One of the keys to successfully cleaning the interior of your car is knowing where to start and what to clean. This part of the cleaning process usually takes a little more time than the exterior, but once clean, it feels great!
The trash and accumulated stuff
Photo Credit: neoliminal
Over time our vehicles tend to accumulate a lot of trash and stuff that we probably don’t need to be lugging around everywhere we drive our car.
- Throw away all trash
- Grab a box or milk crate for all of the things you need to keep and put them in this container.
- You will want to check your glove box, middle console, compartments in the side of your door and any other nooks and crannies where trash and your belongings tend to gravitate toward.
What you’ll need:
- A box or milk crate
- Trash bag(s)
Initial wipe-down of surfaces
Photo Credit: nikilok
Now that you have the main trash and “stuff” out of your car, you will want to do an initial dusting off of all surfaces.
- Wipe down your dash and any other surfaces that you can. This includes the interior of the doors and your middle console.
By wiping down your surfaces first, this preps you for later steps. You don’t want to vacuum first as there will be debris and gunk (and little white fuzzballs from your towels) that fall on the floor when you are wiping down the surfaces.
What you’ll need:
- Paper or cotton towels
Windows
Photo Credit: Dan Zen
Now that all trash is gone and your surfaces are dusted, it’s time to move on to the windows. The best way to clean windows is with a mixture of ammonia, vinegar and water (Windex also works). This cuts through grease, grime, and smoke that might have accumulated.
- Wipe down all windows with a damp rag that has been soaked in the above concoction.
- Dry windows after you have wiped them down
I also suggest repeating this step at least twice. Although it may appear that you windows look clean, nothing is more aggravating than taking your newly-clean car on a drive at night only to see all of the spots you missed.
One final note on windows: Be very cautious if you have tinted windows as products and chemicals can ruin the tinting. For tinted windows you should just use straight water.
What you’ll need:
- Windex or a mixture of vinegar, ammonia and water
- Paper or cotton towels
Conditioning surfaces & seats
Photo Credit: 2757
You will now want to focus on getting your surfaces and seats treated.
- For the plastic, leather and vinyl surfaces in your car (e.g. the dash, middle console, door interiors and steering wheel) you will want to condition these surfaces. I recommend Meguiar’s Quik Inerior Detailer Wipes.
- Seats
- Leather Seats – If you have leather seats you will want to condition these as well. For this step Meguiar’s Gold Class Rich Leather Aloe Conditioner works terrificly.
- Cloth Seats – For cloth seats you will want to scrub or wipe these down with a soap/water mixture that you will then want to vacuum off the excess.
What you’ll need:
- Several cotton towels
- A bucket of water and soap
Carpet & Mats
Photo Credit: merfam
Now that we have all of the other aspects of the interior of the vehicle cleaned, it’s time to move on to the floors.
- Remove all mats
- Thoroughly vacuum your floors, seats, in-between seats and the middle console, doors and even your air vents.
- You can now spot-treat any stains that are left.
- Clean your mats the same way you cleaned your carpet. If they are plastic/rubber mats you can get a scrub brush and clean them with soap and water.
Helpful hint: I highly suggest buying rubber mats for any vehicle you own as it greatly prevents wear-and-tear on your carpet.
What you’ll need:
- A vacuum
- Scrub brush
- Carpet cleaner
A few final tips
To get your car smelling new and fresh you may want to get some type of car air freshener (even dryer sheets work great). For stubborn smoke smells take a steamer to your vent system for about 5 minutes. For really stubborn stains, place a bucket of vinegar in your car overnight and you should notice the smells disappear.
You should now have a car interior that looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor!
