The Benefits of Spring Cleaning Your Car and How the Pros Do It!

1. Vacuuming- If you have a vacuum with an extension hose, you’re good to go. Otherwise, many gas stations and car washes have vacuum attachments that often cost around a dollar or two to help you clean your car out. Start with cleaning off your seats; make sure you remove all of the coins, wrappers, paper, and other assorted objects. We recommend you vacuum your flooring after your seats because dust and crumbs will inevitably end up on the floor. Make sure your carpet is completely dry after you’re done because mildew and mold love to grow in damp areas. It’s easy enough to take a garden hose to your floor mats or just throw them in the washer. But just remember: if you wash mats with a detergent, make sure it won’t leave your mats slippery and unsafe. 
 

2. Seats- Slide your seats forward to get as much vacuuming done as you can. All cars have three different types of seats; leather, vinyl, and cloth. For cleaning leather seats, dirt and grime can get embedded in the surface so a good leather cleaning product is perfect and will take care of it easily. Make sure you are constantly flipping the towel so that you are always using the clean side! A lot of people find it easier to use multiple towels because you don’t want to rub more grime into the seats. Once the seats are cleaned with the leather cleaning product, dry the seats with a microfiber cloth. Cleaning vinyl seats is a lot easier than leather. Go through product labels to make sure you have a cleaning compatible with vinyl. Spray the cleaner and wipe with a clean towel or rag. After about an hour, your car should be ready to drive with your clean vinyl seats. Cloth seats can be tricky because they are so much easier to stain. A multipurpose cleaner can work well; but for stubborn stains, a specialized stain remover is best. A nice trick that almost everyone has laying around their house for odor and stain removal is baking soda! Let it sit for a couple of hours and your car should be left smelling cleaner and fresher. The longer you let baking soda sit, the longer it absorbs stains and odors. Another helpful item can be Febreze, which kills odors instead of masking them. Dryer sheets under your seat can also give the fresh smell longevity.  
 

3. Windows and mirrors can be cleaned with regular glass cleaner and a cloth; often spraying the cleaner on the cloth is better vs spraying what you want to clean and then using the cloth because this helps reduce streaking. Make sure you are cleaning glass and not plastic! Old newspapers also work incredibly well when it comes to cleaning windows; leaving no lint or residue.
 

4. Dashboards can be made of leather, vinyl, or often other materials. Angles often create hard to reach spaces to clean, so vacuuming all the dust before you apply a cleaning product is your best bet. 
 

5. Your counsel can be one of the other most difficult places to reach when detailing a car. The best way to clean all these difficult crevasses can be to wrap a thin cloth around a screwdriver or a plastic knife to clean out these areas. Q-tips can also work well, but often you must go through a lot of them to clean out the interior. 
 

6. Your air vents can also be difficult to clean out because of the shape and all the many parts. Often, a long bristle brush or a can of compressed air can be helpful. If you’re going the compressed air route, make sure this is the first step you take when detailing because dust will end up back on your seats and floors. 
 

7. Door panels…so many of them have cup holders, open compartments, or crevasses for a multitude of things. Vacuuming these out first is the most helpful route before you use a chemical product to wash them out. 
 

8. Odors can be so many different things in cars: kids leaving food you don’t find for a week, animals, smoke…you name it. There are a lot of great odor removal products on the market that are often inexpensive, but sometimes they just mask odors instead of eliminating them. One of the best and least expensive odor removal products is baking soda. If you prefer scents, make sure they are an odor eliminating product that will get rid of odors instead of covering them up. 
 

9. Cleaning the outside of your car by hand is the best way to clean it because often car washes can leave little scratches that can become obvious with time. Handwashing or liquid dish soap is not car friendly on the finish, so make sure you use a cleaner specifically for vehicles. Fill up two different buckets: one with just plain water and one with cleaner. Rinse your sponge often in your clean water bucket, which can be emptied and refilled multiple times. Also, rinse your car washing mitt or sponge often to avoid scratches from dirt. 
 

10. Many times, waxing or polishing your car will help it shine bright and will remove imperfections and scratching from your car’s surface. It also adds a glossy look and protects your car from the different elements like rain and wind that kicks up dirt and rocks. Apply a good-sized amount of polish to your polishing pad (often comes with your wax kit) and wipe across a small area: usually 2x2 is sufficient. Run this at a slower rate to spread it evenly. Many people find car polishers helpful, and they are relatively inexpensive. 
 

11. State Park stickers are helpful during the year that they are good, but what do you do with them afterward? Not only can they be a visual difficulty, but they can also accumulate and become more difficult to remove. A degreaser will help with the removal of the goo, and it can be scraped off and wiped down. 
 

12. Are you a truck owner dealing with rust on your trailer hitch? If the receiver is rusty, use steel wool and shoot it with black spray paint to restore it into looking brand new!