Most of a car interior is easy to clean. The trouble is the parts you can’t see: the seat foam, the carpet underlay, the air conditioning. Here’s how to do a proper job yourself, and how to tell when it’s gone past a DIY fix.
Do you have a car with mould, odour or stains in need of a clean? At AllAces Cleaning and Restoration, we’re your one-stop shop for car interior cleaning. AllAces is an IICRC Certified Firm, and our technicians are trained to deal with any type of stubborn mess you may be facing.
Key takeaways
- Work top to bottom, dry to wet, and do the glass last.
- Keep the fabric dry. Water in the seat foam is slow to leave and a common start point for mould.
- Match the product to the surface. Leather, screens, headliners and tinted glass each have something to avoid.
- Mould, bodily fluids, smoke and smells that keep coming back are professional jobs, not weekend ones.
What does car interior cleaning involve?
Car interior cleaning is the removal of dirt, stains, spills and odour sources from a car’s seats, carpet, hard surfaces, headliner and glass. A routine clean deals with surface grime. Mould, bodily fluids, smoke and anything that has soaked into the seat foam need a deeper, controlled process.
You might also find these useful: our vehicle decontamination service and 7 tips for vehicle decontamination.
How to clean a car interior in 9 steps
Work in this order. It stops you dropping dust onto surfaces you’ve already cleaned, and it leaves the wet work for when the car can dry out.
1. Clear it out
Bin the rubbish and pull out everything loose, including whatever’s hiding in the seat rails and door pockets.
2. Take the mats out
Shake, vacuum and scrub them. Carpet mats go back in fully dry. A damp mat on damp carpet is how a lot of car mould starts.
3. Brush, then vacuum, top down
Loosen dust in vents and seams with a soft brush, then vacuum seats, carpet, under the seats and the boot.
4. Wipe the dash and console
Damp microfibre cloth, a little mild detergent. Spray the cloth, not the dash, so nothing runs into switches.
5. Do the seats
Fabric: upholstery cleaner, then blot. Leather: pH-balanced leather cleaner, then conditioner. Don’t soak either.
6. Treat carpet stains
One at a time, tested on a hidden patch first. Blot from the outside in. Big wet patches need extraction, not towels.
7. Go easy on the headliner
It’s usually fabric glued to foam, and soaking it can make it sag. Mist a cloth and dab.
8. Clean the glass last
So dust from earlier steps doesn’t land on it. On tinted windows, use a pH-neutral, non-abrasive cleaner and a soft cloth, as 3M’s window film care guide recommends.
9. Dry it out
Doors open, or the fan on fresh air, until everything is dry. Still musty after that? Check the cabin air filter.
What to use (and not use) on each surface
Most interior damage comes from the right cleaner on the wrong surface. When in doubt, test on a hidden spot first, like the side of the seat base or under a mat.
Car interior cleaning for stains
It can be so irritating rubbing at a spot that just won’t come off. Sometimes, a stain caused by a spill of wine, tomato sauce or other foods is all it takes to turn a perfectly clean-looking car into an eye-sore. It can be even more troublesome trying to clean certain fabric types while making sure it’s not damaged in the process. Using the right tools, chemicals and cleaning techniques are key essentials in making sure you can successfully take out any stain you may have.
Our top tips are:
- Treat each stain and fabric separately as each may come with their own different requirements.
- If you can, make sure the affected area is not too shaded or wet as this may cause mould, and/or fungal growth
- Be gentle, when rubbing out a stain it can be tempting to force out the colour of the fabric. Just keep in mind that patience is key.
If you are having serious troubles with your interior car stains, try AllAces’ professional cleaning services today. Let us as the Masters of Disasters work hard to remove any stubborn stains and become the solution to your problems.
Mould in the car: why a wipe isn’t enough
Mould in a car is a health problem as well as a smell. The Better Health Channel notes that mould can make asthma and allergic conditions worse, so car interior cleaning after a leak or flood should remove the growth, not just mask the odour.
With over 30 years of industry experience, you can be confident that we at AllAces have the tools and experience you need to deal with any of your mould issues. If you have any suspicions of mould affecting your vehicle, we’ll make sure to send our best mould specialists to not only eradicate the current mould at hand but to also provide options to safeguard your car in the future. Our professional mould cleaning services provide the specialised removal of all traces of mould spores from the interiors of a car and prevent any forms of future growth.
If this sounds like the solution to your problems, have a chat with our team today and we can give your vehicle a full interior inspection. We’ll provide you with a detailed report, and our mould removal cleaning technicians will get to work. No matter if your car interior material is porous or not, we can ensure your satisfaction every time through our expert techniques and the use of the highest quality tools available.
Mould can appear anywhere within your vehicle and mould in your car carpet, door or wheels can be quite challenging to remove. By using hydroxyl generators, we can fully eradicate unwanted particles, mould spores and harmful pathogens from all types of surfaces. As the Masters of Disasters, our team can even remove mould in areas where it’s usually too hard to reach, such as leather cushions.
How we treat mould in a car
Our car mould removal service entails IICRC standard cleaning techniques and commercial grade tools to ensure each affected area of your car is wiped, treated and remedied to remove all traces of mould and its spores from returning. We follow a dry standard for each fabric and use tools such as moisture meters to prevent any areas which may have too much humidity from developing mould again in the future.
We have been treating mould in vehicles since 1988. You can always trust that we will adhere to the highest standards of quality to ensure your satisfaction every time.
For more information, see our professional mould removal services. If you’re not sure yet, start with the signs of mould in your car, or our guide to mould on car seats.
Smells an air freshener won’t fix
Sometimes an air freshener just isn’t enough to remove a lingering bad smell. It might be enough to get the backseat driver to be quiet temporarily, but what if the smell doesn’t go away? Certain bad odours can be caused by materials, foods, pets or even mould which has been left to grow on its own. Reaching down tight gaps such as between seat cushions, in seatbelts, or in unknown crevices in your trunk can be extremely challenging if you do not have the right tools for the job.
But fear not, our team of cleaning specialists are experts at odour removal! Using IICRC standard cleaning techniques, we will use top-of-the-line tools and chemicals to ensure we can wipe, scrub and wash all areas of your vehicle which might be causing any smells.
In the past, we have dealt with diesel leaks, food spillages and even pets having accidents on car seat cushions. If you want to read more about our past vehicle cleaning processes and news stories, visit our News page.
Two we’ve written up in detail: a diesel smell in car after a fuel spill, and getting spilled milk out of a car. For smoke damage, see soot removal from car interiors. If a smell has outlasted a proper clean, our car odour removal service is the next step.
Car interior cleaning: DIY or call a professional?
Fine to do yourself
- Routine vacuuming and wiping.
- Fresh food and drink spills.
- Pet hair.
- A small, fresh stain you can blot out.
- Replacing the cabin air filter.
Call a professional
- Mould you can see or smell, especially after a leak or flood.
- Blood, vomit or any bodily fluid.
- Smoke or soot after a fire.
- Fuel spilled inside the cabin.
- A smell that comes back after a thorough clean.
Those jobs sit under the surface, and a surface clean only hides them for a few weeks. Our vehicle decontamination service treats them with IICRC standard methods, moisture readings and controlled drying. More in our complete guide to vehicle decontamination in Australia.
How often should you clean your car interior?
RACQ suggests about an hour each fortnight, with the mats shaken out weekly. Fair baseline. Go more often with kids, pets, work gear, or anyone with asthma or allergies on board. And after a spill or leak, don’t wait. Dry it the same day.
Frequently asked questions
Do you clean only car interiors?
Yes, we only clean car interiors. Exterior cleaning requires more wipe downs, and washes whereas interior car cleanings require delicate techniques and tools to ensure a job is done correctly.
Do you clean other types of vehicles?
Yes! We can clean anything from trucks, sports cars and even boats. Our team of specialists are always ready to assist you with whatever cleaning issues you may have.
What is the best thing to clean a car interior with?
A vacuum with a brush attachment, microfibre cloths and mild detergent in warm water handle most surfaces. Add a pH-balanced leather cleaner for leather and a non-abrasive glass cleaner for the windows.
What should you not use when cleaning a car interior?
Abrasives on glass and screens, dishwashing liquid or alcohol on leather, bleach on fabric, and anything that leaves the seats soaking wet.
Does car interior cleaning get rid of mould?
It removes what you can see. It often misses growth in the seat foam, under the carpet or in the air conditioning. If the car’s been wet or the musty smell keeps returning, it needs a moisture check, not another wipe.
Where to go next
Most car interior cleaning is method: top down, keep it dry, right product on the right surface. Hand over the jobs you can smell but can’t see.
More vehicle cleaning guides, or call 1800 00 10 10.
How this guide was put together
Written by David Spencer from the vehicle jobs our team handles. AllAces is an IICRC Certified Firm working since 1988. Tint guidance: 3M. Cleaning frequency: RACQ. Meet the AllAces experts.
