Interior Plastic and Vinyl Safe Disinfecting Cleaners?

Hi everyone,
I`m way late to the party on this topic and I`m sure this has been beat to death already but please bear with me here. I`m guessing the professionals on here have probably already had customers ask these questions.
I need to schedule an oil change appointment soon and I`m trying to be a decent human being I want to drop off my car clean and ideally I`d like to find an interior plastic and vinyl safe product that would help disinfect the frequent touch surfaces like the grab handle, shifter, steering wheel, etc. from The `Rona.
I`m reluctant to wipe it down with bleach, Lysol Spray, or undiluted 70% Isopropyl Alcohol fearing that it could haze the surfaces or damage them.


Are there any companies that have made a "Disinfecting Cleaner" of some sort?


If not is there a reasonable dilution ratio for 70% Isopropyl alcohol that isn`t going to do damage? Could I go 3:1 alcohol vs distilled water and not mess anything up?


Or am I just overthinking this and the reality is that a normal APC is going to do just as well?

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Originally Posted by Contradiction

Hi everyone,
I`m way late to the party on this topic and I`m sure this has been beat to death already but please bear with me here. I`m guessing the professionals on here have probably already had customers ask these questions.
I need to schedule an oil change appointment soon and I`m trying to be a decent human being I want to drop off my car clean and ideally I`d like to find an interior plastic and vinyl safe product that would help disinfect the frequent touch surfaces like the grab handle, shifter, steering wheel, etc. from The `Rona.
I`m reluctant to wipe it down with bleach, Lysol Spray, or undiluted 70% Isopropyl Alcohol fearing that it could haze the surfaces or damage them.


Are there any companies that have made a "Disinfecting Cleaner" of some sort?


If not is there a reasonable dilution ratio for 70% Isopropyl alcohol that isn`t going to do damage? Could I go 3:1 alcohol vs distilled water and not mess anything up?


Or am I just overthinking this and the reality is that a normal APC is going to do just as well?

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Isopropyl alchohol at 70%. Anything less wont kill covid. If you google coronavirus car interior theirs an article and theirs a guy from a company that manufactures car interior parts and says most inside will withstand ISP. Only thing ive seen it is fogs up clear plastic.


Anything less than 70% wont kill covid. Lysol should be fine too.

Heres link to article i read

https://www.consumerreports.org/tire...rior-surfaces/


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Look into Spray Nine. Pretty sure that will do it.

Adam`s makes some car-interior specific cleaners made with MicroBan. Unfortunately its expensive and in short (AKA unavailable) supply.

While 70% Iso-Propyl Alcohol MIGHT (my subjective judgment/assessment/evaluation) be "safe" for interior fabrics and vinyls or hard plastics, that cannot be said for clear plastic touch info/navigation/control screens or instrument panel gauge clear plastic lens covers or any natural or coated leathers. I would think (again my subjective opinion) that prolonged usage of IPA on fore-mentioned surfaces/materials will have a negative effect on their overall integrity and appearance.
I say this in hypocrisy because how many of us clean/sanitize our hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizers after being in a store or public place and then grab the leather-wrapped steering wheel or leather-wrapped transmission shift lever of our vehicle! And you and I will continue to do this into the foreseeable future..

Chlorine based products (AKA bleach) are probably even worse.

While short-term effective vehicle "sanitizing/disinfecting" for the COVID-19 virus may take precedence over long-term material integrity and appearance for those of public and fleet (think rental or taxi) vehicles, or independent public transportation (think Uber or Lyft), those future material maintenance or replacement cost will have to be evaluated. I think we can agree that this public/fleet vehicle sanitizing process will continue to be necessary for an extended time into the future and is not a short-term phenomenon (AKA, "the new normal"). Used vehicle buyers beware!!

I would definitely take a look at the CDC`s list of chemicals in cleaners that kill/disinfect COVID-19 virus. However, some of those may not be `safe" for vehicle interior materials.


A side note to all this is the use of sanitizers being applied to public streets and sidewalks by public sanitation workers. When this COVID-19 pandemic began in China and Korea in February, I saw sanitation workers applying/spraying sidewalks in public places in large cities with outbreaks on news reports. I`ve NEVER seen or heard this being done in America. Any wonder WHY we have had and are continuing to have large outbreaks in our American cities.

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Originally Posted by Lonnie

I say this in hypocrisy because how many of us clean/sanitize our hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizers after being in a store or public place and then grab the leather-wrapped steering wheel or leather-wrapped transmission shift lever of our vehicle! And you and I will continue to do this into the foreseeable future..

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Alcohol (and many other substances) can ruin leather...fast. I`d assume (uh-oh :o ) that everybody knows this. Right? RIGHT?!? Like...even little kids (I sure knew it at a very early age).

I don`t even touch my exterior door handles until the hand sanitizer has flashed off, lest it possibly mess with the LSP on their back sides. I`d be utterly astounded if anybody here really touched a leather surface with (still-wet) hand sanitizer on their hands! I mean...seriously...

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Originally Posted by Accumulator

Alcohol (and many other substances) can ruin leather...fast. I`d assume (uh-oh :o ) that everybody knows this. Right? RIGHT?!? Like...even little kids (I sure knew it at a very early age).

I don`t even touch my exterior door handles until the hand sanitizer has flashed off, lest it possibly mess with the LSP on their back sides. I`d be utterly astounded if anybody here really touched a leather surface with (still-wet) hand sanitizer on their hands! I mean...seriously...

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Alchohol is fine on newer coated leather.

I just had a bottle of 8oz adams liquid hand sanitizer spill on my seats and to be honest, probably in my head, but the alchohol seem to clean it uber well and the moisturizer made it more supple?


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Originally Posted by Coatings=crack

Alchohol is fine on newer coated leather...

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Guess none of my vehicle`s leather qualifies as "newer", alcohol is *MURDER* on it, gotta be *so* careful with glass cleaners that contain it. Even hand creams can destroy the leather on Audi steering wheels; they`re actually quite fragile IME and very pricey when they need replaced.

But even if that weren`t an issue, don`t things like hand sanitizers affect the products most of us use on such surfaces? The minimal stuff that Interior QDs leave behind is easily messed up by most anything IME, needing at least redone to have everything look uniform. Just missing an area when using those products leaves a diff that sticks out like a sore thumb...

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Originally Posted by Accumulator

Guess none of my vehicle`s leather qualifies as "newer", alcohol is *MURDER* on it, gotta be *so* careful with glass cleaners that contain it. Even hand creams can destroy the leather on Audi steering wheels; they`re actually quite fragile IME and very pricey when they need replaced.

But even if that weren`t an issue, don`t things like hand sanitizers affect the products most of us use on such surfaces? The minimal stuff that Interior QDs leave behind is easily messed up by most anything IME, needing at least redone to have everything look uniform. Just missing an area when using those products leaves a diff that sticks out like a sore thumb...

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Yeah the alchohol can play hell in interior lsp’s. I wouldnt use in my car but cleaning others or driving uber i would.

I actually didnt think about this when first started using HS’s alot and even though i thought my hands were dry i got a blem on my touch screen[emoji35][emoji2959]


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Coatings=crack- Hey, that`s a good "it happened to me" caveat you mentioned there...touchscreens! I don`t have any in our vehicles, but modern stuff like that can sure complicate all sorts of Detailing-related things, better safe than sorry. It`s like when certain Porsches proved sensitive to the use of MFs on certain things (forget the details..but it sure sounded important).

You also touched on something else...Ubers. Heh heh, just the thought of letting Unfamiliar Others in my vehicles makes me cringe :eek:

Thanks for the replies! I definitely don`t want to try anything full strength or frequently, and I`m glad I`m not driving for Uber or anything where I`d feel responsible to have to wipe down on a regular basis.

Do you guys think a 3:1 ratio would do any damage? At least it`s better than nothing before I hand it over to get worked on.

If I were you, I’d stick with standard interior products.

While noble of you to be concerned, chances are good that the tech that will be working on your car will have gloves on (or should, anyway) for the brief time that they’re in your car.

I always have gloves on when working on/driving customer cars (I’m a tech), only change with the whole Covid thing is that I wipe them down (and let them dry) before getting in each time. I’ve also made a habit of turning the HVAC fan off to minimize air disturbance in the car to reduce the chance of something getting blown into my eyes. Yes, a bit uncomfortable on the 90+ days, but it’s usually only short test drives.

While hardly scientific (I don’t have any official documentation backing this up), for my own car I take the the stance that if washing our hands is enough to kill the stuff by way of detergents breaking down the virus`s outer layer, then the products designed for cleaning interiors likely function the same way. Most importantly I always make a point to wash my hands as soon as I get home, and don’t touch my face/food while in the car.

Again, your car, your choice; but to me I’d just do a thorough clean with known (interior) safe products.

Lysol will kill coronaviruses but I can`t vouch for the safety on leather or vinyl.

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Originally Posted by Contradiction

Thanks for the replies! I definitely don`t want to try anything full strength or frequently, and I`m glad I`m not driving for Uber or anything where I`d feel responsible to have to wipe down on a regular basis.

Do you guys think a 3:1 ratio would do any damage? At least it`s better than nothing before I hand it over to get worked on.

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A 3-1 ratio wont sanitize so in essence useless. I’d just use a good ol interior cleaner. EPA says needs to be at least 70 IPA or 60 ethyl.


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https://usa.gtechniq.com/products/auto/i2-tri-clean

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Originally Posted by Oneheadlite

If I were you, I’d stick with standard interior products...While hardly scientific (I don’t have any official documentation backing this up), for my own car I take the the stance that if washing our hands is enough to kill the stuff by way of detergents breaking down the virus`s outer layer, then the products designed for cleaning interiors likely function the same way. Most importantly I always make a point to wash my hands as soon as I get home, and don’t touch my face/food while in the car.

Again, your car, your choice; but to me I’d just do a thorough clean with known (interior) safe products.

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+1

If regular soap is OK for washing the Virus off our hands, I`d think that getting it off Auto Interiors should be similar. No, I don`t know for certain, but I question whether it`s necessary to sanitize surfaces as opposed to just "cleaning" them.

If you touch something that might be iffy, don`t touch your face until you`ve cleaned your hands. If you suspect an infected person has coughed all over the interior, to where it`s potentially in the HVAC/etc. then I`d let the car sit for a few days, but I guess that`s easier said than done for some people.

Nobody else here ever get a UVC device? I`d use that if I were worried, but didn`t bother after we had the A8 serviced (but then, I know everybody who was in the car and am confident they didn`t contaminate it).