How Do I Clean/protect Inside Car?

[eli2k]

The inside of my car is getting dusty (the dashboard, and stuff). I'm not very uber-hardcore about getting everything perfect cleaned, though. I went to the store to try to find cleaning products, but they had too many for too many different things. :P

The car is 2001 ES300, I think the dashboard material is leather, the seats are leather, and the rest of the buttons/controls and stuff is plastic, and there is fake-wood trimming all over the place (part on the steering wheel). So I guess I wanted to ask what is a good way to clean everything inside (minus the floormat)? Do you have any recommended products I should pick up?

For cleaning floormats, what does scotchguarding do? I've heard it often, but not sure how it exactly works.

Thanks,

- Eli

[SW03ES]

First of all you have to realize what the materials are in the car. The seating surfaces, the steering wheel, and the shifter knob are leather. The rest is vinyl or plastic. The wood is actually real wood, its genuine california walnut. You can actually strip it, re-stain it, and refinish it...

If you want something that will work well on everything Meguiars makes a product called Quik Interior Detailer that works well. It won't deep clean everything though.

For the leather I reccomend a mixture of Woolite:Water 1:6.

[Nick Carberry]

From a protection standpoint, I would definitely recommend something that is water-based (not oily, shiny) and also has SPF into it. Not many products do not have the later of the two requests. Adam's Polishes VRT and Leather conditioner work really well. 303 Aerospace is in a pure liquid spray format, much like Optimum's Protectant Plus. All mentioned have differing levels of SPF.

[eli2k]

Thanks for both replies. Is the dashboard material also leather? It feels like it. What about the sides of the door, because it's also feels like some sort of leather, unless its some other padded material? And are these products mentioned only available online, or are they usually stocked at local car-part stores? If not, maybe I can browse the store to see if any have SPF in them. The leather conditioner is applied after you have cleaned the leather, right? For the woolite mixture, what type of woolite is used, it looks like it is a laundry detergent?

[Nick Carberry]

I'm not sure of the dash on your particular model, but as long as there is a water-based protectant on there, you'll be fine, but see below.

The products mentioned are mostly only available online. However, Adam's is a So-Cal based company with a bunch of distributors around you. Website is www.adamspolishes.com. I know for sure that the Adam's line contains special leather ingredients (not lanolin) which makes it different from his VRT. The SPF rating in their Leather Conditioner is SPF 65, and in his VRT is 40. In his video, he opts to put Leather Conditioner on the dash because of the extra protection and it has a bit less sheen. It's dries immediately, so when you do use it on your seats, it doesn't just rub off on your clothes. I found 303 to do that unfortunately.

www.autogeek.com has a ton of stuff available as well, and are based in FL. You can find 303 & Optimum on there.

Another one is Poorboy's Natural Look. www.poorboysworld.com

[SW03ES]

Nope, dash is not leather, its vinyl...