How to clean the interior of the car: upholstery, dashboard, glass ...

Clean the car inside is a task that at first may be simple, but that can get very complicated. It is not the same to remove dust, to clean and eliminate the smell of drinks, food or other difficult spots.

Of course, you can always take the car to a professional laundry, but with the knowledge that you we will give in this article, you can save that money and get very similar results . It is a matter of following an order and knowing with what to remove each type of stain.

The order of the factors alters the product

To clean the car inside you do not have to make the mistake of starting the house on the roof. The order in which you do things will greatly affect the result because you may dirty what you have already cleaned. To avoid this, we recommend that you follow this order and in passing we give you some recommendations:

1. Empty the car completely : gaps in the doors, console space central, seat pockets, etc.
2. Aspirate the interior : you can use the vacuum cleaners that are in washing centers or in some gas stations, although the latter do not usually give very good results You can also use the vacuum cleaner in your house, not only to save that pair of euros, but because in many cases it is more effective.
3. Clean the upholstery . In this case there are hundreds of specific products, but the lifelong methods used by housewives will be equally effective or more. We give you the two best options for its ease of application and results:

Water and ammonia

• Mix a Pair of ammonia plugs in a liter of water. Any ammonia can be used, but the one that we have seen the best results is the Volvone.
• Wet a lint-free cloth in the solution drains so it does not drip
• Rub the upholstery . Follow the fibers of the fabric if they are visible to us.
• Let the upholstery dry with the windows open

Dry cleaner

There are several car-specific dry foam cleaners, although you can get the same results with household cleaners , such as the Green Forest brand. They are cheaper and are just as easy to use. You will need the vacuum cleaner to remove it, so if you opt for this product, apply it before vacuuming the car.

1. Clean the glass inside . This is a step that many people forget until they begin to lose visibility. Especially at night. As you will not have to deal with difficult spots like bird droppings or parched mosquitoes, it will be worth it with any conventional glass cleaner . Although depending on the weather conditions where you live could be a anti-fog cleaner .
2. Clean the dashboard, moldings and other solid parts of the interior . We recommend that you use a cleaner with dust repellent . It costs a little more, but it's worth it to prevent the car from being full of dust spots soon after. For joints between plastic a very useful trick is to use a kitchen spatula to remove the embedded dirt.If it does not slip well, wet it in water or in the product you use for the dashboard before you pass it.
3. Clean the mats on the outside of the car . To remove the accumulated dust for a long time is usually not enough with a vacuum cleaner. In professional cleaning centers usually have a pressurized air machine . A useful tool for this purpose and to remove dirt between the seats without having to disassemble them. As you probably do not have one at hand, the grandmothers method is equally effective, though more laborious. Hit the mats with a stick or against the ground. You will see how the embedded powder keeps coming out even when it seems that there is no dirt anymore. When you have descaled all the dust, vacuum it also out of the car.
4. Place an air freshener .

And what happens if it is a difficult spot?

Except for the strictest drivers, we've all done activities inside the car that can end up in a complicated spot . With only eating or drinking you can dirty the upholstery in such a way that the aforementioned methods are not enough. Therefore, we will list the recommended products for each type of stain:

Clean food and drink stains

Stains of food can be the most difficult to remove. Especially because in this case they are in a cloth that can not be thrown into the washing machine and period. The most difficult to remove are those of fat and protein. For both you can use specific stain removers like Dr. Beckmann, but there are other methods.

Grease stains in the upholstery

Method 1

• Remove excess fat or oil scraping with a spoon and then with an absorbent paper.
• Place a little batch of baking soda on top to absorb more oil and leave it for 5 or 10 minutes. li>
• Remove the baking soda with a brush or with the vacuum cleaner .
• Rub with a wet cloth repeatedly
• Apply one of the conventional washes that we have described before

Method 2

• Remove the excess fat or oil by scraping with a spoon and then with an absorbent paper.
• Use a sponge, a Fairy style dish soap and water . Do not limit yourself to the stain in question. Clean the entire part of the seat so that you do not notice the difference between what has just been cleaned and what has not. For example, if the stain is on one of the side supports of the seat, clean it whole.
• Rinse repeatedly with a wet cloth. Rinse each time and/or change the water. It's about eliminating all the soap, so you have to take care of yourself.

Protein stain on the upholstery

Use a enzymatic stain remover if the stain is egg, dairy products, blood or any that contain protein. These spots are especially problematic because they tend to give off odor over time. Cleaner enzymes will literally eat the organic debris from the stain.

Dr. Beckmann has a specific stain remover, although cleaning products for babies can also work.The Green Forest enzymatic spot dissolver will also be effective

Other food stains

Stains from fruit, soda, coffee or wine are not so complicated to remove, but can resist conventional upholstery washing. If this happens to you, apply a specific clean spots dissolved.

Urine

God does not I want it but the upholstery of our car can be stained with urine of children or animals. To clean them completely there are two methods : one homemade and one with a branded product.

The homemade method

• Mix very well until the following ingredients are lathe
  • ½ glass of laundry detergent . One with enzymes would be ideal (Formil Color has them), but if you do not find it or you do not have it by hand, a normal one will work.
  • 1 glass of water
  • ¼ glass of vinegar
• Clean the stained surface and its surroundings with a sponge. What's more, you should clean the entire part of the seat even if it is not dirty so that you do not notice the difference between what was just cleaned and what was not.
• Let stand a few minutes
• Rinse repeatedly with a wet cloth or sponge. Rinse each time and/or change the water. It's about removing all the soap, so you have to take care of yourself.

Method with branded product

Apply the same steps as before, but use a specific enzyme cleaner for urine. It is very common to find them in pet stores.

How to remove persistent odors from the car

The tobacco , the organic stains or simple use for many years can cause undesirable odors. To get rid of them, you should not limit yourself to masking them with air fresheners. Therefore, in addition to washing the car inside with the methods that we have mentioned so far, we recommend that you use some absorbeolores element.As in the fridge, this powder removes all odors from the environment.

Pictures - Tony Alter, Geronimo De Francesco, Tasty Itiman, Ramón Pérez Niz, LeonardKong, yo_aguilar