Caring for your car’s interior can make the interior components last for many years and raise the resale value of your car as well. Knowing how to properly clean and take care of the surfaces of the interior will allow you to perform regular maintenance and make your car look great.

LEATHER SEATS: If your car has leather seats, be sure to clean and dress the leather with a good quality product made just for leather. Using products not intended for leather may result in the leather cracking prematurely and causing your interior to look ragged much before its time. Leather upholstery is expensive to repair or replace, so care for it properly in the first place to avoid expensive damage.

PLASTIC INTERIOR SURFACES: The plastic surfaces inside your car can be cleaned with most any good, mild household cleaner or with plain soap and water. They can then be made shiny with any one of the many car interior shine products available on the market.

One word of warning. When cleaning any interior area of your car be very careful in what you use. Items like ArmorAll are great for areas made of soft plastic, but it can dry out the surface of hard plastic over time and cause cracks and imperfections.

FABRIC SEATING: If your fabric seat becomes soiled, remove any excess dirt or food by scraping. Then clean with a good quality upholstery cleaner. Before tackling a stain in an area which will show, test the product on an inconspicuous area to be sure the fabric is color-fast and does not fade the area or leave it with a bleached look.

WINDOWS: Use products specifically made for cleaning windows to remove the grease and soil build up on your glass surfaces. You can use simple home glass cleaning products and save yourself a lot of money versus the overpriced auto-glass cleaners. To prevent streaking, polish with newspaper. If you wish, apply a no-fog product to the windows by following product instructions.

While there are many other areas in your car’s interior these are the major ones to keep clean. By doing so you’re car will look great for years to come.