Cleaning Your Car's Interior

Mark Clarkson
May 1, 2006

For most people, cleaning the car means cleaning its exterior only. Some would not even bother to take a look inside. They think that as long as their car looks great outside, everybody else would not notice just how messy the interior could be. The sad truth though is that sometimes, the interiors could become a place for collecting various things – from food wrappers, to some funny stones you found on the beach, to documents, to plastic bottles, to smelly socks, to some shirts.

Cleaning the interior of a vehicle could be considered an easy task despite the amount of “collections” you have in it. One of the tips that you should keep in mind when cleaning your car’s interior would be to think that after you are done, you would have a car that not only looks new from the outside but also feels and smells new from the inside.

Before starting out, make sure that you park your car in a cool and shady place. This is because direct sunlight actually heats the cleaners you would be using. When the cleaners are heated on your upholstery, the natural oils of the leather would be actually taken out. This would leave your upholstery looking old and brittle, which is something that you would not like to have. Also, make sure that you would have at hand everything you would need. Make sure that you use the right products. Using cleaning products that are not very friendly to your interior could only create a big mess.

Then, start by removing all of the collections you have been keeping inside your interior. Check behind the seats and even under the seats. Of course, make sure that you remove all big pieces that would be too large to vacuum. Then, start from the top going down, vacuum your car’s interior. After you are done vacuuming, wipe the dashboard, the gauges, and the console. Use a damp terry cloth towel. By doing so, you are actually removing any additional surface dirt. Make sure that you go through each nook and cranny of your seats. Do this with other parts of your interior like the console and the transmission tunnel.

Vacuum your vehicle’s floor mats well. You can use a soft scrub brush along with some cleaning products. However, when you do use cleaning products, make sure that you rinse them well with water after you are through. If you have a carpet that has stains large enough, it would be best to run them with a professional carpet-cleaning machine or service.

On the other hand, if you think that your carpet or any part of your car’s interior is already too worn out to use again, you can opt to purchase new ones. Toyota Parts Online offer such products along with specially crafted parts for Toyota vehicles like the Toyota Corolla parts.