Spring cleaning for your car feels so good! Chances are if you go to the store to look for car cleaning products you’ll see a large amount of products which can be overwhelming. We’re often asked what type of product to use to clean the dash of your vehicle, and the answer is actually quite simple. We recommend using a damp cloth. Products sold over the counter may contain harsh chemicals that could damage your dash material, depending on the materials from which it was made. Now might also be a great time to pull out your floor mats and give them a scrub. If your car has carpeted mats, you can rinse them with high pressure water, then agitate them with a brush and a mild detergent and rinse again. Many self-use car wash stations have large clips on the walls for just this purpose. If your car has leather seats, you can find a variety of leather cleaners/conditioners at your local auto parts store. Some seats look like leather but actually aren’t, or are partially leather with a synthetic material on the sides and high-wear areas. If the seats are genuine leather, it’s actually quite important to give them a little love, especially the high contact areas like the driver’s seat and the center console. I like to treat my leather seats when I know I won’t be driving for a day or so. This way the conditioner can soak into the leather instead of my clothes! Steering wheels are important to disinfect, especially now. Steering wheels are made differently for each car and it’s best to just use a damp cloth, but right now we’d all like to use something a bit stronger, so my best advice is to try to clean a small part of it first in order to test the material’s reaction to the cleaner. I’d use white cloth so I could see if I’m removing color/material or just grime, and a forewarning – be prepared to be grossed out. For the glass I love the foaming glass cleaner sold at the hardware store. It works very well. I hope these tips help you get into a clean car!
