Interior Detailing

B

blackntan

New member
Forgive my ignorance, but I need some general help.



The majority of the great information on this site is geared towards the exterior, tires, leather, and vinyl trim. I've soaked all of that up with a sponge, and my car's never looked better!



But what about the interior?



How do you get the crap out of the tight spots? What about the little corners under the seats where the vacuum hose just doesn't reach? The little spots in the vents? The seams in the plastic?



Speaking of carpet and floor mats, what do you do with them? I don't have an extractor or anyting of the sort. A wet/dry vac at best....



Then there's the seats. Always disgusting, and hard for me to clean up...



I've gotten just about everything else down, but I can never get the interior looking better than new. There's always some trapped dirt or debris that I just can't get out, and the pro's and auto dealer detailers always seem to get it all!! :bow



These are the things that keep me up at night....
 
I've never really had a place around a seat I couldn't find a way to get to w/ my vac. Go to home depot and look at some of the attachments they have for wet/dry vacs.



Got get an assortment of small brushes. Can get some small ones from pepboys and you can get paintbrushes from home depot. Keep a couple long bristled and another one cut the bristles short so they're nice and stiff. Also have some Q-tips on hand.



I've used a wet/dry vac w/ great success as a poorman's version of a carpet extractor. Put soap on the carpet, scrub it down, vac up as much as you can, spray some water there and vac it up right away to help rinse some soap out. When done leave the vehicle open and have a fan in there blowing to help dry it down. Can also close the vehicle up a little and turn the heater on full blast.



And then my favorite interior cleaner. PRO's C-49 Heavy Duty Interior Cleaner. I use it on everything except leather. Works on the dash, doors, carpets, etc. I soak ash trays and cup holders in it too to remove all that gunk that builds up.
 
Get an adapter for your shopvac that helps you get in corners. Depending how big your shopvac is, it may still be too big to get in the tight spots. Watch the ads and you can usually get one of those little but powerful "Shark" type vacs for about $20-30. Well worth the investment for the nooks and crannys.



As for all the grooves and vents, get a soft paintbrush and toothbrush. They work great for getting dust out of those areas.



Carpets & upholstery... If you don't have a steam cleaner, vacuum them really well, shake them out, then vacuum again. If there's spots, there is are products in a can that foam up and then have a plastic scrubber on the top. (TurtleWax makes one called Power Out). You can use this, but it's very tiresome and although it works adequately, not as good as a steam cleaner.



You can also scrub the carpets & upholestery with a dry brush if there's just some dust or dirt you need to loosen up. Use your best judgement as to how much pressure to apply without damaging the material.



Hope this helps. I look forward to seeing how others handle this so I can get some more ideas myself.
 
Well, I also use a steam cleaner, and it works wonders. I always try using my pressure washer on the carpeted mats first, and just blast the **** out of them. It really gets most of the stuff out. If it doesn't, then I turn to the steam cleaner.



Also, dressing the interior can also be harder that getting spots out of carpet.

Always use good judgement on whether or not there should be dressing or conditioner in the little places.



also, when looking for good dressings for the seats(when leather) go for a good couch...sp...conditioner. It seems to hold up better than most of the conditioners used for automotive use.



I just did a 98 Accord that was well taken care of, but the interior was the worst I've ever seen. It worked out well, but I needed to use the steam cleaner on the drivers side carpets since they were just sick!



Here are some pictures...it looked better than new.



Before:

picture_9.jpg


picture_10.jpg




After:



picture_26.jpg


picture_28.jpg
 
If you really want to get around the seats, take them out. It is usually just 4 bolts, and a few wires to disconnect. Otherwise, like other people said just go get some attachments.

To clean the carpet without a steam cleaner/extractor, first vaccum really well, then go pick up some Oxy Clean carpet cleaner, and use that to clean any stains on the carpet, following the instructions on the bottle.



For the dash/other areas, go get a set of small brushes to get those hard to reach areas.



My favorite product to clean the dash is Megs Vinyl Cleaner #39. I use that with a toothbrush, and it takes off almost any stains/dirt.



For the seats, if they are cloth an extractor would be the best way to clean them. If they are leather, just use Lexol, or another leather cleaning product.

Any other questions, just post.
 
I would highly disagree with Jademonkey. Taking out the seats are a big nono! In many cars when the seats are removed, they will never get tight enough again, and will be a big issue if you are ever in an accident.



The dealer had to replace the mounting spots in the Regal due to the seat being EXTREMEMLY loose after we tried taking it off to get to the heated seats thing.
 
From every seat that I have ever taken out, they have bolts in them just like any other part on the car. You must be careful not to cross thread the bolts when you put them back though. As always, be careful!!
 
I've taken the seats out of the MR2 and the Integra before that and had no issues/problems tightening the bolts up afterwards.
 
Hmmm...interesting...I also read an article in the newspaper and a article from the insurance broker stating that removing seats can result in bad things happening. I'll look and see if I can find the articles.
 
Seat removal on a Passat if not done right may get you an airbag fault .. also the comfort control modules is under the carpet under the drivers seat.



As for cleaning the dash etc I have found the Walmart MF towels great for this as they are grabby and if you spritz them with the "Woolite" solution the dashes really clean up nice after the initila MF dust wipedown.
 
ive taken the seats out in my 325is and 328i a few times with no problem. as long as you are careful and pay attention, you wont do any damage.
 
I have a small green machine(heated) that seems to access all the tight spaces and no need to remove seats. Also when I detail the interitor I use the woolite mixture in the carpet extractor and I just spray all the vinyl down and wipe off, works great and saves alot of steps when cleaning the interior. The wooloite mixture is the bomb but you must remove all of it or the car will smell like a wet dog. APC+ is also good. You can also add an ounce or 2 of febreze to your solution to make a nice smell. I ordered some fragrance shampoo form Kleen-Rite but have not had a chance to use yet. Stoners carpet spray is also very easy to use but I don't think it deep cleans all that well.
 
What about a protectant to keep fabric from getting dirty in the first place? Scotchguard? 303 High Tech Fabric Guard? Pro Gard Fabric Protector? Are any of them worth using?!?
 
Fabric protectants work great but the one important thing is make sure that whatever you are applying is totally spotless first. They need a totally cleaned and dry material to adhere.
 
ncal said:
Fabric protectants work great but the one important thing is make sure that whatever you are applying is totally spotless first. They need a totally cleaned and dry material to adhere.
Click to expand...



Of course! I've got a new car that's still fairly spotless and was wondering if any of these products work better than the others... Might as well put something on now before I have to start cleaning!
 
The only problem with seat removal is really people not taking care of aligning the seat, remembering what position the rail is on before removing them and cross threading. The latter being the most common issue since most seat bolts are made of soft metal and are installed using a pneumatic tool causing the bolt to be too tight. Cross threading usually occurs when you're trying to remove the bolt the very first turn.



Most seats have this thing about seat rail positioning and which bolt to insert first, like in older accords, the seats has to be fully moved to the rear before threading the inner front bolt before the rest, otherwise the seat will not sit flush onto the flooring.



As for reaching the nooks and crannies, i have yet to encounter an interior that a toothbrush, paint brush, ladies make up brush (thin ones), q-tips and a compressed air canister couldn't reach.
 
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