Top tips on how to rejuvenate your car’s interior

First step is to channel your inner clean……we’re not talking about just a simple, quick lets get it over and done with clean, but an in depth, let’s clean like we’ve never cleaned this car before type clean. With that being said, vacuum every inch of your vehicle, from your boot to carpets and seats to make sure crumbs, strands of hair or wrappers that have wedged themselves in between fabric or leather are no longer suffocating.

If you possess the technical aptitude, move the front seats back and forth for better views on what you’re picking up. Although this is an evident step in sprucing up your car interior, it is an essential one as it helps uncover hidden problems.

It is worth purchasing conditioner and shampoo for carpets, velour and upholstery as some household products are unable to successfully complete the job. As the three main types of material used for seats are leather, vinyl and fabric, each require different cleaning methods. The amount of dirt and grime interior suffers from can change the original colour of the leather, fabric & vinyl, allowing it to become faded. Fortunately, using effective cleaning products can bring your leather back to life. You are able to use a 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner for interiors, to save you from having to repeat the process.

Leather cleaning solutions must be applied to the seat but don’t be shy, it needs to cover every inch. Use a plain, soft towel or cloth – one that won’t mark your seats. Rub the towel quite aggressively over the seats as you want the liquid to soak into the leather while bringing out any dirt. Once this process has been repeated across all seats, yes a microfibre cloth to dry them. We would recommend purchasing a leather protect conditioner as you guessed it, it will protect your leather seats.

Vinyl seats are very easy to maintain and take care of. Regular household products can do the job just right if you ensure they are compatible with vinyl. Again, use a cloth or towel to wipe the spray cleaner across the seats but it is important to not get the cleaner on any interior material that can be damaged by the excess.It will be wiser to spray the cleaning product on a cloth or towel then applied to the seats. Use a separate clean towel to dry the seats and you are done! How simple was that?

Fabric seats are the most common to endure tough stains that are hard to remove and clean. Like leather, you can use a shampoo and conditioning cleaning product but it requires a bit more work.Before you start, remember to not get the seats too wet as they soak up moisture which means the drying process will take longer than you originally planned. As we’re keeping this simple, you won’t require high pressure water or cleaning systems. Spray the conditioner and shampoo and scrub lightly with a nylon bristle brush, this is to avoid marks.Once this has been done, let it dry and then vacuum once again. This is to remove hidden dirt and grime in the interior as its not always visible, making your interior look lighter and visually more appealing.

Polish only after you have performed the steps above, especially vacuuming. This is so when you are polishing your dashboard, steering wheel, gear stick, cup holders etc, you won’t be polishing your interior with a combination of polish and dirt. Trim lines and details are essential to clean and polish as the longer you leave the dirt to build up, the harder it is to completely get rid of it.

Dashboards quite possibly tend to be the most dusty area in your car. Use a cloth to remove the current dust and a separate towel to polish afterwards. You may want to apply an interior dressing suitable for the material in order to keep it from cracking or fading due to exposure from sunlight. This also applies to door panels.

With consoles there are various simple tricks to overcome the cleaning of buttons and controls. For button controls, a cotton bud sprayed with purpose cleaner can really work wonders for stubborn dust and dirt if you’re unable to get to it with cloths. You can also wrap a cloth around the tip of a flat head screwdriver. The key is to use a very thin cloth so the head of the screwdriver is not too bulky and not be able to grasp dust and dirt.

I think we can agree that attempting to clean air vents is a frustrating task as they are a magnet for dust. Use a toothbrush or a small paintbrush that is able to get in between the vents. Once you’ve done this, fire up the AC to help with the few remaining bits of dust.

If the few tips above do not improve the condition of your interior, re-conditioning particular parts of your vehicle may be the better solution.

Re-conditioning gives you the opportunity to make your car look brand new. This applies to plastic, vinyl or leather on doors, dashboards, console areas and seats. It’s not a relatively expensive step, but if you feel you are unable to carry it out, contact a professional who knows what they are doing. This can eliminate noticeable scratches, marks and fading that are most common in the front of any vehicle. Re-spraying door panels, dashboards and other plastic trim areas can also increase the value of your vehicle, just like re-painting the exterior!

There are various cleaning products that protect your interior, whether that is leather, vinyl or fabric upholstery from discolouration as vehicles suffer from old age and therefore lose some of it’s shine. However, to avoid the most common problems mentioned throughout this article and to save you a little bit of work, try to not leave your car in direct sunlight for long periods of time as this leads to the fading of colour on seats and dashboards. (This specially applies to leather). You should also consider purchasing seat covers so potential stains and spillages do not leave permanent damage as well as carpet mats for the floor.

Check out a wide range of cleaning products from Slims.