January 11th, 2021 by
A clean, fresh car interior is not only a pleasure to drive in but has a number of health benefits as well. Enclosed spaces plus air conditioning in vehicles mean that germs and bacteria can fester and circulate in the air. Clearly, this has implications for the spread of viruses such as covid, but even if your car is only being used by people from within your own household at the moment, it can mean that you could be constantly re-infecting yourselves with colds and sniffles which are rife at this time of year.
If you like a clean car interior but would usually have it valeted professionally, that may not be an option for you right now with covid restrictions. If you don’t usually give it much attention but appreciate the value of having a hygienic car then now could be a good time to start. The good thing is, it’s not that difficult to do yourself, you just need a little know-how and the right tools and products for the job.
Here is our guide to car interior detailing:
1. Tidy up
Just as you wouldn’t start to clean a room in the house before tidying all unnecessary objects out of the way, so you should start by removing rubbish and accumulated items from the car. A clear space will allow you to get to work on the surfaces.
If there are items in there that you need to keep in the car, place them all out of the way in a bag or box while you work and then replace them when you have finished.
2. Clean windscreens and windows
Cleaning the glass first means that any stray spray that hits lower areas will be cleaned up when you come to do those later. Clean glass is incredibly important for safe driving so use a glass cleaner to avoid streaks and a microfibre cloth to minimise particle transfer. These will also help you buff the window to a crystal-clear finish.
3. Clean dashboard and trim
The hard surfaces tend to be the areas you touch the most, plus germs and viruses can survive the longest on these non-porous materials, so they deserve some special attention. Any deep areas such as cup holders and door compartments can be vacuumed using a long nozzle attachment first as this will lift any dirt out much more effectively. Wipe over all surfaces with a sanitising spray to kill any bugs that may be lurking and focus particularly on the high-touch areas such as steering wheel, gear stick, and door handles. For a really professional finish, you can use dashboard shine to get this area looking like new again.
4. Vacuum the interior
Now that you have displaced any crumbs and dirt from higher areas in the car, it’s time to vacuum them all away. A standard home vacuum with the right attachments can be used or you can purchase a car-specific handheld car vacuum cleaner, which is designed to get into all the nooks and crannies and be much easier to manoeuvre inside the limited space. Footwells and the gaps between the seat cushion and backrest tend to be the worst culprits for harbouring debris.
5. Clean the upholstery
It’s your car seats that tend to take the brunt of spills and stray crumbs which can decompose and create some nasty bacterial colonisations, which will start to smell as well as being unhygienic. Use a car upholstery cleaner to eradicate these stains and bring your fabric up to full cleanliness again.
5L Pro-Kleen Car and Upholstery Cleaner Shampoo
Clean up car seats and carpets with this valeting essential. It cleans, deodorises, and breaks down stains to leave a refreshingly clean fragrance!Price: £17.18
Buy Now6. Fragrance your car
While some of the products you have already used, such as the upholstery cleaner, will leave your car smelling lovely and clean, a car air freshener spray can be applied direct to upholstery as well as the air, giving it a new car scent to rival the moment your car came off the production line!
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