Friday, August 24, 2012 - 11:28 am, by: Lawrence Tan(Tonkatsu)
Hi all
I couldn't find much on this topic, so decided to start a thread. Point of this thread is to discuss effective and cheap ways to clean the interior.
So far I've found meguiars leather cleaners and conditioning creams to be of little use. The interior is over 20years old after all so it does need a proper cleaning.
I've found the following works:
LEATHER SEATS
Heavy Duty carwash detergent diluted 1:4 and a scrubbing brush. This has been the most effective for me so far, does get all the dirt out of the crevices and restores a somewhat dull soft finish.
After this, apply leather conditioner take your pick.
probably not a good routine cleaning method, but for a once off job on a dirty interior it works well.
VINYL
this has been quite troublesome for me, the door trims, side console trims with vinyl. They have been hard to clean. Diluted dishwashing detergent with a scouring pad works well but takes some effort.
does anyone else have any better/easier methods?
I have a handheld steam cleaner but that hasn't really worked well so far as in its not the magical solution as many praise it to be, or maybe because I have a crap model.
Friday, August 24, 2012 - 11:59 am, by: Lawrence Tan(Tonkatsu)
Ah I saw a thread about that, the orange hand cleaner and a rag to clean the vinyls. its about $30 for a tub of that stuff from supercheap.
Scrubbing Bubbles in the US apparantly works well too. But its a bathroom cleaner so pretty strong I'd guess. Alternative here is easy off bam activefoam. Haven't given that a go yet.
Mark Tierney DieHard NSW Soarer GTT-L, Celsior, Ducati
Friday, August 24, 2012 - 01:01 pm, by: Vincent Chan(Vincent191)
I only use warm water followed by meguiars and plenty of elbow grease on my leather and keep out of the hot sun. They are still in near mint condition.
Friday, September 14, 2012 - 12:42 pm, by: Lawrence Tan(Tonkatsu)
Update:
I ended up using Chux Magic Sponges, These things are awesome. Not sure how it works but it does.
They come in big packs of 2, all you have to do is soak them, then squeeze the water out and off you go.
All the grime in the leather and vinyl comes straight out. Only concern is that after cleaning it leaves a bit of excess run off . Just clean it up and apply leather condition afterwards.
Easiest way to clean the entire interior using 1 product, for me beats using multiple leather cleaners and a ton of elbow grease.
Next on the list is to rent a carpet cleaner from woolies or something to do the floors and carpet.