Spring Clean Your Interior

We’ve covered how the yellow haze of spring pollen and crazy North Texas weather can damage your car’s paint job. It’s easy to maintain the exterior of your car with a regular trip through the tunnel at any of our three car wash locations (Oak Cliff! Ennis! Cedar Hill!). Now it’s time to think about how to maintain a clean INTERIOR not only for the funk factor but for your own health. Dust and pollen accumulate on surfaces and you definitely don’t want to breathe that stuff in throughout the spring! In addition, interior cleaning helps you maintain your car’s long-term value. So, what should you tackle to keep you and your passengers breathing easier this spring and summer?

Change your cabin air filter. Cars have two air filters – one for the engine and one for the cabin interior. While the engine air filter takes care of keeping air circulating around the engine, the cabin air filter keeps the air clean inside your car. It filters out pollen, dust, smog particulates and debris like leaves, insects and rodent droppings. If you’ve ever opened the hood of your car to find a nest from a furry little visitor, you’ve also been breathing in that funk. In addition to bringing in unclean air, a dirty cabin air filter also causes your HVAC system to run poorly, affecting air pressure and causing the blower motor to have to work harder, thus wearing out sooner. Change your cabin air filter to keep you breathing clean air on your daily commute and to maintain the HVAC system itself.

Wipe down surfaces. Dust and pollen do make their way into your car, and those particles settle on every surface. They’re both unsightly and also unhealthy for allergy sufferers. A microfiber towel with a little automotive interior cleaner like we use at Snap Clean is perfect for controlling dust. We also recommend a periodic treatment with a product like Armor All Protectant to help protect the surfaces from fading in the sun.

Clean the upholstery. Start by vacuuming to remove crumbs and dust. Spot clean cloth interior but avoid soaking the upholstery to discourage mold or mildew from forming. Wipe down leather and leatherette surfaces with a warm washcloth using a little mild dish soap. A soft bristle brush may be used to work off spills or stains that may build up from repetitive contact with dark wash jeans on lighter leather surfaces. Wipe or blot surfaces dry. Treat leather or leatherette surfaces with a leather conditioner to prevent the upholstery from cracking over time.

Clean touch screens, controls and entertainment systems. You can use a microfiber cloth and a can of dust air to remove dust from control dials and buttons. As touch screens are more prominently used in modern automobiles, you also need a way to clean those screens of fingerprints. Grab a microfiber cloth and lightly dampen with rubbing alcohol to remove fingerprints. A disposable screen cleaning wipe such as what you might use with your laptop also works to remove fingerprints and stains.

Interior glass. It’s easy to fly through the tunnel wash and skip the interior wipe down of your glass surfaces. Outdoor contaminants, dust, pollen, smoke and smog combined with humidity leaves a funky residue on your windshield and rear window. Make sure to grab some window cleaner and a microfiber towel and wipe down the interior of your windows regularly. That hazy interior is both unsightly AND dangerous since it impacts visibility while operating the vehicle.

At Snap Clean, we work hard to deliver an epic clean and great facilities to help you maintain your car at any of our three car wash locations. You can count on our friendly and professional team in Ennis, Cedar Hill and Oak Cliff to deliver great service and a great experience! Come check us out.