Hey anyone have some"magic" that they use to clean the interior of their car? IE: what use on vinyl seats? sun visors, carpet? dash and doors? Even under the hood. Looking for some ideas that some of you have used that will not hurt original stuff but clean and shine things up.
A soft bristle brush with soap and water will do wonders. It doesn't damage either. I've used window cleaner on plastics before and it works too (actual auto glass cleaner - not windex - windex has ammonia). For the hard to clean spots, I've used mean green or simple green. I own a household carpet cleaner with an upholstery attachment and use it on carpet and cloth seats - it works great. After the dash pad is clean, I rub baby oil on it. It keeps the dash soft and gives it a great shine.
I use Marine Clean (made by POR 15) on my seats, and it was amazing, the dirt just lifted right out of the grain in the material. But i found it's best to use it in the shade, it drys very quickly. It's the only thing that I've ever used that really cleaned the seats, I took pictures of the difference that it made, I'll see if I can find them.
i really don't have an exact product i like using but as a tip DON'T use Armorall it cracked the dash in my 70 mav , and my sisters 95 mustang..... just don't want any one to waste money on junk. i do like simple green, or purple power for degreaseing my engine bay. hope to be some help.
Wow! Marine clean? I have some of that in the garage and never thought of using it on seats! I was told my a man who reupholstered seats for 30+ years told me not to use armor-all - specifically because it sealed the material and kept it from breathing. He said thats what causes seats to get hard and brittle and dashes to crack. That was years ago and I haven't used it on interior parts since. He suggested using lemon pledge on vinyl seats and agreed with the baby oil trick.
According to this site http://www2.zhome.com:81/ZCMnL/tech/dash.html Vaseline is better than baby oil.
I use maguires Gold Class Leather cleaner/conditioner for everything inside my truck and the wife's mustang, except for glass and carpet. All plastic, leather, vinyl, etc. It leaves a shine like armorall, but doesn't degrade the material. Good for dusting AND cleaning spills and dirty spots. I don't use it in the maverick because I don't have any surfaces to clean in there. Still driving without seat covers, cracked original dash, etc. Actually, I don't clean the maverick inside OR out... I guess I am afraid it will take off some of the paint or start it to rusting.
My dad has been using Armorall for 30+ years and never has had a problem because of it, and he continues to use it. I have started using Black Magic myself.
I had taken a seat for reupholstering and the guy asked me: "You used armor all on this, didn't you?" I had just bought it so I had no idea. It was shiny, like you would expect armor-all'd vinyl to be. The seat was cracked all over the place. He said he would have recognized it a mile away - and went on to tell me how many seats he'd recovered due to it. I saw vaseline on a dash once, but I didn't like the way it looked. It didn't have the shine and was harder to work with. That was a long time ago, I might try it again to see how it works. I'm all for using whatever keeps the dash soft. They don't really say WHY it's better. ?? Here's the text from the site. This is good info. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "What causes dashboards to crack?" Tom, friend of IZCC member Carl Beck, engineer/scientist in the Aerospace industry says: "1. Ultra Violet light, depending on its wavelength, is in fact ionizing radiation. It can dissassociate and even ionize molecules. "2. If the damage to the dash parts is "cracks" it is probably from heat, (which couses outgassing or drying). If it is "powdering of the surface" it may be >from UV light. Even material with a very high absorption coefficient transmits a small amount of UV light. A very bright UV source (the sun) over a very long time can cause damage through a car window. "3. The UV from the sun is sufficiently intense and energetic to cause blindness in a fairly short time (staring directly into the sun for 10 minutes). The sunglasses are to protect the retina from UV light." So we can conclude that the cause of the dashboard cracking is [drum roll please]... THE SUN! So for an uncracked dash to stay that way, it must be protected from the sun. The other method is to undo the damage that the sun does. Since there is really no way to completely protect your dash from the sun (except, maybe to keep it in the garage during the day and only drive at night , then this makes sense. There is also mention on the list that dashboard cracking may be related to high temperatures inside the cabin of the car, and also may be related to rapid and/or extreme changes in interior temperature. Cover the dash when it is in the sun. This is simple and makes lots of sense. The easy and cheap way to do this is with a towel or a sheet [I use a pair of hand-towels -jk]. Custom-fit covers are available commercially if you are inclined to utilize a prettier solution, but for about the same money you can get a car cover, which is probably the best solution [plus, it will protect the paint, seats, carpets, and can discourage thieves from stealing your radio when used in conjunction with an alarm -jk]. To reduce interior temperatures, tinted windows may help but ultimately a car cover is the best bet. THE CONTROVERSY: PROTECTANTS "Protectants" refers to substances that you may apply to the dashboard to prevent it from cracking by undoing the effects of the sun (or, perhaps, by blocking UV, etc.). Most of these products tend to restore oils that are lost due to "outgassing" or "drying". Some of the items listed here are not commercial car-care or vinyl-care products, but have been reported to have the effect of keeping the dashboard looking good when applied in similar fashion to those designed for vinyl. This is a controversial topic, primarily because there are a lot of options and very little objective information available. Armor-All Probably the most widely-known and widely-used vinyl "protectant" product, Armor-All dominates the market and has been the topic of much heated debate. Opponents to Armor-All have claimed that Armor-All causes the dashboard to dry out and crack more quickly than it would have had it been left untreated due to it bringing oils in the vinyl to the top. Many IZCC members have backed up this claim with experience, mostly having to do with applying Armor-All to dashboards that, although uncracked, were old and may not have been treated with Armor-All in the past. Reports are that after applying Armor-All to an uncracked dash it cracked in a very short time (weeks). In Armor-All's defense, one member is the original owner of a 23-year-old Z and has faithfully used Armor-All and nothing else, and there are no cracks in the dash [I should point out that this particular IZCC member excercises a great deal of care and feeding of his cars -jk]. There are also reports of an ex-Armor-All employee who alleges that the company intentionally sold the product knowing full well that it would have adverse affects on vinyl parts that it is used on. By far, the overwhelming opinion of IZCC members seems to be that it is not the best choice to keep your dash looking good long-term. This came off the archives, from a LA Times article: "Headline: 'Luster Is Off of Armor All Protectant Ad' "Content (summarized): "1. Armor All's ad campaign comparing AA to the 'other product' (Son of a Gun, but not identified by name) was deemed to be misleading by the Nat'l Advertisi Dvsn of the Better Biz Bureau. "2. AA has about 65% of the market for rubber/vinyl protectants. "3. AA has been criticized by 'some' independent car cleaning & polishing businesses, according to whom AA can harm vinyl dashboards and car tops exposed to heavy sun. However, these reports have never been validated. "4. Earlier this year, a former AA research manager, in the context of a wrongful termination suit against AA, claimed that the co. had covered up research that indicated AA caused tires & air bag covers to weaken & crack. AA denies the allegations. The suit is pending." You should draw your own conclusions. Nu-Vinyl There is brief mention of this product on the list, stating that it is non-greasy and easy to apply. No other information is available on the list. "Vaseline" "Vaseline" (petroleum jelly) seems to be the champion of the protectant wars. It is inexpensive and I could find no reports of adverse effects attributable to using petroleum jelly. There are numerous reports from IZCC members personal experience that petroleum jelly works best, and even some second-hand testimonial from professional dashboard-recoverers and other experts. Sun Screen The idea here is that if sun screen can block UV radiation when applied to your skin, then it may also have similar effects on with a dashboard. Caveats exist, however, mostly involving residue left on the dash after the sunscreen dries, etc. Using sun screen to block UV does not restore the oils in the vinyl, so it is generally advised to apply petroleum jelly or some other protectant after applying the sun screen, Baby Oil Similar to petroleum jelly, baby oil is essentially mineral oil with the addition of fragrance and sometimes talc. Expect to smell the fragrance after you apply baby oil, and you may see a talc residue if you use a brand that contains talc. "301 Protectant" or maybe "303 Protectant" Mentioned briefly, two different names may actually be the same product (??), in what sounded like a commercial, "301/303 Protectant" claims to not have the problems associated with Armor-All. How to apply these protectants 1. Clean the dashboard with a mild mixture of soap and water. 2. Apply the protectant with a soft, lint-free cloth. Be sure to cover all vinyl surfaces. 3. Wipe off any excess with another cloth. "Buffing" the dash may make it shinier, if that is a desirable effect for you.
Okay, I pulled the back seat and brought everything inside because it is 8*F with a windchill of -11*F and the garage isn't heated! Anyway, cleaned the seats with a Oxi clean warm water mix, let it dry over night. Last night I used Mink oil I have had forever. Rubbed it in, rubbed it again with another clean soft cloth and then took a soft toothbrush to work it in/off the stitched areas and seems/worn areas on the vinyl. I let it dry and today wiped off and didn't pick up any off the dry soft cloth. The really cool thing guys, the seats went from a grayish or old looking black to a brand new shiny black!!! Thanks for all the tips, I got to thinking when you guys brought up baby oil and having the vinyl breathe. So I went for the Mink Oil. Really paid off, hell if it works on my work boots and helps them last longer, why not vinyl seats. On another note, I took the application soft cloth I used and worked the mink oil into/on my instrument panel plastic (not the clear plastic to see the speed etc) and it took the grayish old look out of the black plastic. I can't wait to use it on the rest of my interior once the weather warms up!
