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Quick guide to cleaning the interior of your car.
Your car's interior is as important as your exterior. Here are some info to help you keep your
interior in tip top shape.
1. Have a look at your interior and survey what needs to be done. Here's a quick checklist
a. windows
b. floor mats (carpets)
c. drink trays (coffee stains, pop stains, etc)
d. fabric/leather (does it need to be cleaned?)
e. dash (is it very dusty?)
f. air vents
g. interior side panels (any scuff marks?)
h. trunk
Take a can of air and blow into the nooks and crannies to get rid of the dust and gunk stuck in tight
spaces. This will prevent the dust from spreading around when you use your fan later on. Spray the vents as well as it will help purge a lot of the dust out. Next step is to vacuum the car. Make sure to get in between the seats as well as other crevices. If you can't suck up some of the particles, use a lint roller or use a brush to get the particles to the surface. Be sure to wipe down the surfaces to get rid of the dust. Also use an interior panel cleaner to get rid of marks and dust on the door panels.
For those of you who have leather, you should be applying a leather protectant/conditioner every few months (usually 3 to 4). If not, the leather will lose it's moisture and you will find that it looks dull, feels hard and later on will start to crack. Some product recommendations are: Lexol leather cleaner/conditioner, Meguiar's Leather Cleaner/conditioner. I found these to be worthwhile to use as it does not leave a super shiny surface and when it dries, makes the leather look 'new' without that artificial shine to it. You should allow the conditioner to cure overnight before sitting on it else it won't get absorbed into the leather. Also note that your seating surface may be a little slippery the first day but that usually goes away quite quickly.
As for the fabric, just keep it clean by vacuuming and also apply some scotch guard. The scotch guard will prevent water, juices, food from being absorbed too deeply into the carpet or fabric which means it is easier to clean if there is ever a mess. Another product you may want to consider is 303 Fabric protection. You have to let the stuff dry and cure but it does make the surfaces repellent to stains for quite some time.
For windows, you will need a good quality window cleaner. You can purchase them basically anywhere. Some brands that come to mind are: Stoners, Rain-X, Auto-magic. Stoners is works quite well. Any glass cleaner will leave streaks if you don't wipe them off properly. You need a good microfiber towel to absorb the product and at the same time, remove the product from the windshield. Any streaking that you see is what you have not removed. The best combo that I've found, windex and newspaper. Gets it super clean!
When you clean your windows, make sure the windows are cool, and that you have 2 cloths to do the work. You will need one dry and one wet one (don't wet it with water, it will become damp from wiping off the cleaner). Once you spread the product on the windows, use the dry towel and clean off any residue before it dries. If you leave it to dry, it will leave streaks and spots. If your window is hot or warm, it will leave some nice rainbow streaks for you to freak out at. Trust me, it took me awhile to learn. Make damn sure your windows are cool and not warm or hot.
One other spot that is of interest would be the door jambs. Now, I consider it the interior of the car and others would consider the exterior. Make sure you give it a good wipe down as after a rain storm, snow fall or whatever, it tends to get really dirty. This goes for the engine bay as well. Just wipe around the edges to get rid of the junk. The product that I recommend to clean the door jambs and the edges of the hood is Meguiar’s quick detailer. It loosens the dirt and all you have to do is wipe it off. Easiest cleaning product I've used aside from car soap.
You should try to vaccum your car at least once a week. This keeps the debris from settling into the carpet which makes it difficult to vaccum out in the future. If you find debris that are hard to vaccum, you can use a toothbrush to loosen it up or you can buy an interior brush for that purpose.
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