At Wash Me Now, we can take care of all your interior auto detailing needs. Not only can we remove dirt, debris, and other undesirables from the interior of your car, but we can also work wonders with the exterior as well. By removing these elements, you are doing more than just improving the aesthetics of your vehicle. You are protecting yourself from minor dings and scratches, which can become more serious and expensive as time goes on. You are also making the car more comfortable to drive, while also protecting its short-term and long-term value. In other words, car detailing by the pros will come with a lot of benefits, but there are some steps you can take to ensure your car is well maintained.
An investment that’s worth the time
Honestly, the worst thing you can say about interior auto detailing is that it takes a lot of time. You may also have to buy some equipment and cleaning products, depending on what you have in your home. As long as you are aware of the potential time demand, DIY interior auto detailing isn’t a bad idea by any means.
You are going to want to get started by making sure you have everything the project is going to demand. To that end, you should make sure you have the following:
- Vacuum Cleaner: An extension hose with handheld attachment is definitely your best bet for something like interior car detailing. If you happen to have a steam cleaning machine on hand, make sure to bring it along.
- Cleaning products: Look for safe-to-use products that can help you to clean stuff like plastic, upholstery, vinyl, and carpeting. You probably have at least some of these products in your home already.
- Wiping/polishing materials: A number of different rags and towels are going to be crucial for a project such as this. You will want to make sure you have a terry cloth, and some fine cloth rag pieces for the polishing/cleaning side of things. Microfiber cloths can also be useful.
- Brushes/applicators: You will certainly want to have some good applicators and brushes on hand for this work. A stiff-bristled brush is best, and you should also try to have a decent range of sizes. This will allow you to address different needs as you work.
Interior Auto Detailing Tips
With the right gear, you are now in the best position possible to clean the interior of your car in the most beneficial fashion possible:
- Pet hair: In addition to all of the products we mentioned above, you may want to get something specific to help you deal with pet hair. There are a lot of options to consider. You could use a special rubber hand or rubber pet hair sponges. What you want is something that will make it easy to rake the hair towards you, which you can then suck up with one of your vacuum attachments.
- Carpets: The carpets alone might just be enough to make you consider hiring the professionals. Vacuum the interior from top to bottom, before you do anything else. This will get rid of a lot of excess stuff, which means the rest of the cleaning shouldn’t be too difficult. A non-foaming carpet cleaner should then be applied to the fabric of your vehicle. Using a brush-equipped polisher, you should now be able to clean up the carpets with ease.
- Be prepared to move things around: Another potentially challenging aspect to DIY auto detailing? The fact that if you really want to clean everything, and we mean everything, you are going to need to move things around your car. This can mean removing mats, pulling seats back, and more.
- Plastic and vinyl: Your cleaner and brushes should be able to handle most of the smudges and other gross things that have spread across the vinyl and plastic of your vehicle. For the stuff that just won’t be removed, you may want to consider using isopropyl alcohol. It should be used very, very carefully, and only in situations in which nothing else is going to do.
Interior auto detailing can take a while, but there is no question that the finished result will likely be well worth the trouble you put in. This level of work should give you a beautiful, comfortable, and functional interior for at least a few months.
At the end of the day, if you just can’t imagine the time and energy such work is demanding of you, remember that our experience as interior/exterior auto detailing experts means that we can take care of everything. This is work that is far more affordable and straightforward than you might suspect.