Keep It Clean, Inside and Out

The cleanliness of your vehicle’s interior is as essential as its exterior. A well kept interior brings quality to your driving experience and provides the ultimate in comfort and safety. Cleansing the outside can be as simple as a fast trip through the car wash or hand-applying car wash, wax, detailer, and other car exterior cleaning products. The inside of your car is a different story because if you want to keep it clean, you really have to work at it. Here are some ideas from Car Craft Auto Body in St. Louis, MO for keeping your vehicle’s interior neat and clean.

Using A Vacuum

The vacuum could well be the single best tool for keeping your car’s interior clean and disinfected. Not only is it an excellent way to remove the dirt and debris from under your floor mats to the top of your seats, it is a fantastic way to get rid of the filth that has accumulated in all the various nooks and crannies of your automobile. For the best results, get in there with a high-powered vacuum which has a hose and attachments so you’re able to clean out each crack. A coin operated vacuum cleaner at a car wash is an excellent place to begin. A quick note about vacuum-cleaning car floor mats: take them out from your vehicle and shake them off to remove surplus dirt just before vacuuming.

Upholstery – Leather

If your car or truck has leather seating, try to keep them looking their very best because stained, ripped, or cracked seats, apart from being unsightly, might also hurt the resale value of your vehicle. A vacuum cleaner can, and should, be employed to get rid of the surface dirt on any type of seat. For a much deeper clean, a specialized leather cleaner ought to be utilized on leather seats (followed closely by a leather conditioner to safeguard them).

Upholstery – Fabric

While a vacuum does a fantastic job of removing dirt in the carpeting, floor mats, and seats, on occasion these places need some extra TLC. After all, filth can frequently get crushed into the upholstery leading to discoloration that continues to be even once you run the vacuum cleaner. Beat those spots simply by using a carpet and upholstery cleaner. These cleaning solutions are uniquely formulated to deep clean your seats and carpets while not soaking them with moisture. You want to stay away from heavy quantities of moisture as this actually promotes mold growth). For rubber floor mats, a good power wash will get the filth, gook, and grossness out of the vehicle.

Window Of Opportunity

The windows of your motor vehicle are maybe the most crucial part of your interior to keep clean. After all, clean windows make for better visibility. Getting rid of all the smudges, fingerprints, and even paw prints – if you have a pet who frequently rides with you – will help you to see much better while making your automobile simply look great. A couple glass cleaners even provide a water repellent formula that beads and wisps away water, enabling better visibility. Just be sure you utilize something that won’t leave behind streaks. Newspaper can really be handy in this case. It’s important to understand that some glass cleaners don’t work well with tinted windows and can also harm the heating elements that de-frost and de-fog your windshield. Household glass cleaners have ammonia, which over time will break down the heating element on your auto glass rendering your windshield defrosters useless.

Hidden In Plain Sight

While you may not notice it all that often since you’re busy looking at the road whenever you drive around Bridgeton, Chesterfield, and Oakville, Missouri, the dashboard can collect its fair share of grit and dust. In addition to vacuum-cleaning, using a microfiber dust cloth on the dashboard is a good way to get it looking good again. Once it’s been cleaned, utilizing a protectant on the dashboard will help to stop fading, cracking, and peeling. These protectants also aid in retaining the color of your interior against the sun and its damaging rays. The steering wheel counts as a part of the dashboard so you should put some protectant thereon as well. If you have passed the point of no return as it applies to fading, cracking, and peeling dash, seats, or steering wheel, it may behoove you to acquire a dash cover, steering wheel cover, or seat cover.

Who’d Have Trunk It?

You may be thinking, the trunk? What does it matter if the trunk area is dirty? Nobody sits in there. From a totally aesthetic perspective, having a dirty trunk isn’t a problem. However, did you know having a cluttered trunk can impact your vehicle’s fuel economy? Keeping items in there when you are driving all over St. Louis, MO can add weight to your car, which causes the engine to work harder when you drive, hence burning more fuel. If you do not absolutely have to haul something around in your trunk on a certain day, it ought to be empty. Your wallet will thank you. Naturally we understand that there are situations where trunk storage is required. When this takes place, Car Craft Auto Body suggests keeping your vehicle’s trunk organized, granting you easy access to the items you’ll need.

Organize For Success

Now that you’re squeaky clean, make sure your car is organized. Organizing your car keeps out the clutter, making interior upkeep a lot easier. Car organization items are designed with function in mind and are great for those of us who bring items with us on the road. If you store items in your trunk, a trunk organizer may be the best remedy for you. Items like visor organizers, dash caddies, and seat organizers keep the mess from exploding while allowing you to quickly and easily vacuum up debris.

If you’ve got any other questions relating to car maintenance, auto body repair, or driving safety, come to Car Craft Auto Body in St. Louis, Missouri and we’d be very glad to help get you back on the right track.