Young Entrepreneur Offers Free Wheelchair Detailing
Dean Lopez, 21, and partner Leo Asfar of Yay Area Mobile Detailing now clean wheelchairs for free after a viral van-detailing video.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Home Cleaning
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Dean Lopez, 21, co-founded Yay Area Mobile Detailing with Leo Asfar after an injury ended his college baseball career. The company gained attention after offering free detailing of a van belonging to a person living on the streets of Oakland.
Why it matters
The viral video drew attention to a small East Bay business and its owners' charitable work. Lopez has since turned to detailing wheelchairs at no charge for a rehabilitation center in Dublin.
Lopez is 21 years old and has detailed hundreds of wheelchairs, according to the operators. The figures are self-reported, and no independent count or timeframe has been published.
The players
Dean Lopez
Dean Lopez is a 21-year-old co-founder of Yay Area Mobile Detailing who previously pursued baseball before a college injury redirected him.
Leo Asfar
Leo Asfar is Dean Lopez's business partner and co-founder of Yay Area Mobile Detailing, a mobile auto detailing company based in the East Bay.
The details
Lopez and Asfar used social media videos to attract customers and build their brand. A video of their free detailing of the Oakland van went viral, and the rehabilitation center in Dublin later asked whether Lopez would detail wheelchairs. Lopez declined payment, saying the work is not about the money.
Timeline
Freshman year of college: an injury forces Lopez to stop playing baseball.
After the injury: Lopez and Asfar launch Yay Area Mobile Detailing.
Date not specified: the free Oakland van detailing video goes viral.
Date not specified: the Dublin rehabilitation center asks Lopez about detailing wheelchairs.
Season Trajectory
Small mobile service businesses increasingly use short social media videos to win customers, a pattern this venture followed as its free-service clip spread. Lopez's shift toward unpaid wheelchair cleaning extends that model into community service rather than revenue growth.
Readers who need mobile vehicle cleaning in the East Bay can contact Yay Area Mobile Detailing directly. The company's free wheelchair detailing is offered through a Dublin rehabilitation center arrangement rather than to the general public.
The takeaway
Small service businesses can build reputation quickly by documenting real work and giving back where it counts. Lopez's example shows that a skill learned in a new business can also serve people with limited access to basic cleaning help.
Further reading
For related home upkeep tips, see Home Cleaning in Oakland.
Source note: This article includes information reported by NBC Bay Area.
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