Best Car Interior Cleaner

Among interior car cleaners (sometimes known as interior detailers), popular homemade options include water and vinegar combinations, lemon juice and rubbing alcohol. These are fine as one-off solutions for small scuffs and stains, but they don’t provide the strength and polish that dedicated interior cleaning mixtures do for a complete cleaning process. These commonly arrive as sprays and wet wipes that are safe for leather, plastic, rubber, vinyl and fabric of all kinds that are found in your vehicle’s panels, dashboard, seats and floor.

You’ll find all-purpose cleaners as well as multi-step solutions that are applied in a specific order. Each step may be treated differently, some requiring that you let it sit while others are intended to be wiped down and dried quickly. Think of them as any other form of upholstery or carpet cleaner. Naturally, fabric seats are more likely to be treated with set-and-forget mixtures in contrast to hard, non-porous surfaces that are typically wiped down without preparation.

Not only are these cleaners inexpensive and ship in bulk quantities, they’re also safe and ideal. They promote that new-car smell, look and feel, and they can quickly leave a good impression on guests in addition to boosting the market value of your vehicle when you sell or trade it in. This is also great for returning rental vehicles in top condition.

Here are some factors to look for in your cleaner:

• Types of materials that it’s meant to interact with, including glass and screens
• Types of dirt and grime that it’s effective at cleaning
• Protection from ultraviolet (UV) rays, scuffing and discoloration over time
• Longevity of polish and any protections that are promised
• Whether it’s designed to deep-clean a surface or simply provide shine
• Gloss or matte finish
• Whether it can also be used on external elements of the car
• Leave-behind residue or coloration if any
• Scent strength and flavor if any

Best Car Interior Cleaner Comparison Table

Product	Photo	Volume	Surface	UV guard	Price
CarGuys		18oz; 128oz	All Purpose except glass	No	Check Price
Shine Society		18oz; 162oz	All Purpose	n/a	Check Price
Adam’s Polishes		16oz, 1 Gallon, 5 Gallon	All Purpose except fabric	Yes	Check Price
303 High Tech		32oz Cleaner & 32oz Fabric Guard	Fabric; Vinyl; Leather	n/a	Check Price
Chemical Guys		4oz, 15oz, 64oz, 1 Gallon	All Purpose except fabric	Yes	Check Price
Tuff Stuff		22oz	All Purpose except glass	n/a	Check Price
KevianClean		24oz	All Purpose except fabric	Yes	Check Price
Meguiar’s G13616		16oz	All Purpose except fabric	Yes	Check Price
Nextzett		16.9oz	Plastic, Vinyl, Rubber, Coated leather	n/a	Check Price
Guardsman		8.45 oz	Leather, Vinyl	n/a	Check Price
Pinnacle Natural Brilliance		16oz	Leather, Vinyl	Yes	Check Price

Best Car Interior Cleaner Reviews

CarGuys Super Cleaner — Versatile Interior Cleaning with Detailing

Features

You can receive a gallon of this product in addition to a spray bottle with a towel included. The product itself is said to work fine for everything in your car but glass and instrument panel screens. That means you can cut loose on vinyl, rubber, metal, plastic, carpets, leather, fabric — you name it. You can use it inside and out, on upholstery and paint, lifting dust from your dashboard and general ickiness from everything else. It also works great on tree sap, bird poop and bugs.  Just don’t use it on your mirrors, windshield or head unit display. 

I want to draw your attention to the fact that unlike other cleaning agents from our list, CarGuys does not contain any ingredients protecting the interior from UV rays and other environmental factors, and the manufacturer says it upfront, explaining the reasons for the decision to create such a product.

According to CarGuys, the cleaners that have both cleaning and protective properties do not do their job perfectly. The cleaner reacts with the conditioner, which results in formation of an unattractive cloudy film on the treated surface. That is why CarGuys recommend purchasing the cleaner and the conditioner separately and use them for treating the car interior in turns. There is a grain of truth in these words, but it only applies to cheap products.

The main advantage of this product is the 100% quality assurance from the manufacturer. CarGuys consider their product the best car interior cleaner available on the US market today. If so happens that the customer is unsatisfied with the final result, the manufacturer will reimburse the full amount of the purchase!

How to Use

It’s seriously as simple as it gets: Spray it on a terry towel and go to town. There’s nothing else to it. It automatically dries and leaves a modest polish that respects the original texture of the material itself; the only goal is to really clean your interior and exterior surfaces to like-new condition.

Nuances

As I’ve mentioned above, this cleaning agent cannot be used for glass cleaning, including the glass display of the automotive electronics. So, when cleaning surfaces near these objects, spray the cleaner on the cleaning cloth rather than on the treated surface in order to avoid any accidental contact with sensitive areas.

Use it sparely:

• Treat smaller areas to avoid evaporation of the cleaner.
• When cleaning slightly soiled areas, apply the product to the cleaning cloth and not to the entire area.

Verdict

Shine Society Interior Cleaner — All-Natural Heavy-Duty Cleaning

Manufacturer and First Impressions

“Shine Society” sounds like a name we could trust. It evokes images of an esoteric and incredibly wealthy gathering of men and women in black suits with mirror-shine smiles and maybe a hint of dark intentions. However, we think these are just ordinary people with an extraordinary interior detailer arrangement. Their products include leather treatments, glass cleaner, high-gloss sealants, general cleaning and more.

Features

If you were concerned about the chemicals that you might find in a cleaner that’s designed for use on almost every surface inside your vehicle, well, fear not: Shine Society brings you an all-natural solution to that. In fact, the reason their product plays nice with so many different kinds of materials is thanks to the chemical-free nature of their interior cleaner. It also disinfects surfaces and features heavy-duty dirt and grease stripping.

How to Use

You can’t screw this up! Just spray it on the desired surface or a terry towel and apply accordingly.

Verdict

Adam’s Polishes Interior Detailer — Well-Rounded Cleaning and Detailing

Manufacturer and First Impressions

We’re not sure who Adam is, but he sells a heck of a convincing product line that features everything from cleaners, detailers, polishes, iron removal kits, tire-shiners and more.

This is a fairly popular and well-known company in the world of car cleaners and polish treatments, and their complete devotion to these products is a good sign in our book. Have you ever purchased from a company that tries to do a little bit of everything and fails at all of it? Yeah, Adam’s Polishes isn’t one of them. Give him (or her) a crack.

Features

Advertised as “cleaning and dressing” in “one easy step”, Adam seems to be following the same winning formula that other manufacturers do: spray it on, wipe it down, good to go. This one has the bonus of adding UV protection to your surfaces in addition to killing unwanted odors and preventing static buildup, all of which are welcome quirks that aren’t found in most other detailers that we found. It’s good for general cleaning as well as leaving a little polish behind to enhance that like-new look.

An important advantage of this cleaning agent is its antistatic qualities. The treated surface repels dust, and, as a result, you do not have to clean the interior so often, which helps to save your time and extend the time of your car’s interior absolutely clean look.

Like most products from our list, Adam’s Interior Detailer is manufactured in the USA and meets all current quality and safety standards. The manufacturer guarantees that the buyer will be 110% satisfied with the purchase. However, the manufacturer does not specify whether it means that in case of dissatisfaction with the quality of the product the money will be reimbursed to the buyer. But since the cleaner is indeed of high quality, we think that no issue of this kind would ever arise.

How to Use

Simply spray it on, set it on fire, and watch your car melt. Or, you can spray it on, use a terry towel and enjoy your shiny, clean interior. We think the latter is better.

Verdict

303 High Tech — Best Fabric Cleaner

Manufacturer and First Impressions

Evidently based out of Australia, 303 Products sounds like a company that dabbles in all kinds of goods. The reality is that interior and exterior detailing is just about the only thing they do, which is good news for you. You wouldn’t want to buy a detailer from a company that’s stretching itself thin across multiple industries, right? 303 Products is dedicated to the one thing that you came here for, and we’re right behind them on that.

Features

Yes, you don’t get a whole lot in a single shipment. However, their products are touted for high-performance usage on vehicles both vintage and new. This should work on all interior fabric surfaces. This also comes with Fabric Guard, which intuitively protects your carpets and seats from stains and whatever else befalls a fun Friday night out with your buds. There’s also a vinyl cleaner included with this shipment.

This set contains two car interior care products:

1. Multi-Surface Cleaner.
2. Fabric Guard.

To make it more convenient for the customers to use these cleaners, the manufacturer added three microfiber towels and a brush to the set.

Multi-Surface Cleaner

Multi-Surface Cleaner is designed for cleaning the most soiled areas on cloth, vinyl, rubber and metal. It effectively removes any stains, including grease, dirt, tea, coffee, juice, and mildew. It can be used to clean both the interior (seat trim, floor mats, and vinyl, metal and rubber trim elements) and the exterior surfaces (the roof of the convertible). In addition, the cleaner can be used to clean engines and fuel tanks from dirt stuck to the oil stains.

This environmentally friendly cleaning agent does not have any unpleasant smell, does not foam and it is inflammable.

Fabric Guard

It is a non-toxic fluoropolymer-based agent intended to protect a wide range of types of fabric. After application to fabric, it creates a coating that repels water, oil, dust, any kind of dirt and also prevents growth of mold. The cleaner is safe enough to be used on the most delicate silk and wool.

The owners of convertibles find this cleaner particularly valuable. Active components that make up the product protect fabric from UV exposure. By regularly using Fabric Guard you will prevent fabric from fading and preserve the attractive appearance of your convertible top for a long time.

Like the cleaner, this product does not have any unpleasant smell of chemicals.

The manufacturer recommends applying for protection every six months. Considering the fact that each manufacturer is used to praising his product, I would recommend using this product every 3-4 months for better protection. But you must agree that this is a very long period of time.

How to Use

As with most detailers on our list today, you simply spray it on and rub it down with a terry towel. It’s just that simple. We’ll add that 303 Products includes three microfiber towels and a Tampico scrub brush that’s meant to be used on your carpets and fiber-based seats.

To clean surfaces containing difficult-to-remove stains, for example, to clean the engine from oil and dust, spray the product directly onto the area. Let the dirt soak off and rinse it with water.
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To clean the mats, seats, vinyl interior trim, dissolve ½ cup of the product in a gallon of warm water, apply the solution to the surface with a brush or a pulverizer. Let the dirt soak off and then wipe the surface thoroughly with a damp towel. Afterwards, wipe the cleaned surface dry, and spray Fabric Guard on fabric.

Verdict

Chemical Guys Quick Detailer — Excellent All-Around Detailing

Manufacturer and First Impressions

We’re not sure how to feel about a company that decided to call itself “Chemical Guys”, especially when we have all-nature solutions on our list today. Nonetheless, they old one of the better interior cleaners and detailers that we found, so we’re here to review them now.

Upon checking out their web presence, it appears that they do love their foam guns, sprays, cannons and all kinds of gear in addition to the actual cleaning products themselves. We must say that we’re impressed with their commitment to a superior interior as well as exterior cleaning.

Features

Shipping in a loud yellow jug, this product isn’t exactly cheap, but it comes in bulk quantity and is simple to use. Aside from lifting dirt, dust, and detritus, as usual, it also applies for UV protection and repels dust after you’ve spread it on. It can also be used on head unit displays and should play nice with every interior material. After a good wipe, this is said to leave a “high-quality OEM finish”, which is a nice way of saying that it’ll make your interior look good.

The cleaner is available in two scents: Pineapple and Baby powder. Customers are also offered different volume options: 1 gallon, 64oz, 16oz and 4oz. In my opinion, it is convenient. If you have not used this cleaner before, you can buy the smallest amount to test it.

How to Use

Spray or pour it on a terry towel or microfiber cloth and apply accordingly. It’s straightforward like that.

Verdict

Tuff Stuff Multi-Purpose Foam Cleaner — Best Multi-Purpose Cleaner

Manufacturer and First Impressions

The company was founded in 1969, and all this time it has been producing only cleaning products for car and home. Today, the manufacturer produces only two products: the multipurpose foam cleaner described in this article and the multipurpose stain remover. Although it is not a large company, it focuses only on one field and strives to be the best at it.

Features

This multi-purpose foam cleaner doesn’t pretend to do more than just clean everything inside and outside your car and home. Yep, that’s right: Tuff Stuff can be used on your home surfaces like countertops, linoleum floors, painted walls and more. That’s in addition to its primary purpose as an interior cleaner for your car, working on fabrics, leather, plastic and everything else with ease. Intuitively, you can and should try it out on the external facings of your vehicle as well. Just remember that this is a cleaner and not so much a detailer.

How to Use

As foams would have it, using it on fabrics will involve a degree of settling before wiping it up. If you’re dealing with light dirt and stains, you can simply whip it on and wipe it up for quick results.

Verdict

KevianClean Interior Defense — Best Overall Interior Cleaner

Manufacturer and First Impressions

Guys from KevianClean pride themselves on eco-friendly car care with their array of treatments, cleaners and detailing finishers. It’s a good company with a great reputation, and you shouldn’t pass up a second, third and eighth look at their offerings.

Features

As the name suggests, this is supposed to clean your car’s interior while protecting it from oils, dust, UV rays, odors and temperature changes. It can be applied to just about any surface including vinyl, plastic, leather, fabric and more. There don’t seem to be any contraindications, which is about right for a product that’s all-natural in composition. The lack of irritants makes it ideal for kids and pets alike, and there’s even a 60-day money-back guarantee to boot.

After treatment with this cleaner, the surface acquires a beautiful shine and UV protection. The manufacturer achieved this effect by adding Carnauba wax to the product. This wax is extracted from the leaves of palm trees in Brazil. Thanks to its outstanding protective qualities, wax has been widely used in the automotive industry. You can get more information about Carnauba wax from our recent article about the best wax for black cars.

How to Use

There’s nothing complicated about this one: Spray it on and wipe it down. It’s that easy.

Verdict

Meguiar’s G13616 — Best All-in-One Cleaner and Detailer

Manufacturer and First Impressions

Meguiar’s prides itself on its high-profile, high-standard product line that covers everything inside and out for vehicles of all kinds. From what we see, they’re definitely a good company that holds well to its promise of quality.

Features

This is both a cleaner and a detailer, which simplifies the process from two separate products and wipe-downs to a single spritz and swipe for a good dirt-lifting and a layer of polish on top. It’s safe for all interior materials and covers everything from stains, grease and oil to dust, dirt and scuffs.

There’s also a degree of protection from UV rays to prevent interior discoloration and cracking, and it’s advertised to leave behind no residue or greasy feeling after you’ve wiped it down. Oh, and you can also put some on your head unit display without a hitch.

How to Use

It wouldn’t be very “Quik” if you couldn’t just spritz it on a terry towel or microfiber cloth and just wipe everything down in one go!

Verdict

Nextzett Plastic Deep Cleaner — Potent Solid-Surface Cleaning

Manufacturer and First Impressions

Nextzett: the power of German cleaning and detailing. We know the Germans are freaking awesome at some important parts of our daily existence as humans, one of them being their attention to detail in their automotive engineering.

Does this mean that they know what it takes to clean and care for the aesthetic in their vehicles? Well, if Nextzett is an indicator of anything, they certainly do. This is a reputable company with a reputable product, and what we really respect is that while some US manufacturers skimp out on a homepage, Nextzett went out of their way to make a US portal just for you.

Features

Let’s discuss a few things. “Plastik-Reiniger” footer title on the bottle. Why is that important? It’s not; we just thought it was way too cool and legit. Finally, let’s talk about how powerful this is for cleaning plastics in your car. While you can use it on rubber, vinyl and coated leather, this is advertised as a plastic cleaner that should thoroughly strip all stains, grime and oil. It also leaves an anti-static and dust-resistant layer after you’re finished with it.

There’s a slightly concerning note here: “Doesn’t contain harsh chemicals.” As a rule of thumb, a cleaner that’s less usable on a wider spectrum of surfaces and has to include a disclaimer like that is probably a little on the toxic side. This doesn’t have to be a bad thing; it’s not like Nextzett is trying to falsely lure you into using their product on nylon car seats. We just want to say that you should be careful.

How to Use

As always, you just spray it wherever you please and wipe it down accordingly.

Verdict

Pinnacle Natural Brilliance Leather Combo — Best Leather Treatment and Cleaner

Manufacturer and First Impressions

Also known as Pinnacle Waxes and Polishes, this company presents itself with an upscale flair that’s definitely down the vein of caring for high-end vehicle interiors and exteriors alike. They’re fully dedicated to selling products that do exactly this.

Features

As the title suggests, this is a cleaner and treatment combo for leather and vinyl, so if you’re rocking nylon seats or whatever, don’t harsh your mellow with this stuff, bro.

This product comes with two bottles:

1. One for cleaning
2. And the other conditioning

The whole shebang is designed to provide a comprehensive cleaning solution for your leather surfaces while maintaining the natural polish of the material and adding a bit of gloss on top for that prestigious look.

You can expect to clean the most difficult stains with this stuff. There’s also an infusion of natural oils that prevent dust buildup and moisture penetration, furthering the continuity of your leather and vinyl elements inside your car.

How to Use

You’re supposed to lay on the cleaner first, let it sit, then wipe it down. Following that, apply the conditioner, let it sit, then wipe that down too. This one-two punch just about covers it.

Verdict

Guardsman Clean and Renew for Leather — Powerful Leather Cleaner

Manufacturer and First Impressions

Guardsman is perhaps the only company on our list today that isn’t, in fact, 100 percent committed to car cleaning and detailing. They’re in the right ballpark though: They specialize in furniture upkeep with an array of cleaners and detailing formulas, and that includes offerings for your vehicle interior. The reception is mostly good, and they’re reasonably well-known for their quality.

Features

Don’t let the “renew” part of the product description throw you off: This is not a detailer. This product is meant to clean surfaces and leave them looking “renewed”. Yes, it’s a touch profound; yes, our lives have been permanently changed for the better to know this about Guardsman’s product. There’s nothing wrong that, however, because it does exactly what it’s meant to with deep-cleaning power that blows out stains, grit and all kinds of caked-on whatever-you-spilled-theres on leather. It’s great for maintaining the natural sheen on leather, and you shouldn’t run into any issues with streaking or residue.

How to Use

You should only use this on finished surfaces, Guardsman notes. Shake it up, squeeze the foam on and rub out the problems from your car or home furniture. It’s a little more complicated than other cleaners but still very simple to use.

Verdict

Best Car Interior Cleaner Buyer’s Guide

When choosing the best cleaner for your car’s interior, we recommend paying attention to the following criteria:

1. The Purpose

All cleaners are divided into two types:

1. Intended for cleaning particular materials.
2. Multipurpose cleaners for cleaning all types of materials.

If you need to clean some extra soiled spots on a particular piece of the interior, it is always better to use a special cleaner intended for this purpose in particular.

For regular car maintenance – removing dust and minor stains – we advise buying a multipurpose cleaner for all types of surfaces.

2. Ingredients

Before making a purchase, make sure that the product you’ve chosen does not contain elements that can damage the surfaces in your car or harm your health. We’ve selected only safe cleaners for this article. Some of them do not contain any synthetic ingredients. For example, Shine Society Interior Cleaner is citrus-based.

3. Additional Properties

Some products are designed not only to clean, but also to protect the surfaces from UV exposure and have antistatic properties. In general, this is a good property for a product. But keep in mind that  some products of this type were manufactured by old-fashioned technologies and tend to leave an oily or cloudy film on the surface . Before buying a product, make sure that the selected item is modern and its components do not react with each other, which could potentially lead to the consequences described above. Or buy a cleaner and a protectant separately.

What should I use with an interior cleaner?

Ideally, a terry towel or microfiber cloth should be used with spray cleaners. Wet wipes do their own deed without additional help, but if the instructions call for a dry pass after a good wipe-down, stick to a terry towel for that.

Terry towels and microfiber cloths may be provided with some cleaners. The reason they’re preferred is due to their low residue, which makes them ideal for cleaning surfaces that are sensitive to detritus. Such surfaces include mirrors, windshields and the exterior of your car. The concern with residue is less to do with damage than with aesthetic and clarity, both of which can be obscured behind particles of paper towel fibers or washcloth fluff.

Terry towels are good for both internal and external cleaning. However, microfiber cloth is better suited for smooth surfaces with minimal grime. Start with a terry towel for the initial cleaning and then follow up with microfiber for a sweet finishing polish. Of course, if the instructions on the cleaner call for a different material, listen to the manufacturer; they probably know what’s best.

What are the risks of using interior cleaners?

Generally speaking, there are none. As long as you use your cleaner on the materials that it’s recommended with, you should be fine. However, some of the stronger all-in-one cleaners that are meant for both interior and exterior cleaning may be harsher on interior materials. Basically, if an interior cleaner says that it can also tackle exterior detritus such as oil stains, bugs in your grille and seemingly permanent dust lines in your window seams, it may be prudent to use a smaller amount when cleaning the interior. That’s just on the safe side.

Also pay attention to how pungent the chemical smell is while applying it; stronger odors imply a harsher chemical mix. Generally speaking, the issue of combining interior and exterior cleaners is why some manufacturers opt to break them up into separate products.

Can interior cleaners be used externally? What about household carpets and upholstery?

We’re not going to pretend to have a catch-all answer to whether you can take CarGuys’ Super Cleaner or KevianClean Interior Defense to your couch, area rug or love seat. This depends on the cleaner, and since some of the same materials that are used in your car interior can also be found in your household furniture, we suspect that certain cleaners can be improvised for this purpose. However, we don’t recommend that you do this, especially if the cleaner is intended to leave a finish on the affected surface.

On the other hand, many cleaners are designed to handle both the interior and exterior of your car in a single cleaning solution. You’ll need to read what’s shown on the bottle to determine whether you can safely apply a cleaner that’s marketed primarily for internal use on the exterior paint job or chrome trimming on your car. You’ll also want to watch out for how your cleaner will interact with wax jobs, spray-in bedliners, and other potentially sensitive surface treatments.

Inversely, we can’t say that household cleaners are bad for cleaning your vehicle’s interior since that’s what most folks end up doing anyway. However, be careful of unforeseen consequences.

What if I don’t want to use an interior cleaner? What should I use instead?

Here’s a list of what you can definitely use on just about any surface:

• Vinegar — cuts grease and grime
• Rubbing alcohol — good for stains
• Toothpaste — may also be used for stains
• Gentle dish soap — can produce a cheap form of car soap that’s good for interior and exterior cleaning
• Lemon juice — like vinegar, provides an acidic degreaser

If these don’t cut it for you, then you might turn to household chemicals to do the trick instead. These are sometimes viable for this purpose, but as we stated earlier, this can have unforeseen results because the materials that are in your car interior aren’t necessarily the same as those used in your furniture and household surfaces. Generally speaking, Pledge, Windex and Lysol are trusted to not leave any lasting damage, but we urge you to read the warnings on these products and test them in a small, inconspicuous corner of the material that you’re cleaning before wiping down the whole shebang.

I don’t feel like cleaning a lot. What areas inside or outside of my car should I focus on most?

You’ll want to stick to the parts of your car cabin that experience the most handling and build up the most grime as a result. Steering wheels are considered gross by passengers because of the bacteria buildup and grime that makes itself apparent over time. Also consider cleaning the knobs, dials and buttons on the instrument panel. If your cleaner is deemed safe for it, also give the head unit display a good wipe.

On the outside, consider putting the vehicle through a car wash if you’re not particular about wiping down every square centimeter of the chassis, tires and windows.

Do interior cleaners leave residue and odors?

We picked 11 of the best interior car cleaners for our list today, and as a general rule, interior cleaners wouldn’t do their job very well if they left residue. Some, however, will include scents that help promote that “new and clean” smell of a freshly purchased vehicle. If you’re not about that life, there are scentless options available.

Conclusion

By now, a question may have occurred to you: “To buy or not to buy?” We strongly recommend that you invest your pocket change into an interior cleaner to disinfect, degrease and detail as well as lift dust, dirt and detritus from your vehicle. These solutions are designed for this specific purpose, delivering top-tier cleaning performance while protecting your surfaces from damage and offering a nice scent and finish to top it off. Some don’t offer any finish or scent, and those are viable options if you want to go that route.

Whatever you do, try to avoid using household chemicals to clean the inside of your car. Yes, vinegar and lemon juice can work, but we discourage mixtures such as Lysol and Pledge. There’s no reason to not pick up an interior detailer for the cost that they go for, especially when they can present an all-in-one solution to your cabin cleaning needs. Some of them will also handle exterior cleaning as well, which is just another good reason to try one out.