If you’ve spent an afternoon following our exterior car cleaning guide to get your car’s paintwork looking spotless, it’s now time to move on to the inside, so here’s how to clean your car’s interior. Of course, for the various materials of your car’s interior, you’ll need a host of different cleaning products, applied with different techniques.
On this page, we’ll guide you though the process of how to clean your car’s interior, including everything you need to make your interior look as good as the exterior in next to no time. If you’re yet to buy any car interior cleaning equipment, we’ve also included recommendations including the best vacuum cleaners.
Read on to find out how to get your car’s interior up to scratch with minimum effort and maximum return.
The essential kit you’ll need to clean your car’s interior
Best car vacuum cleaner
Rrp: £67.99
Rrp: £67.99
Our current favourite car vacuum cleaner is the Karcher WD 2 Plus, which offers excellent durability and reliability, a generous bin capacity, wet and dry cleaning, and lots of power. The standard accessories are useful for cleaning your car, too. It's ready to go and a great buy.
Pros
- Durable and reliable
- Great car cleaning accessories
Cons
- Quite big and heavy
Best detailing brushes
Rrp: £19.00
Rrp: £19.00
26JPN offers two-brush set that is well suited to any detailing job. They're made from soft boar hair they won't damage any surface you work on and the entire brush lacks metal which limits the chances of accidental scratches even more. If you want to clean the interior of a car, they're a perfect addition to your tool kit.
Pros
- Good for taking care of soft upholstery
Cons
- A bit overkill for most light cleaning jobs
Best microfibre cloths
Rrp: £22.50
Rrp: £22.50
Gtechniq produces some excellent car care products, including microfibre towels. Its MF1 ZeroR drying towels are great for achieving a streak-free finish when cleaning your car. They're good value for money and the fact you get 10 will come in handy as you can never have too many drying towels in your garage.
Pros
- Great value
- Easy to clean
Cons
- Quite small
How to clean the inside of a car
1. Take everything not nailed down out of your car. Empty out the glovebox, door pockets, and the boot, and sort through what you don’t need. You may be surprised by what you find. It’s also a good idea to remove the floor mats at this point so you can clean them more easily.
2. Using your interior shampoo, set to work cleaning the dashboard, infotainment system and centre console. Use a soft-bristled detailing brush to ensure you clean every surface and then use a drying towel to remove any excess product. Buff the surface to produce a neat, uniform and clean appearance.
3. Switch on your vacuum cleaner and begin by cleaning the floor mats you removed earlier. Once they’ve been done you can move to the interior and begin sucking up dirt and debris. Use the vacuum on the headlining (be careful in older cars as the lining may sag) before cleaning the seats (use a crevice tool to get everything), floor and boot.
4. Use an appropriate seat cleaner. For fabric, vinyl and Alcantara, interior shampoo will be good, but use a specific leather cleaner for leather seats. Apply the product according to the instructions.
5. Clean the door cards and other areas with an appropriate cleaner, remembering to wipe away excess product with a clean drying towel.
6. Finally, tackle any stains using a stain remover. For very large or stubborn stains, the use of a spot cleaner may be required.
The best products to clean your car’s interior with
Best car shampoo
Rrp: £9.42
Rrp: £9.42
Pros
- Very effective on stains
- Contains deodorising agent
Cons
- You'll need to buy the extra kit separately
Best stain remover to deep clean your car’s interior
Rrp: £3.50
Rrp: £3.50
Pros
- Long lasting
- Easy to apply
Cons
- Sponge falls off fairly easily
Best leather cleaner
Rrp: £27.84
Rrp: £27.84
Pros
- Great quality product
- Everything you need in one kit
Cons
- Some elements may be superfluous if you already have them
Best air freshener bomb
Rrp: £11.29
Rrp: £11.29
Pros
- Powerful
- Good for sanitising interiors
Cons
- Difficult to find at this price
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