Your car is your pride and joy, and when it comes to keeping your beauty clean, the difference between a high quality detail job and a backyard special can be night and day! Not everyone can afford to send their baby to a professional detailer all the time, or even at all, meaning that the responsibility to keep their car looking good falls on their shoulders.
One day, when you have time, make a trip to the local auto store and pick up a few items: microfiber towels, glass cleaner, dash cleaner, paper towel, and a couple of tootherbrushes (just get the el-cheapo versions). Once you have those items, block off a couple of hours and spend some quality time with your car. After all, cars look the best when they’re clean and it’s your job to clean it!
Detailing the Dash – Easy as Pie, Right?
Detailing your vehicles dash is kind of like mowing your lawn: you could do a rushed job in a few minutes, and it would probably look decent from a distance, but as soon as you got in close you’d notice all the imperfections and spots that you missed. Your dash is full of nooks and crannies, vents and slots, switches and buttons. Cleaning them all properly requires patience, diligence, and time.
Absolutely do not use glass cleaner, leather treatment, or any other kind of compound on your dash. Only use products that were designed to clean and treat the materials on your dash. Apply them sparingly with a microfiber towel, using just enough to restore the lustre to the material. Coating the dash in product can result in the product “baking” or “running” when during significant temperature changes. Plus, who wants to see a big blob of cleaning product on their dash when they sit down?
Use the toothbrushes to get inside of your air vents. If you do not clean your air vents regularly you may notice a build up of dirt and grime, making the task more difficult. Use a mild degreaser sparingly if that is the case, and immediately remove the degreaser once the job is done. Paper towels work well for degreaser clean up.
Cleaning the Center Console – it’s Twice as Fun as it Sounds
Once you’ve tackled the dash it’s time to move on to the center console. Again, the trick to being successful here is ensuring that you get every little spot. Use the microfiber towel on the large surfaces, with the toothbrushes tackling the hard to reach spots. Unless you’ve cooked eggs on your center console it should clean up pretty easily.
Don’t forget to clean the ledge in front of your instrument panel, and do not spray or apply any product directly to the surface near any electronics, buttons, or switches.