INTERIOR < Razor Sharp

RAZOR SHARP

INTERIOR

Outer beauty is nothing compared to inner beauty. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that interior car detailing requires more effort and time than exterior detailing. It also comes to no surprise that most Americans spend a fairly large amount of time driving long hours in their vehicles. A dirty interior cabin can have a dramatic impact on your health. Soils, spills and stains left to sit incubating in a hot interior can set the stage for mold growth. these soils left uncleaned can easily spread spores, dust and numerous other airborne heath risks making their way through the interior HVAC system ( heat and AC) to circulate the interior landing on every surface worst of all you breathing it in. On the other end of airborne particles is dust. seems harmless to most, but the reality is dust is a serious cause for switch and button failures among other interior mechanical failures. window are also an important thing to keep clean. clean windows are a must for safety while driving, more importantly night time driving.

Below im going to cover some different areas, different materials, and cleaning processes for some of the more important surfaces.

LEATHER

Leather is a material that can be found and used anywhere in car interiors, such as dashes, infotainment consoles, center consoles, door panels as well as accent pieces everywhere on the interior of a vehicle. Leather is one of those topics that has had a lot of misinformation following it. We been taught for years that auto leather is this delicate material that needs to be treated as such.This couldn’t be farther from the truth. In this day in age all leather seats in cars have a protective coating applied during manufacturing acting very much like a clear coat that’s on your paint. This is actually great news for detailers and auto enthusiast because it means cleaning and maintaining your leather is that much easier. The real problem is when an unskilled/low budget detailer is hired and fails to deliver superior results.

an important point to make would be the reality of off the shelf leather cleaning and conditioning products. Leather products that you would buy from large box stores, autozone, or any other retail stores are buy design very weak and typically yield poor results. For the typical consumer these product companies formulate their products very weak to protect their backs. If you are looking for a good product that will give you good results i suggest Meguiars leather products, that’s some of what i use professionally after i have cleaned the leather with some professional detail tools and products.

CLOTH MATERIALS

cloth is a huge topic when it comes to interior material surfaces. most people hear cloth and automatically think of seats, but cloth is being used in most all areas of the interior. Cloth is being used not only on seats, but on dashes, door panels, rear panels, and accent pieces everywhere in some vehicles. There are at least two main types of cloth that can be found in a vehicle. 1) is cloth that is relatively loose woven and a more traditional kind of cloth. this type tends to be easier to clean and maintain. 2) Is cloth that is much more tightly woven, and tends to be found in a lot of newer cars and trucks. it is more complicated to clean, but i should add that if a spill is cleaned immediately that spills will have less chance of soaking through the material, but if left untreated for long periods of time will be much harder to pull out producing a less than desirable result in the end. This why i tell my customers that maintenance is much better than a cure. hot water extraction is one of the best tools we detailers have when all else fails, but even then it takes the right chemicals and the right treatments. If soils have had along time to dwell its most likely beyond producing a “PERFECT” result. This where coupling with the right detailer can prove to be successful and provide those desirable results.

CARPET MATERIALS

Carpets come in three variations. 1) The traditional woven pile that most customers can relate to. you can see the consistant and even woven pattern. This type of carpet is easy to clean for the most part, but again when soils are left to sit and dwell can become extremely difficult to remove. 2) Is what i like to refer to as “The impossible carpet” this type of carpet in my eyes is not carpet at all but what resembles more of a felt. The fibers are not woven in an even consistent pattern at all. they are tangled into a nest and go in every direction. cleaning this kind of material is extremely difficult once the dirt, spills, or soils falls deep into the fibers. if these kinds of fabrics are left neglected bringing them back to perfection becomes very difficult. an experienced detailer will have the knowledge and tools to produce a noticeable result. 3) Instead of carpet they utilize a rubber mat. These are typically found in the more budget friendly trucks or in production work trucks such as construction company trucks. these mats are by far the easiest to clean, but are very rare in most vehicles.

FABRIC PROTECTION

Fabric protectors come in many different configurations, but whether you are using scotch guard, or some other well known brand, I’ve found that for the most part… they all work. Fabric protector is an area that most car owners overlook, though it is an extremely important part of the equation if you want your seats and carpets to last. To clear up a misconception, when fabric protector is sprayed onto carpet, it does not form some sort of impenetrable layer of protection that keeps dirt from getting into the fibers, it simply makes the cleaning process much, much easier. Removing dirt and stains from a carpet that has been treated vs a carpet that has not been treated is like night and day. Again, if your car carpets/seats are treated with a carpet protector they will still get dirty over time, but when you go to clean them, they will quickly look good as new!

For the do-it your selfers who would like to protect their carpet, which I strongly recommend (especially if you have a new car), but you are confused about which one to buy… don’t over think it. This is another area where the industry wants to mislead you and take your money. One bottle says “Cloth Seat Protector,” another says “Carpet Protector,” and another says “Ultimate Fabric Protector,” And the newest fabric protector release is “Ceramic Fabric Protector” don’t get wrapped up in the fancy labeling trust me, just pick one and use it. I have found that they all work just fine. The one that says “carpet” can be used on your cloth seats, and vice versa. Of course Scotch Guard is a great brand, and very well known, however I have found that the off brands really do the job just as well.