How to detail your car interior

How to detail your car interior

We all have that one friend or relative who treats their vehicle like a dumpster with an engine. Thankfully the majority of drivers aren’t like this. Most vehicle owners make the effort to keep their vehicle looking good inside and outside. A common way of doing this is taking your vehicle for a detail service, however, these services can cost anywhere from $200-$500. Not everyone can afford such a high-cost service, luckily you can achieve a similar result to a professional service at home for a fraction of the price.

In this edition of our how-to series, we will explain how to detail the interior of your vehicle at home.

What you will need:

• A vacuum cleaner;
• Microfiber cloths;
• All purpose cleaner;
• Glass cleaner;
• An old toothbrush;
• Trash bags.

1. Remove clutter and trash. Before you can start cleaning, you will first need to remove all of the clutter and trash which has accumulated in your vehicle. For bonus points, separate everything into recyclables and non-recyclables. Remember to check all of the door pockets as well as all of the other nooks and crannies where trash or clutter can gather;
2. Dust and wipe down the center console and dashboard. Using the vacuum cleaner with the brush attachment, vacuum the dashboard to remove any dust or other loose dirt. Follow this up by using an old toothbrush to remove dust and dirt from buttons and dials as well as the spaces between them and the console. Now that the area is dust free, moisten one of your microfiber cloths with all-purpose cleaner and wipe down the dashboard and center console. Follow this step for door pockets and any similar areas;
3. Seats. The method you use to clean the seats in your vehicle depends on the material. However, you should still give them a quick once over with the vacuum cleaner. For cloth and vinyl seats, a multi-purpose cleaner will work well unless there is heavy staining. For leather seats you will need to purchase a specialized cleaner to prevent the leather from drying and cracking;
4. Inside windows. Use glass cleaner and a clean microfiber cloth to clean the windows in a circular motion, follow this up by polishing the windows with a dry microfiber cloth, this will remove any streaks or cloudiness caused by the glass cleaner;
5. Carpet and floor mats. We recommend cleaning the carpet and floor mats last so that you don’t need to worry about dust and dirt falling while cleaning other areas of your vehicle. Remove the floor mats and vacuum them outside of the vehicle. Now vacuum the carpets, use the appropriate attachments to get in to difficult to reach areas such as beneath seats. When you are finished vacuuming replace the floor mats;
6. When you have finished cleaning the interior of your vehicle, open all of the doors and windows and let the vehicle air for a while. This is highly recommended after using chemical cleaning products.

The interior of your vehicle should only require a thorough cleaning every 6 months or so, but if you use your vehicle regularly we recommend giving it a light cleaning at least once a month to keep it looking and feeling fresh.

So there we have it, your brief guide on detailing your vehicle's interior. Did we miss anything? Do you any tips or advice about detailing a vehicle's interior? Let us and our readers know, we are always happy to hear from you.