Detail Your Car’s Interior Like a Pro

By Eric Schad

Detailing your car’s interior is an important part of routine maintenance that preserves value and aesthetics. However, it’s a pricy venture, especially if you decide to hire a professional. Fortunately, detailing your car’s interior at home is another viable option. It’s cheaper, easier, plus you can pay more attention to detail. Before you decide to take your vehicle to the pros, use these tips to detail your car’s interior like a true professional.

Start With Vacuuming

The first task to tackle on the interior of your vehicle is vacuuming. If you have a central vacuum in your home, it’s a definite benefit. If not, it’s probably best to visit your local car wash. Once you’ve secured access to a vacuum, remove the floor mats and go to town. This includes vacuuming the seats, the floor, and hard surfaces if necessary. Make sure to move your front seats forward and back to get the tough to reach places where debris accumulates.

Photo by dreamstime

Blotting Out Stains

If you find some stains while vacuuming, it’s time to focus on removing them. The best way to tackle stains is to use a carpet or upholstery cleaner. Many of these products have a handy scrubber that’s attached to the can, but if it doesn’t, use a sponge and work the cleaner into the spot. After it sits for a few minutes, use a rag or paper towels to blot out the stain.

Photo by dreamstime

Cleaning the Seats

If you don’t have any stains, you can skip the prior tip and move straight to cleaning the seats. To get started, buy a leather or vinyl upholstery cleaner, depending on what you have in the vehicle. Make sure to follow the instructions exactly, as you don’t want to ruin your seats. If you find torn vinyl or worn leather, this is also the time to fix them. Repair kits are readily available to fix your vinyl. If you have leather, the right colored shoe polish breathes life back into problematic areas.

Photo by dreamstime

Cleaning the Dash

Now that the rest of your vehicle looks like new, it’s time to focus on the dashboard. However, this is probably the most difficult task of an interior detailing. Cracks, crevices, and bezels provide a true challenge to a thorough cleaning. To overcome this difficulty, use a can of compressed air or a cotton swab dipped in cleaner to remove any dust or debris. Once it’s removed, you can use an interior cleaner or an all-purpose cleaner to give the dashboard a beautiful sheen.

Photo by dreamstime

Polishing the Glass

The final step in detailing your car is wiping the glass free of streaks and dirty spots. To do this, use a glass cleaner, but use sparingly. Being overzealous with the cleaner can cause streaks that never seem to disappear. When you’re wiping the glass, an old newspaper is the perfect rag, as it leaves no streaks and is easily disposable when you’re finished.

Photo by dreamstime

Keeping your car relatively tidy is the best way to save some time on a detail, and the more often you do it, the easier it’s. Once you’ve completed these step, you’re left with a vehicle that looks awesome at a fraction of the cost and the satisfaction of completing the job yourself.