A clean car is a happy car, and
it also reflects on you as an owner. Take pride in keeping your car clean
inside and out, and people will notice. One step above just washing your car is
getting it detailed. Detailing isn't just an interior cleaning, detailing can
be an exterior concept as well; and you might be surprised what goes in to
detailing a vehicle.
Interior
Detailing a car's interior means
paying attention to all the cracks, crevices and fabrics inside your vehicle.
An easy place to start is by removing the floor mats. Vacuum the mats, floor of
the vehicle (front and back, moving the seats forward and back to reach all the
carpet), upholstery, rear parcel shelf, dashboard and trunk.
If your carpet or upholstery has
any stains, using a foam cleanser and rubbing it in with a damp cloth or sponge
should get rid of them. Make sure you allow the cleanser to set in for a few
minutes before scrubbing the spot. Repeat as many times as needed to clean the
spots. Make sure to wipe up the cleanser with a damp (not soaking wet) sponge
and do a final blotting with a dry towel to get all the wetness from the fabric
and carpet as possible.
Leaving your fabric and carpet
damp may cause mold and mildew.
While your floor mats are out,
spray them down to get all the sand and dirt off, and then dry them before
putting them back in the car.
After you've cleaned the dash
there are still probably places you can't easily get the dust out of. Using a
can of compressed air should help blast that dust out of hard-to-reach places
in the dash, doors, and other places around the car.
Wipe down all interior hard
surfaces with an all-purpose cleaner. Use a super-absorbent (for dust)
detailing brush on your air vent grilles.
For cloth seats, shampoo them
with a wet-vac, making sure they are plenty dry afterward. Leather or vinyl
seats can be cleaned with a special cleaner and wiped away with a microfiber
cloth. Condition your cleaned leather seats so the leather looks shiny and
doesn't dry out or crack.
Finally, spray glass cleaner on
your interior windows and windshield and wipe off with a microfiber or
lint-free cloth.
