wipe down surfaces; it’s another to scrub away microscopic invaders determined to take up permanent residence.
Tools of the Trade – The Unsung Hero
For jobs like this, the car detailer’s best friend is the wet and dry extractor vacuum. This handy tool is perfect for pulling dirt, grime, and (in this case) mold spores out of carpets and seats. It was put to good use here, helping to tackle the bulk of the mess. It’s like a mini-firefighter for your ride, except instead of water, it just sucks out the nastiness. A good vacuum can make the difference between a car that still smells like mildew and one that can be reasonably assumed to be habitable.
A Good Deal? Not So Much for the Detailer
Here’s where the story takes a bit of a depressing turn. It seems the owner of the Kia got an excellent deal. The detailer? Not so much. According to the poster, the job cost $450, and he took a 30% commission without a tip, with the rest going to the company that secured the lead for the job. That means he made just $135 for a full day’s work cleaning this disgusting Optima’s interior. Many detailers on the thread suggested he should consider going solo, as a job like this should cost far more than $450.
“This would be a $1500+ quote from me,” wrote user RealLifeHotWheels. “It’s diabolical some of you guys do these for less than a thousand even. Given it’s a biohazard and a menace to your health… crazy you’re only making a few bucks to do it, you don’t have the right safety protection to do it. Businesses who specialize in this, you’re looking at a minimum of a few grand. $125 bucks. Jesus.”
Another user, EcloVideo, chimed in saying, “I would have paid my employees $40/hr minimum for this and they would be required to wear full tyvek, fresh respirator p100 minimum and gloves. This would be about $3200 total, 2 day job (pulling seats and carpets) and they sign a waiver acknowledging it is a treatment and mold can come back.”
Despite the less-than-ideal payout, the detailer stayed positive when someone asked if it was worth it. “I made the customer super happy. I mainly do this to see the look on people’s faces when I’m done,” he said. And sure, that’s nice—but where’s the tip? A little more respect for the detailer’s time – and a little more in their paycheck, would go a long way.
Still, if you’re in the Seattle area and need someone who can tackle a car interior with the kind of determination and skill it takes to go up against a mold colony, you might want to give this guy a call. Just remember to tip generously. After all, cleaning up someone else’s mess (literally) isn’t easy.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re going to go scrub our own car before it turns into a mold farm.
