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Cleaning the interior of a dirty car

Gigi z 8A, Upstate SC, USA

9 years ago

Buying a "less expensive" car for my daughter to use. Have the mechanical issues taken care of but need to clean up the interior. Tan interior that looks like no one ever vacuumed or wiped down the dash etc ....ever. Will obviously vacume and wipe down all surfaces but how to get that carpet and dash and seats clean??? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Comments (9)

tibbrix
9 years ago
Invest in getting it detailed.
graywings123
9 years ago
Are the seats made of fabric or leather or pleather?

If you go into any auto parts store, you will find rows and rows of cleaners. But I think that the cleaners you use around the house would work just as well, such as a mild soap for leather or fake leather. And/or a fabric cleaner you would use to spot clean your sofa for fabric seats. Regular carpet shampoo for the carpeting of the car.
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User
9 years ago
I'd get it detailed. You can often find coupons.
User
9 years ago
Detailing is the way to go. The car interior will be super clean.
Gigi z 8A, Upstate SC, USA
Original Author
9 years ago
I did not even think of that. I will check this out. Thanks!
josephene_gw
8 years ago
Spot Shot in the orange and blue can.
kathyg_in_mi
8 years ago
They want $150 for detailing around here!

Some self serve auto washes have a shampoo selection on their vacuum cleaners. We used one to clean our van fabric seats and it worked quite well!
User
8 years ago
Where I live it is about $100. However, they take the seats out and get all the carpet as well as cleaning the seats. They even opened the trunk and cleaned inside there. You might want to check around at price and what all they will clean.
mike_kaiser_gw
8 years ago
As others have mentioned, a professional detailing. You might want to check with some of the smaller car lots in your area to see who they use. A full detailing includes the exterior and interior, so just the interior should be cheaper.

If you want to do it yourself, ones of those "Little Green Clean Machines" works well but expect to invest several hours. If you don't have one, you can use a shop vac that can suck water. Buy some carpet cleaning solution (both general cleaning and spot cleaning), apply it with a squirt bottle, scrub it in, and suck it back up. Use the same solution/method on the upholstery. Carpeted floor liners can just be pulled out, cleaned, hosed off, and hung to dry.

It's less of a problem this time of the year but make sure the carpet is fully dry before you close up the windows. In winter, I've seen car interiors get some really funky smells because the carpet wasn't fully dry.

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