Detailing Your Car At Home The Right Way

Have you ever taken your car to be detailed? A detailed car is thoroughly clean on the inside; every little nook and cranny has been scrubbed, polished, vacuumed, and washed. Even the oldest vehicle can be made to look almost new again after a good detailing. In fact, a great way to prepare for a road trip or other extended period of driving is to take your vehicle in for a detailing session before you leave. Even though having a car detailed is a great thing, the cost can really add up. For some people, this is a luxury that can only be afforded once or twice a year. To make things a little easier on your wallet without sacrificing the experience of a freshly cleaned car, you should consider doing the work yourself. Detailing doesn't have to take very long and you can save a lot of money by doing the job at home.

There are a couple different ways you can go about detailing the inside of your vehicle. You can do it all at once or you can stretch the process out over several days. Each option has its pros and cons, so decide which you are going to do before you begin any work. Planning your detailing session will help you use your time more wisely since you'll have scheduled your time with the task in mind. If your car is especially dirty, consider working in stages instead of trying to do everything in a single afternoon.

Begin by clearing out all the trash inside your vehicle's cabin. Anyone who spends time behind the wheel will eventually leave trash behind them. Paper coffee cups, fast food wrappers, store receipts, bits of plastic, and other debris add up quickly. Get a large garbage bag and scoop all the trash into it for quick disposal. You'll probably find some items that don't belong in your car. Dishes, shoes, sports gear, and school work also accumulate inside vehicles. Set all these in a box and then put everything away where it belongs.

Now that the interior is cleared out, you can get down to the actual cleaning. Start at the top and work towards the bottom. In other words, begin by washing the windows down with cleaner, then move down to the dash and door panels. Some warm soap water and a large rag will probably do the trick, though a bit of multipurpose cleanser will come in handy for stubborn or sticky spots. If the dash and door panels are made of flexible vinyl, you might want to use some vinyl conditioner in these areas. Conditioner will clean vinyl and protect it from the damage caused by sunlight and high temperatures. Leather conditioner will do the same for any leather components you have in your car.

Finish the job by vacuuming every inch. Your vacuum probably has a number of hoses and attachments that you'll find helpful during this stage. Use nozzle attachments to clear out the little bins next to the instrument panel; don't neglect the narrow spaces where the seats meet the floor. Remove the floor mats and clean those off, as well.