Cleaning the Interior---Submitted by StyleTeg

Cleaning the Interior
By Ross Johnson (StyleTEG)

The basic areas of cleaning your cars interior are broken down to carpet, fabric, vinyl, and console. During the winter seasons, sometimes the only thing us car enthusiasts can detail is the interior due to the bad weather.
Even in the summer time, an interior that looks like it came right off of the showroom floor will make everyone love your car.



The first step is basic cleaning. This means getting as much dirt and dust out of your car as possible. The best way to do this is using some diluted simplegreen and a soft bristled brush. I find that old toothbrushes are great for this. To get light dust off of the dash and other areas, I only use water. Most of the time, dust is most prominent on the dash and in the vents. A quick wiping down the dash with a wet cloth will clean up most of the dust. Using a damp toothbrush works well with hard to reach areas like the vents. The pedals of your car are also often quite grimy. These often require heavier cleaning and are the only part where I spray cleaner directly on the surface and not on a towel. A thicker brush will loosen up the mud stuck in between the pedal crevices.




Most cars have quite a bit of carpet in them. While the floor mats are designed to keep the factory carpeting as clean as possible, often times spills, dirt, and grim find their way past them. Luckily it is fixable! The most effective way to clean any carpet is steam cleaning. Unfortunately most of us don't have access to a steam cleaner, nor want to deal with the hassle of renting one. Luckily there is a good way to get most stains out!
Shampooing the carpets will get almost all stains out and leave your once worn carpets looking great again. Do a heavy vacuuming before shampooing, to get as much loose dirt out of the car as possible. Before shampooing your carpet and fabric, it is best to attack the heavy stains individually. For this using a good spot remover like Eagle One Zap Spot Remover, will help brake up the stains and allow them to be vacuumed up in the final steps. Next, get a carpet shampoo and mix the correct amount with water as marked on the bottle. This will create a sudsy solution not unlike car wash shampoo. Using an upholstery scrub brush, work the shampoo into the carpet and fabric, using the brush to agitate the dirt and let it rise to the surface. For best effectiveness, try and use the suds only, and apply as little water as possible. Wipe off accesses suds with a terry cotton towel.
Once you have gone over the whole interior, get a bucket of warm water and dampen a terry cloth towel with it. You don't want the towel soaking, just damp. Use the towel to wipe off down the whole interior, and remove the dirt and extra shampoo.



Using a wet-dry vacuum (most coin operated washes have these), vacuum down any areas that were shampooed to suck up as much water as possible. Finally, do a final drying stage using a hair drier. Be careful not to hold the drier to close to any fabric as it may cause burn marks.
The other option in cleaning carpet and fabric is to use cleaning foam.
These products are effective and will leave your carpet clean, but unfortunately are not quite as powerful as a good shampoo. Two positives, is that they are easier to use, and quicker. It is a simple process, spray onto the fabric. It will start to foam. Once you have enough on the area, use a brush to work the foam into the carpet. Allow adequate time for the foam to dry. While it is drying, it will loosen the dirt embedded into the fabric, and raise it to the surface. Once the fabric is completely dry, use a vacuum to suck up all dirt that has been broken loose.

If you want to go the extra mile, then you can protect your fabric and carpet as well. 303 products, Scotchguard, and 3M all have quality, fabric protection products. After all, the best way to be stain free is to prevent them all together. These products help water bead on top of the fabric, much like wax does to paint. This prevents the water and dirt from soaking into the fabric, and will keep stains and dampness to a minimum. To apply, make sure the fabric is completely dry and free of dirt. Spray the area lightly with the product. The idea is to get the fabric damp, but not wet. Two light coats is much better than one medium coat. Not only will this keep your interior looking great longer, but it will prevent the fabric from fading and keep it looking factory fresh.



Leather is a very luxurious fabric that provides extra comfort due to its soft nature. With the comfort and class that leather provides, it also provides slightly more work to keep good care of. Leather is a very porous material, after all at one point it was the on a cow, and much like our own skin the pours were used to sweat out water. Now the leather works the other way as well, it will absorb dirt, and perspiration into its pours, which will eventually cause it to harden, and shrink.
The two-step process starts with mild cleaner. You want to only use leather specific cleaning agents on leather. Any harsh soap may damage the fragile leather. Spray the cleaning agent onto a clean towel, and work it into the leather.
It should create a slight sudsy solution. On really dirty applications, and to get into cracks, use a soft bristled toothbrush.
Once the leather has been cleaned and rid of dirt, it needs to be conditioned. Leather conditioner should leave the material very soft, and replenish its natural oils. Many leather conditioners have a nice sent as well.
When it doubt, it is always better to make two light passes with cleaner and conditioner than on heavy pass. I have found that Lexol Leather products are the safest and most effective products available.



After all the fabric and carpet has been cleaned, vinyl is the biggest area to tackle. The vinyl of your care is important to take care of, and Integras have lots of it used in the interior. The area that needs the most protection and care is the dashboard. The dash gets exposed to lots of UV light, which can quickly cause damage and fading. Cleaning it, and keeping it protected should be done twice a month. To clean it, use a mild soapy water solution. I use warm water, and let a bar of ivory sit in it for a few minutes. Dampen a towel with the solution, and wipe down all areas of the dash. Follow up with a dry towel. Any areas that have stains or are particularly soiled, use leather cleaner to remove.



Once the dash is clean and dry, its time to use protection. What to use all comes down to personal preference. What you should stick away from are any products that use silicone oils and petroleum distillates. These chemicals, often found in cheaper vinyl dressings like armor-all, will cause your dash to dry out and crack. While most products don't list every chemical used, the best way to avoid these harmful chemicals is only get high quality vinyl products. The products I like, and are safe are Lexol Vinylex, Aerospace 303, and Eagle One protectant lotion.



What product you use, depends on how you like your dash to look. Vinylex has a very high gloss shine. If you like a deep, shiney dash than there is no better product to use than Vinylex. If you prefer a matte rich color, Aerospace 303 is your choice. It gives the vinyl factory richness, with out the blinding shine than other products produce. Eagle One protectant lotion is somewhat in the middle, not to glossy, but still has some shine. It is also very easy to apply with out accidentally splattering it all over, due to it being a lotion and not a spray. Finally, some people prefer to use a leather conditioner. While this doesn't provide as much protection, it does leave the dash looking and smelling nice. A good combination is Aerospace 303, and Lexol leather conditioner on top.

To apply your vinyl dressing, apply a small amount to a towel or rag. The key to a good-looking dash is to apply the product evenly. You don't want some areas soaked in it, and others just barely touched. Make several light passes over the entire dash, do one area at a time until it reaches your desired saturation level. Once you have gone over the whole dash, let it dry for an adequate amount of time. Then, follow up with a terry cotton towel, and give the whole dash a light buffing. This will remove any access and leave you with an even finish.

Once finished with the dash, continue on to all the other vinyl areas. The Integras have a lot, including the head liner, around the shifter, the doors, sun blocks, and posts. Doing an even job on all the vinyl in the car looks absolutely stunning.