Owning a car comes with great responsibility.

Not only do you have to always drive with due care and attention when on the road, you also need ensure the car is fully roadworthy too. By either taking it to a professional mechanic or performing regular car maintenance yourself.

Then of course there is the little matter of trying to keep your car looking new too.

After all, driving a vehicle that is caked in dust, filth or mud is not only bad for the motor’s paintwork, but it can also be embarrassing too. Especially when some joker takes it upon themselves to write ‘clean me’ on the residue.

While many people choose to take their car to a professional cleaning service, this is an outlay that can quickly add up over the course of a year.

So, for those who want to keep costs at a minimum, yet still want their vehicle to be spic and span, here is our recommendations of how to clean your car inside and out.

Follow this guide to interior and exterior care and cleaning, and your motor will always maintain an appearance you will be proud to drive around in.

How to clean the inside of your car

For some people, cleaning their car is purely about making the outside of it look in mint condition.

However, for reasons of sanitation, it is very important to give the inside of the vehicle a proper, disinfecting clean too – not least with the risk of COVID-19 still being prevalent.

All cars have an interior that comprises of varying fabrics and upholstery, as well as vinyl dashboards, carpets, floor mats and rubber window seals.

While undoubtedly adding to its overall appearance and quality, they also attract germs, stains, dirt and bacteria, so therefore need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Here is how you do it.

First Up – Declutter the Car

The first thing you need to do, when cleaning the inside of your vehicle of course, is to take all the rubbish out of it. Be sure to look under your seats, in the cup holders and glove compartment.

After you have done that, you should then strip the interior of the car of its floor mats, seat covers and other removable car accessories. Wash these with appropriate cleaning products and let them air dry.

Car Ceiling 

You might not notice it when driving around, but after a while most car ceilings tend to get quite grubby.

Fingerprints or stains from palm prints can mark its material, and therefore give it a very shabby look. 

To clean it thus, you will need to either vacuum or wipe its surface, depending on what material it is made from.

Stains can be spot cleaned with a soft cloth and recommended shampoo or soap, as per the fabric. Just be sure you don’t saturate the ceiling.

Applying a disinfectant spray to a clean towel, and wiping the ceiling, should also get rid of bacteria or germs.

Mirrors, Windows, and Windshield

After a while when driving, most of the glass parts of your vehicle tend to get dusty, hazy and stained. Which can become dangerous with regards to your line of vision.

Therefore, it is essential to regularly clean these surfaces.

The best way to do this is with a microfibre cloth and special glass cleaner, as this will ensure you do not scratch the glass.

When cleaning the windows, first wipe the rubber seals with a wet cloth that has been dipped in a soapy solution of water and dish washing liquid. Then roll them down to clean off any dirt or grime that has built up at the tip of the pane.

Once you have done that, roll them back down to clean the rest of it.

You can also clean the rearview mirror and interior windshield, by firstly removing the dust and then wiping it with a soft cloth and glass cleaner.

Door panels and dashboard 

While the material for door panels and dashboards do vary between cars, as a rule you should always use a cleaning brush or dust cloth to remove debris first.

After that you can give them a deep clean, just by dampening a microfibre cloth with disinfectant spray, and giving it a thorough, but gentle wiping over.

Be sure to clean all parts of the door panels and dashboard including armrests, handles and speakers (if you have them).

Cup Holders and A/C Vents 

Over time, both your cup holders and A/C Vents tend to collect plenty of dust. The former can also get stained or sticky as a result of drinks being spilt whilst driving.

The best way to remove this is to wipe them with a j-cloth that has been absorbed in soapy water.

Once the stains and grime has been removed, be sure to rinse off the area with a damp cloth.

As the A/C vents are a little harder to get to, you can use a toothbrush or paintbrush to get rid of the dust.

Steering Wheel, Centre Console and gauge

As the steering wheel, centre console and gauge are the most regularly touched parts of your car, this means they could well be a hotbed of bacteria.

Therefore, you will obviously need to focus particular attention to cleaning these areas.

The best way of getting rid of the germs and viruses that reside there, is with an EPA registered disinfectant, as well as a good microfibre cloth.

However, for a really thorough clean, be sure to use cotton buds, as this will enable you to get into hard-to-reach spaces like the buttons of your music system.

From the gauge, use a dust cloth to remove dirt and dust particles, and then wipe it down with a damp microfibre cloth that has been sprayed with glass cleaner.

Seats & upholstery

Regardless of whether your car upholstery features leather, suede or vinyl, it would need to be vacuumed.

To do this, you will need to use the relevant vacuum head to pick up the dirt and dust from its surface, without damaging it. You will also need to utilise cleaning products that are specially formulated to remove stains.

When cleaning the seats, try and pay particular attention to the crevices and stitching, as this is where significant levels of dust can often accumulate.

Carpeting

The carpeting is another area that will need to be fully cleaned and vacuumed.

First, use a good quality carpet cleaner to get rid of any stains from made mud, food or drink spills and dirt stains.

Then use the relevant attachment head to vacuum the vehicle. Make sure you hoover underneath the seats too.

Smell

Having gone to the effort of giving the inside of your car a proper clean, the last thing to do internally is to ensure it smells good too.

Sometimes bad odours can linger in your car, especially if there has been food left in it, or wet towels after a day at the beach.

To get rid of these, simply sprinkle baking soda on the floor and seats and leave it there overnight, before vacuuming it the next morning.

To match its immaculate appearance, this should ensure your car smells wonderfully clean too.

How to clean the exterior of your car

It doesn’t matter what make and model your car is, if mud, dirt, grease, oil, dust, tree residue or the after-effects of heavy rain are left on its paintwork for too long, this could result in it being damaged.

As paintwork can be expensive to fix properly, it is important to regularly wash the exterior of your car. Once you have found a suitable place to wash your vehicle, here are the best ways to do it.

Fill Up Two Buckets of Water

The first thing to do is fill up two separate buckets of water.

One of them will hold a mix of warm water and car soap and the other should contain clean cold water that would be used to rinse off the sponge.

Wheels

The wheels are a good place to start as that is where lots of grime, mud and dirt settle – especially around the tyres, mud flaps and hub caps.

You can give this area a thorough wash down with a hose to remove the debris. Although it is also worth using a sponge and water from the soap solution bucket to properly clean the hub caps and mud flaps.

The Body

When washing the body of the car, be sure to give it a thorough soaking with a garden or power hose to rinse off all the grime and dirt.

Once you have done this you can apply the soap solution to the bodywork with a clean sponge – wiping its entire surface, including the doors, bonnet, exhaust tips, boot and windscreen.

Be sure to start wiping from the top first, as that way, you will clean up all the dirt as it drips down.

Should you come across any particularly obstinate bits of grime or dirt, you can use a microfibre cloth, chamois or car mitt to get rid of it.

Once you have given it a good wash over with the sponge, you can give the car another thorough rinse with fresh water to remove any remaining soap or dirt.

Headlights

To enable you to drive safer, you should not forget to give your headlights a good clean too. As this will enable them to shine brightly at night – without the dimming effect of dirt or grime build up.

You can clean your headlights very effectively with toothpaste and a microfibre cloth.

Just keep wiping in a circular motion until it looks as clean as a whistle.

Final Thought 

So, there you have it! Our tips on how to clean the interior and exterior of your car effectively.

Although it might be quicker to go to a car wash, nothing beats the satisfaction of driving in a gleaming vehicle that you cleaned yourself.

All you need is to use the right cleaning products, a couple of spare hours of your time and to follow the steps we outlined above!

Short of this, the only other option you have is to upgrade your car to a new one. Which you can do if you click here.

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