05/06/2020 News

KEEPING YOUR CAR'S CABIN CLEAN AND FRESH

Keeping your car ship shape isn’t enough if you only pay attention to the exterior, engine, and axles. The interior equally deserves your love and care – especially since its condition is vital to the comfort of the driver and passengers. A clean cabin also lets you know that you’re breathing fresh, clean air that is certainly healthier.

But unlike the tough exterior, a car’s interior is more sensitive and vulnerable to damage, especially the electrical parts. Therefore, the first rule of thumb is to use just enough water to get dirt off the surface. Ready?

1. Dashboard

Your car’s dashboard is home to many components that are not water resistant, such as the instrument panel, head unit, and digital buttons. To clean this area, use a dry cloth, a brush to reach small corners, or a duster.

If you prefer to clean with liquid, use a special dashboard cleaner product and then use a dry cloth to give a final wipe of the surface. The cleaning product can get the shine back to your dashboard after it dulls because of sun exposure.

2. Seats

As the feature that accommodates both driver and passengers with different hygiene and sitting habit, it is no wonder that a car’s seats can get easily dirty or decorated with stains, rips, and tears. Keeping them clean are surely important to ensure your driving comfort.

The methods used to clean a car’s seats depend on what materials your upholstery is made of – leather, suede, vinyl, or maybe woven fabric?

For leather seats especially, use microfibre cloth and then wipe it gently to cover all the surfaces. You can also use special cleaning liquid for vinyl and woven fabric seats; don’t forget to dry them with soft, dry cloth.

Suede seats may take the most work: remove all the seats from the car, spray them with a special cleaning product, dry them with dry cloth, and let the seats for a while to make sure they are completely dry.

As for the others, a regular car vacuum cleaner should suffice.

3. Car mats

If your car cabin ever smells funny, the source could be your car mats and whatever types of dirt they have accumulated over time, like soil and sand that is left off from the bottom of someone’s shoes.

Worry not, they are easy to clean. If you have rubber mats, they can be individually removed. Outside the car, clean them with a vacuum machine to clean them from small particles, and then wash them with soap and scrub. Let them dry.

If you have carpet mats that cannot be removed, simply use your vacuum.

4. Headline

Lastly, the headliner or interior roof is the area that can pick up dirt and dust that is carried by the wind – or by cigarette smoke, in case you allow yourself or other people to smoke inside the car.

The headliner is relatively easy to clean but remember that its cover is thin. It requires gentle touch, otherwise you may rip the surface.

If you’re interior roof is covered in fabric, use two microfiber cloths for a two-step cleaning. Pour some cleaning liquid to the first cloth and wipe the surface. Use the second cloth to dry the area.

However, if you’re roof is made of suede, use soft bristle brush first, and then continue with the two-step above.

Now that your cabin is clean, make sure it stays that way by providing a trash bin. Remind your passengers to put their litter in the bin and pick up your trash at the end of every trip.

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