The machine is not just a simple locomotion tool. On the contrary, it is like a second home where you spend your time. For this reason, in addition to car maintenance of the internal components, you must also clean the car upholstery.
Exactly. I am not talking about changing tyres but about cleaning. In this article I want to give you some tips for cleaning car upholstery. The aim is to transform the cabin into a healthier and more welcoming place. Also child-proof.
Index of topics covered
How to wash the seats of your car
Cleaning the upholstery: which detergents?
Clean the car seats with steam
How to wash the interior of the car
Clean the DIY car carpet
Cleaning impossible stains from seats
How to Clean Leather Car upholstery
Cleaning the car upholstery: how do you move?
How to wash the seats of your car
You have to clean the car seats. It's time to make the critical points of your machine shine. Locations used every day and where dirt accumulates most. On the seats of a car a careful eye can notice everything: dust, stains, food residues, ash.
What are the products you need to do a DIY car upholstery cleaning without going into a car wash? The most used is sodium bicarbonate. That's what you need:
Two cups of hot water.
A container for turning the ingredients.
Two teaspoons of liquid dish cleaner.
Two tablespoons of sodium bicarbonate.
A semi-soft bristle brush to avoid damaging fabrics.
A soft towel.
Where do I start cleaning the machine's fabric seats? If you don't have a vacuum available, dry clean it with a soft brush to remove debris.
While doing this, pay great attention to the seams, it is in these areas that the mites are concentrated. Afterwards you must use a mild detergent: sodium bicarbonate which, mixed with the other ingredients, has antibacterial properties.
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Cleaning the upholstery: which detergents?
Bicarbonate has another advantage: it eliminates bad odours. Intingive the soft bristle brush in the compound to clean the car upholstery and pass it over the entire surface of the seats with circular movements. Blow especially on stains.
Recommendation: The brush should be damp but not dripping. The fabric covering must not absorb too much water. Once you've finished even this action to clean the car seats, buff them with a towel and let them ventilate.
If you don't want to use soap and bicarbonate to clean the car upholstery, recover special detergents to be applied to the car seats. The process is similar to the one just described. You must distribute the cleaning agent on the surface and wait for it to take effect. Then, use a sponge to lever over the remaining foam and let it dry.
For dry cleaning, MaFra automotive interior cleaner is very suitable: stain remover, zero odours and degrease thoroughly. After using it, however, wipe it with a micro-fibre cloth within 15 seconds. It is also ideal for fabrics in velvet or Alcantara leather.
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Clean the car seats with steam
In addition to vacuum cleaner and bicarbonate, an ally for cleaning car seats is steam that dissolves dirt and penetrates deep into the fibres. But not only. The steam cleaner is used to clean mats, seats, glass, engine compartment, pedals and rims.
However, the ideal season to carry out this operation falls in spring or summer (to avoid stagnation and allow a fast dryer), no more than once a month. Now, let's find out how to do to clean the car upholstery with steam. The first step? Remove the carpets is vacuuming pass.
Clean the car upholstery with steam
It is advisable to carry out a test in the hidden part of the rear seats. All this to find out if the detergent you have inserted in the steam tool is suitable for the fabric.
Now you can pass the steam brush, insisting on the most resistant stains. They don't come away? Then try the direct jet but with moderation, risks discoloring the tissues.
What if you need to clean the leather car seats? This situation is more delicate, if you are not sure of your skills, turn to a car wash. Or continue reading. In conclusion: leave the doors of the car open to allow good drying.
There are many car steam cleaners with different characteristics on the market. They change according to pressure, accessories, energy absorption, capacity. If you want to get a general idea, take a look at the instruments for sale on Amazon.
How to wash the interior of the car
You must remove all objects that you usually carry in your car and that can become an obstacle to washing the interior of the car. You have to think about even the most difficult parts.
Such as space under the seats or on the sides of the handbrake. Move the seats back and forth and check for accessories or dirt residues, otherwise clean up these forgotten areas with a hard bristle brush. Let's start cleaning the interior.
Clean car upholstery and wash interior
Remove the mats to wash them outdoors, beat the seats with one hand and proceed - starting from the floor - with the soft bristle vacuum cleaner to avoid loosening the fabrics. This tool allows you to clean even the most inaccessible and difficult parts of your car.
For the car upholstery washing, I have already anticipated the effective method of bicarbonate but you can also rely on non handmade methods, using specific products according to the type of fabric. This is spray you have to spray on the surface, let them act for a few minutes. After passing a damp cloth, you will see that the stains will disappear.
As for the dashboard, just remove the dust with an antistatic cloth. And to give the plastic material a shine, use a special spray.
Clean the DIY car carpet
How to wash the machine mats? For example, how do you clean the carpet in your do-it-yourself car? Simple: Slam outwards against a wall or gate to remove stubborn dirt. Then use a vacuum cleaner and a brush with semi-soft bristles.
At this point, washing begins. Use a special detergent (sodium bicarbonate is fine) to spray it or apply a sponge to the entire carpet. Let the product work and remove the foam with a dry cloth. Finally, rinse and then let dry.
Cleaning impossible stains from seats
To clean the upholstery DIY car the solution to bicarbonate is very effective, but if you do not want to use household methods, use specific detergents surfactants.
These cleaners act as disinfectants and reduce the surface tension of dirt particles by washing deep down. But how can you clean the impossible stains from the seats? I am talking about coffee, ink, oil and marker stains.
My advice? You must treat stains differently. It all depends on their origin. Is the coffee spot? Then act immediately by swabbing it for 15 minutes with a handkerchief and use water and vinegar. Has oil formed the patch?
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Put salt on top for 10 minutes and then proceed with a degreaser. Want to remove vomiting stains from seats? Here is the return of water and bicarbonate, a guarantee in these cases.
One of the remedies against the impossible stains of car seats is apple vinegar mixed with distilled water to spray. With this formula, the wine, coffee and ink stains have the minutes counted. Another DIY remedy for cleaning car upholstery without resorting to industrial solutions is water and ammonia soaked in a cotton cloth.
How to Clean Leather Car upholstery
"I understood how to wash the car seats but how to clean the leather upholstery? This particularity deserves different treatment. Vacuum off any residue, spray the dedicated cleaning foam and spread it out onto the seats with a sponge glove, tracing a circular motion for as long as necessary. Are there any stains that do not take off? Then use the wild boar hair brush.
Clean the leather car upholstery
Now you need to remove the foam with a clean sponge. Once the upholstery is dry - and the leather is not suede - spread a veil of silicone cream to keep the upholstery clean. Do you want to know about natural solutions for cleaning the machine's leather upholstery without taking risks?
It uses demineralised water free of limescale. To promote rapid absorption of detergents in leather seats, it activates the warm air, especially if you are doing this in winter.
Cleaning the car upholstery: how do you move?
Cleaning the car upholstery is a good habit to take and carry on frequently. On the other hand, an apparently harmless stain can become harmful to the organism and turn into a patchwork of mould and bacteria. Of course, a radical solution could be to use machine washable seat covers.
But why sacrifice the car's ecstatic when a regular cleaning of the car seats would be enough? Now I would like to know what your experience is. How do you move to wash the interior of the car? Leave your response in the comments.