Interior Car Cleaning The Ultimate Guide

Everything you need to know about cleaning and protecting your car interior...

If you love driving your car, which we think it's safe to say that we all do, it stands to reason that you'll be spending most of your time inside it. We realise of course, that the vast majority of other people never see your cockpit, but that doesn't mean that cleaning and sanitising your interior isn't an important part of a full detail. It's also something that often gets overlooked during routine maintenance. Perhaps it's simply because there's a little more to think about when it comes to interiors, including what are the best detailing products to use along the way. That and it's quite easy to focus on the exterior when you detail.

But all this is where we're here to help, so here's a simple rundown of the challenges you're likely to face in your quest for the ultimate interior detail, along with the interior cleaning products to use to get your cabin fighting fresh. Remember that (sometimes) it really is what's on the inside that counts…

Why Is Interior Detailing So Important?

Apart from the obvious fact that it makes your cockpit a nicer place to be, effective interior detailing is about so much more. The truth is that deep-down sanitising is just as important as cleaning here because, essentially, interior detailing is not just about all your bits and pieces looking nice, it's about ridding your vehicle of all the little nasties… some being significant nastier than others. Interiors are notorious for incubating bacteria, yeast, mould, fungi and viruses… and all that's just for starters.

Aside from the dirt you've just dragged in on your shoes, the crumbs, spills or the stray bit of fast food down the side of the passenger seat, it's the unseen biological contaminants that can prove to be the most harmful to your health… or at the very least, the most stomach-churning. It's also these that tend to cause the worst odours, so when you think about it, all we're doing here is making your cabin a nicer place to be.

Then there's the question of dust, a large proportion of which is made up of dead skin. Do you really want to be breathing that in? Left to build up over time dust can ingrain itself into many interior materials and even become abrasive, scratching the more sensitive parts.

Effective eradication of dust can range from light dusting around trim and switches with an Interior Detailing Brush (or Feather Tip Brush on the more sensitive gloss plastic parts), to agitating a dedicated interior cleaner like Total Interior Cleaner into surfaces to deep clean, lifting away dust and grime at the same time.

There are other nasties of course, organic waste that's left to fester can cause mould and fungus problems. These will need to be cleaned and sanitised, purely to make the surfaces safe… and far less disgusting. The inside of your windscreen and other windows can also end up coated in a light film of coughs, sneezes, cigarette smoke and other sticky residues - the very reason why using a strong alcohol-based glass cleaner like Crystal Glass Cleaner, is arguably even more important on the inside than it is the exterior.

Add all this to general aesthetics for the detailing enthusiast, and the fact that your interior will take quite the battering through normal regular use, and all these reasons come together to show that a regular interior detailing regime is not only preferable, it's pretty damn essential.

Different Parts And Different Materials - What To Look Out For

Your vehicle Interior has many parts, and they're all made from different materials, so here's a rundown of what to look out for, and the interior detailing products you can use, when cleaning the inside of your car...

Carpets And Floor Mats

On the plus side, due to the traffic they see in day to day use, carpets and floor mats are designed to be hard-wearing and resistant to heavy abrasion. The bad news is that, they're most likely the dirtiest part of your whole car; because everything you drop, spill, or drag in on your feet will usually end up ingrained into these areas. And, because the vast majority are made from synthetic material with a relatively deep pile, just like your microfibre cloth, they can trap dirt and grime, locking it away from the surface.

Half the battle with carpet material is pulling out the dirt from underneath the surface, which can only be achieved with a combination of agitation with an Upholstery Brush (to help lift up debris) and a vacuum cleaner to whisk the heavy dirt away. For stains, spills, and general sanitising you'll also need to use Total Interior Cleaner, or a 1:10 dilution of Verso All Purpose Cleaner to break down grime and allow it to be lifted out of the fibres. It's an easy task on mats that can be removed of course, but a little more challenging on what's left in the car - the very reason we have car mats on the most heavy contacted areas in the first place. Due to a combination of having to remove deeply ingrained contaminants, and the limited access, very often carpets can be the most difficult part of a vehicle to clean effectively.

Admittedly it's not entirely practical on every maintenance detail, but if you're deep cleaning a vehicle, removing the front seats so you can get to the whole carpet will always help - you'll be surprised at what you can find underneath!

Car Seats

Both fabric and leather car seats are most commonly stained by one thing… and that's you!

Dirt, dust and skin oils are the most typical contaminants you'll find in these areas, and while the cleaning products you can use may be slightly different on leather and cloth, the methods are essentially the same. It's also worth considering that leather can requires nourishment after cleaning to get the best results. So, it's a good idea to use a product like Hide Leather Conditioner to prevent fading and cracking in the future, as well as creating a barrier layer for protection. You protect your paintwork after cleaning, right? So why not get the best from your Leather surfaces, too.

When it comes to the actual cleaning, agitating our Hide Leather Cleanser is as effective on leather as agitating our surfactant-based Total Interior Cleaner on fabrics. Total of course, can also be used on leather safely, but our Hide Cleaner is specifically designed for the job. This glycerine-based cleaner has been developed to be ultra kind to all kinds of leather for regular details. In any case the idea - as with all cleaning products - is to break down and lift the stains and grime from the material, encapsulating potentially harmful particles in their own solution, allowing them to be quickly and safely wiped away. That's the science of all car cleaning processes.

To learn more about how different cleaning agents work on a molecular level over your whole car, check out our article: How Do Car Cleaning Products Work?

Dashboards And Consoles

Dashboards, with regards to how they're designed, can be seen as the interior showpiece - the bit you're looking at when driving your car. First and foremost, this means that manufacturers - especially the more high-end brands - tend to use as many premium materials as their budget allows - things like soft touch plastics, delicate "piano black' inserts and leather trim. Of course, some vehicles are more utilitarian with harder wearing plastics, but even these will be far more sensitive than those used in many home furnishings. This means that you need to use cleaning products specifically formulated for cars, so as not to mark or strip the finish.

This is where a safe-for-all-surfaces, all-purpose interior cleaner like Total really comes into its own, both for "spray on and wipe' application, or when agitated with the suitable interior tools and accessories such as our Interior Detailing Brush or our Revitascrub Interior Cleaning Pad for the deepest cleaning.

One other problem with dashboards, centre consoles, LCD screens and other interior trim is that the plastics and vinyl used in their construction can create a static charge which attracts dust. This is the reason why your dashboard will often the dustiest place in the whole car. Well, that and the fact that you touch these areas alot causing fingerprints, makeup residues, body oils and a whole lot more.

Removing these types of contaminants is a simple affair which can include wet or dry dusting more intricate areas, like around switches, inserts and vents with a brush before wiping away and sanitising with a product like Total. Keeping the dust away for longer though, requires an expert finishing product like Spritz Interior Quick Detailer, this advanced solution is packed with anti-static agents which will help to repel dust and light contaminants in the future. Being a quick detailer it can also be used for cleaning - this one is great for fingerprints, body oils and trapped grime, leaving behind nothing but a natural, factory-look sheen.

The last thing to consider is increasing your protection. Dashboards and plastic trim are particularly susceptible to the cracking and fading associated with prolonged exposure to the sun. And, let's face it, much of your interior is always in direct contact with UV radiation through the windows. But that's why our Spritz Interior Quick Detailer contains special UV inhibitors to protect from the impact of the sun. All you need is a quick spritz and a wipe, the inhibitors bond instantly to form a protective layer.

Our Dressle All Purpose Trim Dressing can also be used to enhance and protect from UV radiation, this product gives more of a rich darkened surface for a fresh and finished look than the subtle factory-look you get with Spritz but, again, you'll get the same sort of UV protection that will preserve the life of your parts for years to come.

Deep-Cleaning Plastic And Vinyl Trim

The only real difference between doorcards and dashboards and other plastic and vinyl trim is the amount contact they tend to see with you specifically. The more you make contact with any plastic parts, the more likely it is that they'll need a deepest clean. In most cases doorcards can be some of the most contaminated areas, simply because we're always touching them.

Here we always find and have to target greasy marks, makeup staining and skin oils. For this reason, you may find that a thorough deep clean - by agitation of Total Interior Cleaner or even a suitable dilution of Verso All Purpose Cleaner with a suitable brush or Revitascrub Pad - may be needed far more far often.

The key consideration in all cases is that the cleaning required solely depends on the materials used and the amount of contamination.

Hard Plastic And Rubber Trim

For other plastic and rubber trim, particularly the items you're likely to find used around the footwells, kickplates and the pedals, will often be made of the hardiest materials of all. Simply to stand up to the constant risk of abrasion.

These see a great deal of contact over the life of the car, but that doesn't mean that they can't be effectively detailed. Using Total or an even more potent dilution of Verso All Purpose Cleaner here, can be useful for chemically removing the most ground in dirt.

These kind of plastics will also benefit from finishing with Dressle or Spritz. The great thing about these versatile, water-based formulas is that they soaks into the plastic pores to revitalise trim. They can also be sprayed onto a microfibre cloth and simply wiped over surfaces for more targeted use.

Headliners, Seatbelts And Steering Wheels

Like many interior parts the headlining of your vehicle will usually be trimmed in a fabric material. Unlike seats and carpets however, they can't be completely soaked for stain removal because they're often backed by cardboard or compressed fibre board that could be damaged. Where many professional detailers will use hot steam to clean and sanitise headlining, it can be just as effective to spray Total onto a brush or microfibre cloth and perform some light agitation. Generally speaking, headlinings don't get anywhere near as dirty as other parts of the interior anyway, so a quick wipe over is often more than enough.

One interior part that's almost always forgotten is the seatbelts, due to the contact they get these will always hold onto grime and odours, so it's important to pull them out fully and give them a good spritz with your Total.

Modern Alcantara and suede-trimmed steering wheels are similar in terms of the grime they hold on to - arguably these get the most human contact of all, too. These materials can also be cleaned during routine maintenance using Total, but they can also be fully deep-cleaned and restored periodically. Check out our Guide To Deep Cleaning Suede And Alcantara Steering Wheels.

Interior Glass

Again, interior glass can pick up all sorts of smudges, smears and fingerprints that will need to be removed for the perfect finish. Glass is one of those make or break materials that can really let down the impact of your detail if it's left all smeary and dirty.

The other consideration of course, is window tints. Tinting films are usually applied to the inside of the glass, meaning that the glass cleaner you use on the inside must be safe enough to lightly clean sensitive films without melting the adhesives and causing damage.

Our mild distilled solvent-based Crystal Glass Cleaner is not only safe on all kinds of glass and tinting films but it's easy to use and as effective on the inside as it is the outside.

Simply spritz a fine mist directly onto the glass, and wipe away any contaminants with a clean microfibre cloth. (We recommend our Superior Waffle for the safest glass cleaning). This fast-flashing formula cuts through grease, grime, fingerprints, stains and streaks in seconds for a crystal-clear smear-free finish.

Door Jambs And Boot Shuts

Finally, we have the all-too-often forgotten door jams and boot shuts, these areas will almost always pick up scratches and grime through contact with both the outside and the inside world. Abrasion from shoes and general dirt are the main issues here, but both are easily rectified.

Grime can be quickly and easily wiped away with Total Interior Cleaner or a 1:5 dilution of Verso All Purpose Cleaner. While our flagship cleaner wax - Tripple All-in-One Polish - along a Microfibre Applicator is great for deep-cleaning and enhancing painted areas.

You can find out more about our carnauba-infused all in one polish in our guide: Push Your Detail To The Next Level With Tripple.

Step-By-Step Interior Detailing Guide...

Step 1: Clear It Out

First thing's first, you'll need to clear out any rubbish, along with your car mats (which you can clean thoroughly now or leave until later). Then a quick assessment of the job in hand is always useful.

If you're planning on a full-on deep cleaning session, now's a great time to whip out the seats, along with any easily-removable trim.

For most details we'll tend to begin on the boot area, followed by the rear of the cabin, and then the front. This means that once each part of our cabin is complete, we can move onto the next knowing that we don't need to revisit that area. That said, here's the full process we complete on each...

Step 2: Address The Easily Forgotten Bits

We find that cleaning these first helps prevents the grime from being dragged in as you clean the inside. Most often these can be cleaned during your usual contact wash, see our article: How To Safely Wash A Car: The Detailers Guide.

If however, you're starting on your interior, or just completing the inside, it's good to start here with the shuts and door jambs, and the inner doors.

Total or a 1:5 dilution of Verso agitated with a detailing brush is ideal on painted areas here. Don't forget the top of the doors and underneath the plastic trim. Any heaver marks can usually be polished out using Tripple.

It's also about this time we'd take a look at the headlining because, just like washing a car on the outside, starting at the top can pay dividends. It's true that this stage isn't one for every maintenance detail, but if it needs attention, now's the time. A little Total sprayed directly onto a Microfibre Work Cloth or an Upholstery Brush will allow you to clean your headlining effectively. We'll also pull out the seatbelts and deep-clean those, too.

Step 3: Dusting And Cleaning Trim

Some prefer to break out the vacuum cleaner on the carpets first, but often that can lead to dust and debris being transferred back to the carpets later and then having to vacuum the car twice… and who's got time for all that?

Instead we like rid the dashboard, centre-console, doorcards and trim of all traces of dust. The best way is to dry dust first using a dry detailing brush for the more intricate areas like switches, heater vents and around steering wheels and shifters. We also like to utilise a Feather Tip Brush for any of the more sensitive finishes, these are specifically designed not to scratch soft modern finishes, like piano black plastics.

Only then can you get on to deeper cleaning and sanitising surfaces with your Total Interior Cleaner. A quick spray and a wipe is good for routine maintenance here, but for getting that little bit deeper, we'd always recommend agitating with a brush, before wiping away any grime lifted out of surfaces with your Work Cloth. This process is safe on all the trim and all materials.

Here we'll pay particular attention to the most heavily solid areas and those that see the most physical contact.

Step 4: Vacuuming

We don't have to tell you that a good vacuum cleaner is an essential bit of kit - but so is the method in which it's used.

For the vast majority of interior cleaning processes a plastic crevice tool is crucial. The best pro tip is to keep yours in tip-top condition, any chips (creating sharp edges) can end up scratching or ripping interior surfaces. A brush attachment can also be infinitely useful for drawing grime particles our of carpet and fabric fibres. Again, the key is to keep your in the best possible condition.

The first thing to do is to remove the majority of the heavy grime with a single pass - be thorough and be methodical here, completing the carpets and any recesses inside door cards. Then make another pass or two to finish. We tend to vacuum interiors from the top down. Start with the seats - being sure to pull apart the bolsters as much as you can to target any hidden debris - and finish with the carpets. Mats of course, we'll complete outside the car.

Although it's tempting to try and vacuum the dashboard and other plastic surfaces, too, typically we'd avoid this to prevent inflicting any scratches.

Step 5: Deep-Cleaning Seats And Trim

Seats are relatively quick and simple to clean, all that's required is Total Interior Cleaner for fabrics and leather or Hide Leather Cleanser for the most regular leather cleaning. Using an Upholstery Brush for light agitation will be enough for a general refresh and to remove most stains on both materials. Simply spray on, agitate and wipe off with a fresh Work Cloth.

One thing to bear in mind here is that fabrics will absorb cleaning products quickly, so to avoid any wet trousers, you'll want them to fully dry before you jump back in. It's obvious, but even the pros make this mistake from time to time.

When cleaning leather, remember that shiny leather is usually dirty leather, you're looking for a nice matte finish. When you've finished cleaning your leather seats (along with any other leather parts on doorcards arm rests and dashboards) it's a good time to use Hide Leather Conditioner to nourish, reintroduce essential oils and protect the surface until your next detail.

Step 6: Deep Cleaning Carpets And Mats

As we said, half the battle with carpets and floor mats is removing debris that's locked away in the fibres. Professionals will often use compressed air to lift particles out, allowing them to be vacuumed away more easily.

A more user-friendly method is to use Total Interior Cleaner (Or a 1:10-1:5 dilution of Verso APC on heavily soiled carpets) with an Upholstery Brush. Some vigorous agitation should be enough to lift out stains and general grime, which can then be wiped away with a microfibre Work Cloth. For heavily stained areas, a Scrubi Spot Pad is also useful tool. For more on floor mats, including how to 'stripe' the pile like a professional, check out our article: How To Clean Car Mats Like A Pro.

Step 7: Dressing And Protecting

One of the final, but equally important steps, is dressing and protecting dashboads, doorcards and all the other plastic trim. Depending on the look you're after, Spritz and Dressle are ideal finishing products for adding a fresh, clean look, but most importantly with plenty of UV protection and a non-greasy, dry-touch finish.

Don't forget that Dressle, sprayed directly onto a microfibre cloth or applicator pad, is ideal for enhancing rubbers and weather seals, too.

Step 8: Finishing Glass And Mirrors

After cleaning and reinstalling your mats, the last stage we like to complete is the glass - the ultimate finishing touch for any detail. Buffing your windows to perfection is a simple process using Crystal Glass Cleaner, it's just important to be methodical, making sure you don't miss any or leave any smears along the way. Either spray directly onto your glass and wipe using a Superior Waffle, or spritz directly onto your cloth and wipe for more targeted application avoiding overspray. A good pro tip for maximum impact is to make sure you clean the exterior glass, too.

What's Next?

And that's how you can clean and sanitise your car interior in just a few easy steps, the interior cleaning products you'll need along the way, and the types of contamination you're likely to come across. Why not adapt this guide to your next detail and see how you can push your results to the next level? Don't underestimate the power of finishing the job with one of our Auto Finesse Air Fresheners, either - we have a full range to suit any vehicle out there.

In the meantime though, be sure to check out the Guides Section Of Our Blog for more top how-tos!