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Once the tests were completed, we felt satisfied that each cleaner was judged equally and that the old Geo enjoyed a nice interior spruce-up. We noted how much of the greasy butter was left behind and applied that to our results. We then sprayed this greasy mess with each cleaner, waited 10 seconds, and then applied one even, uniform wipe. Other notes included smell, residue, and drying patterns.Īfter all of the cleaners completed that test, we wiped a chunk of semi-soft butter on the dashboard. We began by testing each cleaner on a separate section of equally dirty dashboard and door panel and noted how quickly the cleaner cut through the dirt and grime. We purchased a large pack of new microfiber cloths for this test to ensure each cleaner had an equal chance to clean. He's driven the thing all over the place, and it's accumulated its fair share of interior grubbiness in its three decades of existence. We didn't want to use a new car, so we settled on a semi-legendary 1990 Geo Tracker owned by Car and Driver's very own Dave Beard. We wanted a mix of typical grime and simulated messes in our test vehicle for this evaluation. Here are our picks for the best car interior cleaners. These cleaners will freshen up steering wheels, dashboards, cupholders, and just about everything in between. So before you apply that elbow grease to your chrome bumpers, don't overlook your vehicle's interior. The test included a well-loved (and slightly legendary) 1990 Geo Tracker from a previous beaters challenge, a stick of butter, and more. To find the best car interior cleaner, we tested nine of the market's top products from brands such as Meguiar's and Chemical Guys. So what kind of interior cleaner do you buy? Yes, cleaning under your seats and around your cupholders seems daunting, but this is where you spend most of your time, after all. We think interior cleaning is an underrated aspect of car care. But what's the point of spending countless hours getting those pesky swirls out if your vehicle's interior is a den of nastiness? After all, that's what people notice first. When it comes to automotive care, it might be hard to look beyond the products that make your chrome shiny or your paint glitter in the sunlight.
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