Cleaning Car Upholstery:
Interior Cloth, Leather, Vinyl, Carpeting

Basic Interior Car Cleaning Tips

Starting with the basics is always a good place to start, and when it comes to cleaning car upholstery, going past the basics isn't necessarily a requirement. Looking inside this picture taken from a Jeep Wrangler reveals what many would consider basic car upholstery. But even basic materials found in the many cars available represent unique challenges based on the specific material itself. From carpeting with a low pile, to tightly woven cloth car seating, to vinyl in its many forms and textures, cleaning the car upholstery may appear complicated at a casual observation, but the reality is that basic car upholstery cleaners, combined with a few strategic techniques will take you far to having a car interior that is clean and fresh.

The Best Car Upholstery Cleaner

Many people go searching for what they consider to be the best automotive upholstery cleaner thinking this will be the magic solution to all there car upholstery cleaning needs. The fact is that there is no magic formula that is going to get every stain out of your cars upholstery; I don't care what promises are made in the advertising or product labeling! The good news is that for most of us, being able to clean what is considered normal dirt, from normal use, is all that most of us will require.

Steam Cleaning Your Car Upholstery

This is an area of cleaning car upholstery that hangs many people up! We have been lead to believe that industrial steam cleaning equipment is needed when it comes to shampooing the carpeting or upholstery within our cars interior. The good news is that in 99% of the cases, this will never be necessary. The only exceptions would be for the following:

• Excessive dirt; and I mean excessive!
• Large liquid spills.

If your car interior cleaning include these exceptions, then cleaning car upholstery with a "steam cleaner" can be as simple as using the Bissell Spotlifter like the one below.

BISSELL Spotlifter Powerbrush-Handheld Deep Cleaner

• Perfect for heavily soiled car floor mat cleaning.
• Ideal for cleaning liquid spills on flooring and car fabric upholstery.
• Also ideal for general cleaning of spills around the house.

Finding a Good Car Upholstery Cleaner

The trick behind cleaning car upholstery is not letting it get out of hand to begin with. Just like the carpeting in your house, if you allow it to become excessively dirty, you have greatly complicated the cleaning duties and very likely, you will have unrealistic expectations from any choice you make in finding the best car upholstery cleaner. Let anything get too dirty, and no cleaner in the world is going to erase the years of neglect on your part. But with that said, much can be done with your cars dirty interior with the right products, tools, and techniques.

Cleaning Car Upholstery Kits

Whether we are talking polishing kits, to wax kits, to car upholstery cleaning kits, kits are a good and economical way to get multiple products that would normally cost much more if buying them individually. The following kits offer different levels of upholstery cleaning products and tools based on the specifics of your cars interior; like is it all cloth and vinyl, or does it also have some car leather.

While I could bury you with hundreds of choices in car interior shampoos and cleaners, all claiming to be the best interior shampoo ever, I am going to simplify the decision for you by merely offering some viable choices:

303 High Tech Fabric Guard & Cleaner Combo

303 High Tech Fabric Guard & Cleaner Combo

• Fabric cleaner and fabric protector in a single kit.
• Use upholstery cleaner on all interior materials including cloth, vinyl and leather.
• Follow up with fabric protector to add ongoing protection. (think Scotch-Gaurd)

Wolfgang Leather Care Cockpit Kit

Wolfgang Leather Care Cockpit Kit

• Perfect for cleaning car upholstery when your car also has leather.
• Also contains vent dusting brush.
• Comes with instruction manual to maximize product results.

Basic Car Upholstery Cleaners

If you are more of the minimalist, then you can shop any of the following cleaners when basic cleaning car upholstery is the goal. Using these basic car upholstery cleaners is very simple and straight forward:

• Vacuum area first to remove loose dirt particles.
• If it is a concentrate, mix to desired ratio. If it is a ready to use product, then you are ready to go.
• Spray area to be cleaned or shampooed with a few sprays to each section; do not over saturate. Repeated steps are better than trying to get it all at once with a heavy application of cleaner.
• Agitate area with scrub brush aggressively; and I mean aggressively.
• Mop up with terry cloth rag or micro-fiber cloth.
• Repeat until desired results are achieved.
• Allow to dry and then vacuum once again for optimum results.

Chemical Guys Lightning Fast Carpet Clean & Stain Remover 16 oz.

Detailer's Pro Series Carpet & Upholstery Cleaner

Cleaning Car Upholstery Tools

Finding the best car upholstery cleaner is one thing, using the right tools for cleaning car upholstery is something else. It really isn't rocket science. The real problem is that people do not get aggressive enough when cleaning and scrubbing their cars interior when attempting to clean their car upholstery.

Mat & Carpet Scrub Brush

• Carpet and upholstery brush can be used on anything from cloth, vinyl, carpeting and even leather.
• Experience has shown that most people are not aggressive enough when it comes to shampooing and cleaning car upholstery; put some real elbow grease into scrubbing the dirty upholstery once you have applied your choice in upholstery cleaner.
• Repeat as necessary until desired results are achieved.

Clean Vent Kit

• No cleaning car upholstery job is done without dusting your dash vents.
• Perfect for all those tiny crevices where dusting is necessary.

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