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Automotive Detailing: How to Clean Automotive Upholstery

Most car owners focus primarily on their car’s exterior only. But cleaning car’s interior, especially upholstery, is equally important. When you keep your car’s windows open, a lot of dirt and grime from the outside enters your car’s interior. Some dust may also stick to your shoes and clothes, and carried inside the car. You can use brushes, vacuum cleaners, and other accessories to clean your car’s upholstery. Let us see how.

Vacuuming

You can use your home vacuum cleaner to clean your car’s interior. You can also go for a high-powered, more compact, smaller vacuum cleaner that may plug into your car’s cigarette lighter. It will be powerful enough to suck out dirt from your car’s upholstery, especially in your carpets and seat crevices. Take out the floor mats to reach areas under them. Most dirt accumulates in these spots only. Thoroughly vacuum clean the floor mat, and use other vacuum cleaner attachments to reach hard areas. Use brush attachments to clean surfaces that can be damaged with scratching. You may also take out car seats to reach areas under them.

Cleaning floor mats and carpets

Take out and clean all the floor mats thoroughly. Once you have vacuum cleaned them, brush them with water and detergent, only if they are rubber, fabric or carpet kind of floor mats. The brush that you use depends on the type of material of your floor mats. If there are coffee stains, spilled soda or other liquids on the floor mats, you have to give them attention before leaving them to dry in the sunlight.

Cleaning car seats

You can take out the car seats so that you can access the area under them. This will also make easier for you to vacuum and wash them. Different types of products are used to clean different kinds of car seats.

  • Leather seats need to be cleaned section by section. You will have to apply cleaning solution to one area first, wipe it off, and then move on to the other area. Conditioner should be applied after cleaning all the leather surfaces to give them an extra protective layer.
  • Shampoo is the best cleansing product for fabric seats. Apply the shampoo and rinse thoroughly. Once done that, allow the car seats to dry. If you have not taken the seats out, you will have to leave windows open so that air can circulate through it.

There is a wide range of automotive upholstery cleaning products that you may purchase from auto accessory shops, such as carpet and body shampoos, polishes, waxes, etc. Use these products, clean your car’s interior at least twice in a year, and keep it in perfect condition inside.

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