How To Take Care Of Your Car’s Interior

Plenty of care is required for a car’s interior unlike its exterior. This is because there are plenty of details to take care of on the interior of a car. You will need to vacuum, take care of the upholstery and seats of the car. There are different steps you can take to ensure proper detailing of your car’s interior. Let’s have a look at how to take care of your car’s interior:

Vacuuming
In order to ensure that you car’s interior’s properly cleaned and sanitized; you need to make use of a vacuum. The vacuum helps ensure that dirt and debris is effectively removed from the top of your seats to the floor mats of your car thus leaving you with a relatively if not properly clean interior. Not only does it rid your car’s interior from seen debris and dirt, it also takes care of debris and dirt from otherwise hard-to-reach areas such as the nooks and crannies of your car. In order to get the most out of vacuuming, be sure to use a high-powered vacuum with a hose and attachments that can clean different crevices in the car. As a tip, before vacuuming the car floor mats, you need to take them out of the car first, shake off any excess dirt then proceed to vacuum.

Taking care of the upholstery
Different cars come with different upholstery which means that different cleaning methods have to be utilized. Cars with leather seats should be cleaned with leather cleaner before leather conditioner can be applied in order to help protect them. As a tip, steer clear of paper towels while cleaning leather as they tend to leave scratches behind. Instead, make use of a soft clean cotton towel to do the job. In addition, if you are not sure of the leather product you are about to use then it is best to test it on a small area before applying to a larger area. This is because some leather products leave the leather shiny or slippery while others leave it sticky.

When cleaning the steering wheel and shifter knob, it is best to stay away from products that will leave them sticky or slippery. In case you are not sure of the product, it is best to play it safe and make use of a clean and slightly moist soft cotton towel instead. When vacuuming leather, be sure to use a soft brush attachment since you don’t want scratched leather at the end of the process.

Cleaning the dashboard
The dashboard tends to collect dust and grit that has to be cleaned. Besides, vacuuming the dashboard, you can make use of a slightly moist microfiber dust cloth to gently clean the dashboard as well. In case of stains, you can make use of a very small amount of laundry detergent. Once you are done with cleaning, it is important to protect the dashboard against fading, cracking or peeling. You can do this by applying a polish to the dashboard. Be sure to use a clean soft dry piece of cloth to gently polish the dashboard.

Taking care of the carpet
Clean the carpet much like you would the fabric seats or upholstery. While cleaning, ensure that you work on one area at a time and be sure to evenly spray the carpet cleaner.  In case you come across some really dirty areas, then you can make use of a brush to help with the cleaning. While cleaning the carpet, avoid using too much water in order to avoid mould smell or corrosion from occurring under the carper. When done with cleaning, be sure to dry out the carpet as fast as you can.


Cleaning the windows
You need to clean windows of a car both on the outside and on the inside. Make use of a good window-cleaning spray and soft microfiber towel to get the job done right. Be careful though as you clean the windows, especially the rear windows as the heating lines of the defogger grid are very sensitive.

Cleaning the Trunk
Don’t forget about the trunk of the car while taking care of the interior. Much as the trunk may be a dumping place for a number of items you would rather not have inside the car itself, it too needs to be cleaned. This way, you can get rid of any items that you no longer want in the trunk since so many items only add weight to the car which weight can affect your car’s fuel economy.

Musty smell
It is very irritating to have a musty smell in your car when you are done with cleaning. The smell tends to come through when the air conditioner is turned on. In order to rid your car of the smell, you can make use of an odor treatment.  In case the smell persists, then the cause may be a clogged air conditioner drain tube or debris collected under the cowl panel. In such an instance, you can have the mechanic check the drain tube.


Credits
Special thanks to Jason from the GoWrench Auto team. They’re a new startup which specializes in providing a mobile mechanic as well as a mobile detailing service out of Hamilton, Ontario.