Interior Cleaners

Interior cleaners take grime, grease, spills and fingermarks off dashboards, door cards and consoles, and most are made for seats and carpet too. They run from all-surface cleaners such as Stjarnagloss Inni and Yum Interior to CarPro Inside and the stronger, alkaline Koch-Chemie Mehrzweckreiniger for heavy grime. Our interior cleaner guide compares them in their makers' own words.

How to choose

• Leather and Alcantara: read the label. Stjarnagloss, Yum and CarPro list Inni, Yum Interior and CarPro Inside for leather, and CarPro gives a 1:10 dilution of Inside for Alcantara. For leather seats, see our leather cleaner guide.
• Seats and carpets: Koch-Chemie lists its Mehrzweckreiniger for carpets and upholstery, and the listing for Sonax XTREME Interior Cleaner says it removes stubborn stains from upholstered seats. For a carpet cleaning machine, use a low foaming detergent such as Equip2clean Carpet and Upholstery Spotting Solution.
• Finish: most leave a matte, non-greasy finish. Sonax XTREME Cockpit Cleaner is anti-static and silicone free, according to its listing, and Alchemy So Clean is anti-static too.
• How dirty: for dust between cleans, Interior Quick Detailers are quicker. For filthy mats and footwells, use Interior APCs.

Good to know

Spray onto a microfibre or brush rather than the dashboard, so nothing runs into vents, switches or screens. Interior Detailing Brushes work the cleaner into textured plastic and seams.

How do I clean fabric car seats?

Use a cleaner made for fabric, sprayed onto a brush and worked into the seat, then wiped with a microfibre. Our guide on how to clean car seats and carpets covers the method, extraction machines and drying.

What is the best way to clean dirty car interior plastic?

Spray an interior cleaner onto a microfibre or an interior detailing brush rather than the dashboard, and work it into textured plastic and seams. For filthy footwells and kick plates, an interior APC is stronger.

Related: Interior Cleaning & Finishing, Interior APCs, Interior Quick Detailers, Interior Dressings. Popular brands here: Stjarnagloss, Sonax, CarPro, Yum Cars.