Why do you need to clean your car interior?
The obvious answer is that you want your car interior to look good and be comfortable and pleasant to sit in. There are deeper reasons than the simple aesthetics though – car interiors can be breeding grounds for harmful bacteria and spores and these can be particularly rife in the areas that experience the most human contact – steering wheels, switches and handles, along with the hard-to-clean areas such as heater and air conditioning vents.
Regular detailing of your car with appropriate interior car cleaning products will help rid your car of these bacteria, yeasts and viruses.
Here are some areas you need to concentrate on when cleaning your car interior.
Carpets will be the worst areas
Most car carpets and mats are designed to be hard wearing – which is just as well because these are the areas of your car interior likely to be the dirtiest!
Dirt can often become ingrained into the material making them difficult to clean – use a specially designed upholstery brush to lift the dirt from the fibres and then vacuum away the loosened dirt and grime. If stains exist, then treat them individually with a specialised stain remover.
The mats will be easier to clean, as they can be removed and cleaned separately.
Seats will likely be dirty and stained
Your car may be fitted with cloth or leather seats – whichever it is, there is one common cause in them being dirty and stained – you!!
Skin oils and dust are the most common contaminants you’ll find on your seats and, again, the best way to clean them is to use a specialised upholstery brush to loosen and lift the dirt – if you have leather seats then use a manufactured leather cleanser which will, not only lift the dirt, but also nourish and treat the leather upholstery keeping it soft and supple and helping to protect it from further staining.
Dashboards are the showpiece and need to treated with car
These are often the ‘showpiece’ features of your car interior – as such, manufacturers tend to use premium materials in these features such as soft-touch plastics and leather trims. This means that they need treating with care when cleaning – you need to use car cleaning products specifically formulated and designed for car interior cleaning so as to clean the areas properly, but also avoid harming the materials.
It is worth noting that your dashboard and centre consoles are often made of materials that create static charges and, as such, attract a lot of dust – these features should be wiped and sanitised with appropriate interior car cleaning products -you may want to use a detailing brush for more thorough cleaning of switches, vents and inserts. It is always worth after cleaning, considering treating these areas with a protective finishing product to help maintain the look and preserve the life of these features.
Plastic trim accumulates greasy marks
Often, switches, handles and door cards will accumulate greasy marks and skin oils, so a thorough deep clean with an appropriate car interior cleaning product and brush will be required.
The more hard-wearing areas of plastic and rubber trim, for example in the footwells, kick plates and perhaps the pedals, should be treated with a relevant all-purpose cleaner to chemically remove the dirt, then finished with a protective coating applied with a microfibre cloth.
Glass picks up smears and finger marks
Interior glass will always pick-up smears, smudges and finger marks – use a simple glass cleaner – simply spray the cleaner on to the glass and wipe away with a quality, clean microfibre cloth.