It can be overwhelming mentally and cost-prohibitive to go all-in on a quality set of detailing equipment for your car. There are also people who care about their car’s interior and exterior but don’t have the passion to spend all their money on keeping their car clean. For you folks, Kirmac is here for you! Our passion is to provide our customers with a like-new look after visiting our Vancouver area autobody shops. Whether you’re coming in to fix a tiny scratch in your paint or a major collision repair after an accident, we want your car to look just as good as the day it left the dealership. For those of you who would like to keep it that way without spending an arm and a leg, here are 5 common household items you can use to clean the interior of your car. If you’re new to detailing, this can be a great space for you to begin as there is relatively little damage you can do on accident and you’ll be able to appreciate the interior being clean much more than your exterior.
Why Bother Detailing your Interior
Detailing your interior is a great place to start because you get to experience the fruits of your labor each and every time you use your car. Looking at weeks old wrappers and a dusty dash isn’t the best view you can have and many people feel a sense of pride and accomplishment after detailing not only their entire car but especially their interior. Furthermore, keeping up on cleaning your interior weekly is a great way to work less! Doing little cleanings every week will result in less time overall spent cleaning up your car. Cleaning your car’s interior more frequently will also let you catch those stray fries or snacks more often too, which can lead to fewer strange odors or stains developing.
Common Household Items To Clean Your Interior
As you begin cleaning your interior, oftentimes you might think it’s silly to buy a bunch of specialized tools to clean your interior, so if you’re interested in detailing your interior but don’t want to invest in professional tools here are some household items you can use to keep your interior clean.
- Toothbrush: One of the more laborious parts of cleaning the interior of your car is all the intricate nooks and crannies found in a modern interior. While the sleek lines in modern cars might look nice, they can often get filled with dust and other bits that we’ll want to get rid of. A stiff-bristled toothbrush is a great tool to get into those hard to reach places and brush away dust and crumbs. This should go without saying, but we highly recommend that you get a toothbrush that is dedicated to only cleaning your car and not to use your detailing toothbrush for oral hygiene.
- Vacuum: This might be one of the more obvious household items on our list but oftentimes when people wash their cars at home, they’ll forget to vacuum or take their car to get vacuumed out. While your home vac might not be as powerful as the ones at the local gas station, it’ll certainly get the job done in a pinch. Also, if you’re lucky enough to have a shop or wet/dry vacuum, you can use heavier cleaning products and clean your seats and carpet with more liquid and then vacuum the product out. This is not recommended with a household vacuum cleaner though.
- Toothpicks: Similar to your new dedicated detailing toothbrush, toothpicks are another tool in the DIY detailers arsenal that should not be left out! While a toothbrush can get rid of most dust and dinge from your interior crevasses, toothpicks are a great followup for any of those harder to reach places. Just be careful not to use too much pressure as you can break toothpicks off in gaps between body panels.
- Towels & Sponges: While dedicated detailers will have many different kinds of special microfiber towels at their disposal, for a new DIYer or someone just looking to keep their car clean, a hand towel and sponge should be all you need. Whether you’re dusting off your dash or applying a protective coating to your interior, a towel always comes in handy.
- Hair Brush: Let us be very clear when we say hairbrush we are talking about a soft-bristled brush, not a plastic comb or plastic or metal bristle brush. A soft-bristled brush is perfect for dusting your dash and agitating cleaning products into stains or upholstery.
Household Items You Shouldn’t Use On Your Car Interior
- Harsh Chemicals: Anything that uses bleach or ammonia should absolutely be avoided. Car interiors are made with different materials than what is found in your home, so we do suggest using car specific upholstery and interior cleaning products.
- Household Window Cleaner: While this is hotly debated, most household window cleaners are not well suited for cars. They can often time cause glare or make it easy for your windows to fog up.
Get Your Car Repaired With Kirmac Today!
Keeping your car clean on the inside is a great way to prolong the value of your vehicle but also will leave you with a sense of pride. If your car was recently damaged for one reason or another, and like us, you enjoy having a clean car and take pride in the condition of your vehicle, give us a call today or stop by one of our autobody shops and we will give you a free estimate on your autobody or glass repair!
