Share Your Interior Detailing Tips!

I have found that Simple Green works amazing on everything in a car. It will clean plastic, glass, leather, and even cloth and carpet. All you need to due is get some white 12×10 towels, nothing expensive, cause they will get dirty fast. Just spray the towel directly or the area that needs cleaning. If the rag won’t take out the sticky stuff, use a soft sponge. To clean cloth, just spray the spot that needs cleaning, only a little squirt should should do, then rub out the spot with the rag. I have also found that both a silicone based and a non-silicon based tire shine works on most dashes to give them a great shine. Pour the tire shine in a little container and dip a soft soft sponge in it and wring out the access and go over your dash with the sponge. I also have a good tip cleaning foggy headlights. Let me now if you or anyone else wants to here it.
Brad

Like I said my interior was covered in dust and grime from the farm not to mention pop stained cup holders. I used the wipes last October and haven’t had to clean the interior since. They not only clean but repel dirt from collecting again.

Oh, one other thing about the wipes is that unlike a lot of the interior shine products, the interior parts weren’t greasy nor attracted more dirt as a result, when I used the wipes.
-
For a Convertible (that’s used as one at every opportunity) that’s just what I needed.

i just bought the new turtle wax ice interior detailer, and it is amazing!

For a really soiled interior, orange citrus degreaser or simple green works well.

For fabric, carpet, and even seat belts, a carpet cleaning product called Folex works well. I use on seat belts cause I’m afraid to use
anything too strong on them that could weaken them. It is amazing stuff. Sold at Walmart and supermarkets.

If you have a home type of carpet shampooer, you can use white vinegar instead of soap, and it works really well. Ammonia also works instead of soap in those carpet shampooers, and doesn’t leave a soapy residue. Just don’t over-do the ammonia.

For cleaning leather, my favorite product is called Auto Amore. The company is based in Washington State. They have a cleaner / conditioner, and a deep conditioner. It keeps my car’s 14 year old leather seats looking and feeling like brand new. My local Shuck’s sells it, and it is sold on line.

As far as wax, my favorite is sold by Griot’s Garage on line. Their Best of Show Wax and Speed Shine Detail Spray are the best! Also, their rubber / vinyl conditioner for tires is great. Finally, they sell a fragrance spray that smells exactly like leather that I use to keep that new leather smell all the time.

For windows, Windex that is sold in the auto parts section works very well.

For rubber and vinyl interior parts and under hood parts, I like F21 vinyl protectent spray. I use it all the time on my vinyl and plastic interior parts, as well as all the rubber and plastic and painted parts under my hood. It’s good for tires too.

For cleaning wheels, I use Armorall wheel cleaner. The kind that is safe for painted wheels. It does a good job.

If you look at my car, you will see that it is spotless. Very clean.

It’s hard to tell that she was driven daily for 12 years, and has over 110K miles on her.

Hope this info helps you Rob.

Stewart

along with retroman and GTwildfire, those wipes are amazing. After my dad failed to winter the boat properly, i was ‘assigned’ to clean the vinyl seats which had been covered in mold. After countless other products failed, those mcguiars wipes did the trick, completely restoring the white vinyl to a full shine and non green look.

My secret is BLACK INTERIOR. usually just an armor-all wipe or snpther spray-type cleaner works ok for me.

For windows, try that MEGA INDUSTRIAL FOAMING WINDEX in the aerosol can. it works great.

I’m with GTwildfire. I dont have before pics but I do have after ones. My R/T was a farm car with plenty of use and a whole lot of dust. Go to page two to see the interior. I recommend the wipes.

I worked as a detailer for a dealership when I first got into the business and I learned a few tips.
~
For cleaning dirt and grime I always used a citrus based degreaser, it works the hardest without staining fabrick or running color on plastics. plus its cheap
~
for hard to reach cracks and crevices I would take an old flat blade screw driver that was dulled and put the towel over the tip and gently work into the area.
~
Interior shining is all down to preference but I would take what ever interior shine we had, apply it to a wax pad and work the shine around with the pad, instead of wildly spraying it in the interior.
~
Last “trade secret” For air vents that were truly dirty I would mist a little bit of interior shine into the vent and work it around with the edge of a towel or a q-tip.

Hey Phantom, Here are some interesting ideas for getting gum out of carpet.

http://blog.worldvillage.com/home/tips_on_how_to_get_gum_out_of_carpet.html

The McGuiar’s leather wipes rule. My convertible’s leather interior looks great after I’ve gone over it with them. Highly recommended.

I’ve used those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers on the light grey door panels, leather seats and interior plastics of our minivan to get rid of scuff marks, embedded grime, and the usual dirty hand prints. Takes a little elbow grease but works quite well. They don’t leave any residue at all and return the panel in question to its original condition. The only drawback is the pads don’t last long on the textured plastics.

Any suggestions for getting old, hard gum out of the carpet???

Honestly, Simple Green works wonders on everything! I used it to pull axle grease that had been pushed into the carpet on my floor. I’m still an Armor All fan for interior stuff but, I did go to their Low gloss stuff. But Simple Green is the key and as for grime on the outside of your window where nothing touches it. Try a teaspoon of Dishwasher detergent in your washer fluid. The detergent really washes the grime out of the window. I put some in a cup and then used a sponge and it really made the window clearer with the wipers going.

Happy Detailing.