Are you looking to sell your car and you’d like the interior to be immaculately clean? Or are you giving the car it’s usual quarterly clean because you like to look after your prize possession?
Lots of people nowadays prefer to make life easy for themselves and pay for it to be professionally valeted, but if you’re not keen on letting someone else clean the inside of your car and you’d prefer to do it yourself, then it’s important you follow some straight forward rules to help clean it effectively.
Here’s our step by step guide on how to clean the interior of your car…
1. What will you need?
First of all you will need to prepare all of your cleaning tools and fluids so you don’t have to nip out to the shop halfway through.
Here is a list of the standard items you will need –
• Vacuum cleaner with extension and attachments
• An extension cable so the vacuum will reach
• A garden hose for plastic floor mats (unless they’re carpet)
• Lots of paper towels and rags
• Cleaning spray
2. Throw out the trash
Don’t forget to check under the seats for trash.Before you begin to hoover and dust you need to throw out any trash you have in there. Once you’ve cleaned out any sweet wrappers, old newspapers, left over takeaway boxes and so on, you can now move onto the next stage.
Tip – don’t forget to clear out any litter from the doors and underneath the seats, as this is an easy place to forget!
3. Take out all of your floor mats and wash them
It’s important to take out all of your floor mats and lay them down by the side of the car. You then need to grab the garden hose and give them a good spray – if they are plastic of course!
For your carpet mats you need to give them a good shake to begin with, and then use your hoover. Feel free to use a little shampoo if you like, to get out any nasty stains that are hard to remove. Don’t forget however to leave them out to dry before you put them back.
4. Vacuum inside
First of all you need to vacuum the seats and brush away the dust and any crumbs. Try to make sure you get in between the seams as much as you can. Then you need to move on to underneath the seats and around the pedals.
It’s better to leave these to the end as you will be throwing a lot of dust onto the floors when you clean the seats. You can then finally finish off by hovering the floors and foot wells.
5. Clean the dashboard
If your dashboard is really dirty you may want to wet a rag and scrub it first. Try to get as much dirt off as you can, and then you can consider applying any cleaning fluid you have.
Once the dashboard is relatively clean you now need to apply the cleaning fluid to another rag and give it a final clean to make it shine. Don’t forget to also clean any plastic arm rests and the inside of the doors.
Tip – be careful what cleaner you buy and try to get one that’s specifically for dashboards. If you have leather seats then you need to make sure any cleaning solutions you use are not going to damage it.
6. Clean the inside of your windows
Again, find the best cleaning fluid for the inside of your windows that removes smudges and smears. You need to make sure you use a different rag to the one you used on your dashboard.
A clean rag is an absolute must if you want to remove all of the smudges and give your windows a fantastic transparent shine! This is especially important when it comes to the driver’s side of the window.
7. Don’t forget the boot
Finally you need to move onto the boot, and don’t forget to take your vacuum with you!
This is where you could find most of the dirt, especially if you use the boot for tools or your son’s football boots. Most people end up with mud in their trunk, so it’s important to vacuum as often as possible before the carpets get ruined.
If you keep a dog then it’s important to put down blankets or mats so the carpets don’t get really dirty. All you then have to do is remove the blankets or mats and give them a good clean before you put them back.
Alternatively you may need to throw them away and replace them with new ones now and again, before you leave the interior of your car with a lingering smell!
8. Air freshener
You are now almost home and dry, and the last thing you need to do is get the inside of your car smelling nice. Get some nice air freshener and give the inside a few sprays as well as the boot. Once you’ve done that you can then finish it off with one of those air fresheners that hang from your mirror.
And voilà, your car is now gleaming on the inside and smells fantastic!