Transcription
If you find interior detailing stressful, then stick around because I'm going to be showing you how to speed up the process. Plus, I'm going to guide you on where to start and where to finish. Also, I'm going to be teaching you my methods, and I'm going to show you everything that you need to use. But don't panic if you see a tool that you don't have at your disposal. I'm going to be covering a wide variety of alternative methods. Plus, I'm going to be sharing some tips and tricks to help you get the very best out of your car. Let's go.
We've had this car for a while now, and it was just a stop gap until we found something we really wanted. But now the time has come to get it prepped ready for sale. So, it's having the ultimate deep clean. And I wanted to go all out on this one, so I got every tool I possibly could to guarantee the best chance of bringing it back to its best.
Looking at this table and down here in front of me, you can see there is one big problem. There is an overwhelming amount of supplies that we have to get through here. So, what I'd like to do today is show you the benefits of using each individual tool and chemical. So, it's not a case of you have to use everything to clean the car; I'm just going to be giving you a little sample so you can identify which would be the best tool based on your own scenario.
Before I can even put this car up for sale, I need to make sure it's not just clean in here. It has to be fit for purpose. And recently, this has been doing the most Audi thing ever. So, it's bringing up all sorts of warning lights, malfunctions, and bleeps on the dashboard. And it is funny because my other Audi does exactly the same thing. However, with this one, it's becoming so frequent, I think it's about time I investigate it further. And with Carly, you can, because you can get full control by jumping into your vehicle's diagnostics to get a complete overview of its health.
This little device is really powerful, and it can do all sorts of interesting things. And we'll take a look at that in a moment's time. But right now, I need to find out what's going on with the Audi A6. So, we're going to plug this into the car's OBD2 port and then we're going to connect it up to the Carly app.
Once synced up to the app, Carly reads through all your car's data and brings up any fault codes that may be affecting your vehicle. So, what did my results say? Oh dear, it's saying the health status is bad, and it's got 15 issues. We've got engine, ABS, airbag, park assist, and many more. Now, these could be old codes, so I'm going to clear them, and hopefully they don't come back. But if they do, I can access a smart mechanic feature which would tell me how severe these problems are and how to fix them.
But that's not all you can do on Carly, because this device allows you to check live engine data, the state of your battery health, and for you car buyers out there, it has another party piece. A standout feature for me has to be the used car checker. Let's say that you're going to purchase a new vehicle. Well, if you plug the device into that car and you do a used car check, it will be able to match up any data points and the VIN number. Meaning, if any of the car's mileage has been tampered with, you're going to know about it.
Carly supports advanced coding features, allowing you to access hidden features that you didn't even know existed. So, you can program your car to beep every time you lock it, or even set it to have double flashing hazards. Now, these work seamlessly with BMWs, Minis, VWs, and Audis, letting you personalize all the settings that dealers would charge extra for. So, if you want to take control of your vehicle's diagnostics and access hidden features, then Carly is the tool for you. And we're giving you the chance to get 15% off your device with the code on the screen.
Now, let's get back to the clean. And one of the most common questions people ask me is, where do you start? So, with interior detailing, it's always a good idea to start off by getting the car completely empty first, so you've got a nice blank canvas to work with. You don't have to fuff about with moving objects from one side of the car to the other whilst you're cleaning. But I do understand that if you are working outside and you have potential rain ahead, then it is going to be a little bit tricky. So, here's what I would do.
Normally, I would start off with the boot in all scenarios. So, everything that's inside the boot, I would put into the center of the car, so at least it's all out of the way. And then the good thing is, if you do tackle the entire boot area first, if it does rain, you can move everything into the back, and you know that it's all been completed. If you're working outside, make sure you have everything in carrier bags to stop all your loose bits getting wet or blowing away.
So, now that you've got the car empty, it's important to identify what it is you're trying to do. So, if you wanted to work on the headlining, for example, you want to make sure that you do that first, because if you go cleaning all the seats and then you decide to tackle the headlining afterwards, some of that dirt could drop down onto the seats and ruin all your hard work. However, there is one slight problem with this car which you might face the same scenario, and that is pet hair.
So, if you're not the most nimble of people out there, it's going to be quite difficult for you to clean this headlining unless you lean back. Now, the problem is, because I've got my clean clothes on and I've got a car filled up with pet hair, it's basically going to act like a hair magnet, which means that it's all going to stick to my clothes. So, when it comes to me moving around the rest of the vehicle, I'm going to be dropping hair everywhere. So, the very best thing that I can do in this situation is just to clean up some of the hair just to reduce the risk of it sticking to my clothes and being spread around the rest of the vehicle.
I removed the fabric boot floor so if anything dropped onto the plastic tray, it would be easier to hoover up. And I went to work with the pet hair blade just to shift a good 90% of the dog hair. And thankfully, the older Audis have some of the best interior fabrics to work with, so I was confident I could get a good finish. However, if you don't have a pet hair tool, you can make use of rubber or latex gloves to catch the hairs. Now, it will do a good job, but it won't be as good as using a pet hair blade, which is one of my go-to tools.
With headliner cleaning, it doesn't require an awful lot of chemicals. You've got a choice really of either having a foam or a liquid based interior cleaner. Now, both of them are going to do exactly the same thing, and they're both safe as long as you use them in moderation. If you oversaturate anything with the headlining, there is a potential risk it could sag. And it's always worth a go if you have got dogs and they've splattered mud everywhere. Go over with a dry microfiber cloth first. You'll be surprised how well this would do. If you start spraying cleaners on it straight away, or you could potentially do if you had, let's say, a cream headlining, is just spread it around. So, get yourself a dry cloth and give it a quick wipe first.
After wiping with a dry cloth, I used a dry foam and a scrub pad to shift the light muddy scuffs. And the good thing about some of these types of foams is they come with a brush on the head, too, which I think is a brilliant idea. For actual stains caused by cigarette smoke, you need a little chemical. And don't spray heavy amounts onto the headlining in case the cleaner reacts with the adhesive that's holding it up. The best thing you can do is spray the pad first and then scrub the lining.
With the rear of the roof lining complete, I vacuumed up the remaining dirt, which revealed a new set of issues. Now, if we look down here along these gaps and crevices, you're often going to find this is a big problem because you can't always brush out, because those bristles just aren't going to reach all these little gaps down here. So, the only real alternative you can use is to have an air compressor. But, they are very expensive. They're big and bulky, and not everybody's going to carry one of those around just to clean the interior of their car.
Alternatively, you could go for a pet dryer. Now, you can still pick them up for around £50-£60 on Amazon, which is still good value for money compared to an air compressor. But the thing is, you're still going to have to fuff about with the cables. You've got the hose blowing about everywhere, and you just don't feel like you've got a good level of control. But what I have here is an alternative, which I've just got my hands on. So, this is the DTLR mini car dryer. So, this is basically an air vortex gun, which should be able to blast all the dirt out. It's not going to be as powerful as a proper air compressor, but it's going to be good enough for what we need. So, let's give this a go.
Immediately, I could see some huge benefits from such a tiny tool. I love the fact that there was enough power to blast dry dirt, but a highlight for me is the practicality of having something that fits in your pocket. So, moving around the car was much easier than using a compressor or a mains powered blower. Was it as powerful as either of them? No, definitely not. But in most situations, this would be good enough, provided the battery is strong enough. And I will reveal later in the video just how long it lasted as we progress.
Now, one thing you might be wondering is, why didn't I just use a leaf blower to blow out the rest of the car before I started? And if I was outside, I would have done this, but because I was filming another video a day later, I wanted to keep the unit as tidy as possible. So, I opted to stick with a vacuum cleaner.
Using my interior cleaner, a scrub pad, and the vortex blower, I carried on with the plastics. And not forgetting the sides of the rear seats before putting them back in position. For the rear headrests, you can either take them out or pop them up as high as they can go just to get around them, as you often find there's plenty of dust trapped under there.
I use Yum Interior because it's safe on all surfaces, including leather and Alcantara, which eliminates the need to buy individual cleaners. However, I will be using leather cleaner later, as I want to cover as many options as possible so you're all clued up on everything. Also, don't forget the seat latches, too.
Now, I'm getting to work on the boot floor, and once again, the pet hair blade comes out to do the bulk of the hair removal, which thankfully didn't take too long, and I had additional help from my trusty WetVac. So, you can see we have a relatively clean boot flooring. Now, in terms of the dirt, there's not really a lot here that you can see, but in terms of how smelly it is, it's pretty awful because this is the dog car. Now, we have got rubber mats on there, which kind of reduces it, but there's still some smells which it can't escape. Now, you might think, okay, I could just use an air freshener. So, we have a fairly good air freshener from Dodo Juice. Yes, it smells nice, but no, it's not going to be able to break down those smells because it is an air freshener. So, what you really need to be using is a deodorizer. Now, a deodorizer will break down all those nasty smells, but what we're going to do is take it one step further because we have a steam cleaner. So, the first thing we have to do is spray the deodorizer onto the boot flooring, allow it to dwell for a short period of time, and then we're going to take the steam cleaner and give it a blast.
Once I sprayed the carpet with deodorizer, I filled up and switched on the steam cleaner. And a few moments later, I could tackle the carpet. And the heat that comes out of this steamer is so intense, you've got to be very careful not to burn yourself. But my goodness, do you notice a difference?
Once I was fully satisfied with the cleanup, I could then get back to finishing the boot. And I would say inside the boot lid is one of the most commonly missed areas, especially around the glass.
Next up, I chose to use some old interior cleaner that I had lurking around. And this is dirt cheap, so it's good for tasks like cleaning all the manks that don't really matter. You need to be very careful when working on this upper section of the rubbers because this is where you commonly get the most leaks. Now, you've seen it on really old cars, you can get the headlining which sags normally from the rear. That's just because these rubber seals have just worn away, and the water's got in and it's just got in between the fabric and the adhesive, so it started pulling it all off. Now, the last thing I really want to be doing is saturating this because it could have a very similar effect. So, I take my brush, going to take my microfiber cloth, 'cause I don't want to spray it all over the car. Spray the brush and just dab it on the rubber. The best brushes you can use are normally medium stiffness, but if you don't have any to hand, then you can get by with some old microfiber cloths.
So, we're making great progress. We can tick off the rear of the car. But now, let's move to the center. And we need to make our life as simple as possible. So, what we're going to be doing is putting the seats far forward as much as we can. We're going to get them as high as we can, and then we're going to tilt them as forward as we can just to give us the maximum amount of space. Just by using this simple method, you can see how much extra space you have to work with, which helps you speed up your clean.
I'm starting off by giving the interior a light vacuum. For Alcantara, I'm using a delicate super soft brush just to flick the dirt into the vacuum. And this reduces the surface contact from the crevice tool. If you have to clean any stains, then go light with a scrub pad and your chosen interior cleaner. And just gently follow up with a microfiber cloth. My goal is not to aim to clean up every crumb as it will be moving about the car and moving the seats a few times. And you've got to remember, when you use any form of blower or air compressor, it will always dislodge any unseen dirt and it will send it from one side of the car to the other. So, I always leave the remaining specks of dirt till the very end of the clean as one final sweep.
The combination of my cheap interior cleaner, the vortex gun, and an old brush cleans up the seat runners in a matter of seconds. So, you don't need anything fancy for this part. However, for the plastics, I like to use my go-to cleaner over an all-purpose cleaner any day because it's less aggressive, and with older cars, an APC would just attack the finish and in some cases dull the appearance.
I carried on with the plastics and the air vents. And it's always a good idea to keep a handful of brushes just to get in those tricky areas.
To mix things up, I'm cleaning the leather using Infinity Wax leather cleanser just to rejuvenate and nourish those tired seats. Make sure you understand when you should and shouldn't use leather cleaner. Remember, cleaning can't fix cracks; only a proper restoration can. Scrub pads are one of the most effective budget accessories that you can use, and I will put links to every single product that I've used in this video in the description below.
Once I finished working on the rear seats, I couldn't resist but to make a little pattern using a microfiber cloth. So, I'm really happy with how the middle of the car has turned out. I now need to move on to the front, which means putting the driver seat back as far as we can go. Now, I wonder how many of you have noticed this in the past. You've cleaned the back of the car, you've put the seats back, and then all of a sudden there's loads more crumbs there, even though you've previously hoovered it up. Well, there's a reasonable explanation as to why this happens. So, let's say you've been for a walk and you've got muddy boots, and so have the passengers who are sitting in the back. Now, they're not just going to have mud along the bottom of their boots, it's going to be on the top as well. So, what happens is they drag their feet along the bottom part of the driver's seat, which means that when you go to put the seats back, some of that dried up mud will drop down on the floor. So, if you don't have a blower, you need to get the vacuum cleaner right underneath there. It's not just the carpet you need to sort out, it's the bottom of the seat.
For the front of the Audi, I followed the same steps as the middle. So, I gave the footwell a light vacuum to remove some of the loose crumbs and then broke out the car dryer just to clear out any of the gunk from the cup holders. And at this point, you can see the red light flashing. So, it's starting to get low on battery, which gave me an opportunity to try out another special tool.
This is a Tornado. It's a device that connects up to your air compressor, allowing you to clean the interior of your car. Now, the good thing about these is you can put your chemical in, and it just pumps it out at such a fast yet fine rate. Think of it a bit like a trigger spray, but it's so much more powerful. Now, because it comes out like a fine mist, you're not really going to see much action. All you're really going to see is the surface immediately clean in front of your eyes, and it almost looks like magic. Now, these are fantastic tools to be working with. However, there is one big drawback, and it is the price. You really need to get yourself a powerful air compressor, and you need to buy the tool. Realistically, if I had a longer hose connected to this, I would use it more frequently, but I still feel that I need an even bigger air compressor to get the best out of it. So, I'm just going to give you a quick demonstration so you can see the cleaning capabilities for yourself to determine whether this is something you would really go for.
This tool is going to be very hit or miss with some of you because there are many benefits of using one to transform plastics, fabric, and much more. But the reality is, you can still achieve great results without it. So, I wouldn't say it's essential. However, I think the hardcore car care enthusiasts would definitely love to use one. Just make sure you have your ear defenders on.
For the front dashboard and plastics, I wanted to use an old favorite of mine, which was Autoglym Interior Shampoo. I used this back in the day, and it hasn't changed much since I started using it many years ago. It's safe on fabric and plastic, but they don't recommend using it on leather because it doesn't contain any conditioning agents required for leather care, and it can remove some of the essential oils, leaving the leather to dry. Still, it's got a nice scent, and I did use it on the seat belts, too.
I really enjoy interior cleaning, and just like machine polishing, it requires a certain degree of patience if you want to achieve the right results. Even though the carpets underneath the mats didn't have any stains, I'm still finishing off the fabric with the steamer just to freshen them up.
For the steering wheel, I switch back to the leather cleaner to gently remove any grime. And I was horrified to see just how bad it was. And to be honest, there really is no special secret to this. If you've got a scrub pad, a microfiber cloth, and a safe cleaner, you will be able to improve your steering wheel in a matter of minutes with no real faff.
Next up was to clean the pedals. And I'm going to show you two methods of getting them clean. Method one involves using an all-purpose cleaner and just spraying the pedal and then hitting it with a medium stiffness brush just to get in the grooves. After that, I then blasted it with air, and it left me with a decent finish, and it took no time at all. If you wanted to be extra thorough, then opting for a steam cleaner will blast the muck out of the pedals. But watch out for splashback because there's nothing worse than pa riddle dirt flicking back in your face. And don't forget to keep some designated brushes for the pedals because you never know where you've trodden beforehand. So, don't use a brush that you might use on the steering wheel, for example.
Glass cleaning is one of my favorite parts of the clean because I think it's pretty easy to do. And most of the time, you don't even need to use glass cleaner. It's only on those rare occasions when you get cigarette smoke or some of that vape fog over the windscreen do you really need to break out the glass cleaner. In most cases, you can make do with a synthetic leather and a towel. It's really important to get the windows down slightly to work around the edges, as ignoring it leaves a very undesirable finish. And the synthetic leather works wonders when you combine it with warm water. Yeah, I love that. Now, I'm not saying never use glass cleaner because you still do need it now and then. But what I'm saying is, nine times out of 10, you can make do and achieve flawless results just by using this method. It's also important to tackle the plastic trim on the inside of the window frame as that can attract more dirt if left unattended.
In my hand, I have the new gold label glass cloth from Fiber King. And these particular cloths are manufactured in South Korea, and they have a strange texture, and they almost feel like a wet suit material. But they are seriously outstanding. The way it just glides over the glass, and you really do get that streak-free finish. I was making great progress, but there was still more work to be done. So, what's next?
So, cleaning fabric mats. Which is the best option I recommend? Well, there's so many different ways you can look at that. You've got all types of brushes or tools to use. But today, I'm going to judge it based on what I need to do for this particular mat here. Now, because there's a lot of dried, loose crumbs, dirt, and dust on it, I could probably get away with using a drill brush head, stick it onto a drill, and it's basically going to spin it and flick it away so quickly. That's going to be step number one. So, for step number two, you're going to look at the mat, and you're probably going to have a similar effect to what we're looking at on this patch here. So, it's just going to be very dusty because there's no dirt on it, but it's going to be very discolored. At that point, we're going to have to bring out the carpet extractor. So, we're going to soak it in a chemical and then suck it back up.
I'm using MultiPro spot cleaner as it's a good all-rounder, and it's never let me down in the past. But before I soak the mats, I have to use the drill attachment. And you can see for yourself just how effective this method is as it drives deep into the carpet. And they really are cheap to buy online, so they're well worth the investment.
So, I'm soaking the mats, and once again, another scrub pad comes out to work. So, you can see what I say when I go on about these being one of the most important detailing tools for interiors. There we go. We have one clean mat. And I'd say this is pretty much dry. But if you wanted to take it one step further, leave it outside in the direct sunlight or get yourself a blower or a car dryer and even set it to warm, and it would just get the last remaining bits of dampness out, and then you'll be good to go to stick it back in. If it is slightly damp and you're doing this in the winter time, I wouldn't advise sticking it back in your car because when you get the imbalance in temperatures, it could cause mold to build up, and that's the last thing you need on the interior.
One down, three to go. These rear mats were very easy. However, the driver's mat I did struggle with, as it took multiple attempts of the same process to bring them back up to new.
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Eventually, I successfully made it through the four mats, and then I could jump on to dressing the plastics with Infinity Wax Finale. And this has been one of my go-to products for many years as it finishes off the interior beautifully. And the thing I love about this the most is you don't get a greasy finish. It smells divine, and it has an anti-static barrier keeping those plastics cleaner for longer. One thing I would mention is just to be careful not to spray it near the glass. And I always use this after the glass to avoid any excess chemicals getting onto my hands and then back onto the glass cloths. However, I'm planning on switching things up. So, I'd like you to let me know in the comments which brands you'd like me to feature, and I'll do my best to get them on the channel.
So, that's the interior finished. I can finally go home and have a cup of tea. I hope you learned some good tips and tricks in this video. Let me know in the comments below if there's anything that you need help with, and I will try and answer them as soon as possible. If you love videos like this, I have two crackers right here.
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