When was the last time you really gave the inside of your car a proper clean? And no, we don’t just mean shaking out the floor mats and hoovering the carpets. Or even wiping down the dash with a generic surface cleaner you found in your kitchen cupboard.
We mean the full works. Lifting up the seats and dealing with whatever horrors lie beneath. Shampooing all the upholstery. Using specially formulated cleaners, dressings and conditioners for all the different materials you find on the inside of your car, be it fabric, vinyl, rubber or leather.
Not recently? Ok, we understand. It’s a time consuming job. But it’s funny how many people find time to lovingly prep, clean, polish and finish the outside of their car until the bodywork shines like it’s just come off the production line. But then struggle to pay the same dues to the inside of their vehicle.
When it comes to maintenance, the same principles apply to car interior cleaning and exterior detailing – it’s quite literally the details that count. You need the right products and the right tools. You have to be prepared to put some time and effort in, without any shortcuts. Because once you let things slip, it’s very hard to drag them back. And it isn’t just grubby appearances you have to worry about.
Here are three reasons why you should prioritise spending some time on your car’s interior when you next get an opportunity.
Prevent wear and tear
Just as with the outside of your vehicle, dirt and grime poses more of a problem than simply looking unsightly. Every car owner knows that grit, dust, insects, tree sap, bird droppings and more can damage your paintwork if left too long. Exactly the same applies inside your car, too.
Upholstered surfaces will degrade over time if dirt is allowed to build up. Substances like mud and spilt drinks will dry out and cause cracking, while dust will tarnish vinyl and rubber.
You can also prevent future wear and tear by applying protective dressings. These are particularly useful for combating colour fade caused by UV rays from the sun.
Improve hygiene
While the biggest source of dirt on the outside of a car is material thrown up from the road – so things like grit, sand, dust, plant debris, tar etc – inside it’s all about what you take in. And inevitably, that includes food and drink.
Crumbs and spillages get everywhere. They stain the carpets and upholstery, they get under cushions and between seats. A cursory hoover and wipe down often only scratches the surface. If you don’t start lifting seats and getting into all the nooks and crannies, you are bound to leave some behind. And that’s when you start getting mould and colonies of bacteria developing.
Poor hygiene in the interior of your car poses a health risk. When people start breathing in mould spores and airborne bacteria – especially when they are being blown around by the air con – that’s how infections are spread. Build up of dust and plant materials like pollen, meanwhile, can trigger allergies and even asthma attacks. The concentrations in the small, enclosed space inside your car can get surprisingly high.
Giving your vehicle a thorough clean using disinfectant cleaners once in a while is as much about looking after the well being of you and your passengers as it is keeping up appearances.
Protect your vehicle’s value
Finally, when you come to selling or trading in your car, the prospective buyer or dealer is not going to just look at the outside and pay you your asking price based on well-kept bodywork. They will give the whole car a thorough once over, including checking the condition of the engine and, yes, the interior too.
Any signs of wear, tear or just plain griminess will knock down the price they are willing to pay. No one wants to pay top whack for a car that has seen better days inside or out. And if they feel it needs a professional detail and some loving maintenance to get it back to former glories, they will want that cost knocking off the price, too.
