The heatwave may seem to be coming to an end but no doubt your car is feeling the effects of the holiday weather, Suzanne Keane has some tips for the Heatwave Clean-Up
Is your car feeling the effects of the holiday weather? our tips below will make sure you’re not left with any nasty reminders!
- Ice Cream stains
If it’s fresh lots of cold water and scrubbing is the only answer! If it has dried in you’ll need to hoover up any residue then wet the fabric, squeeze some lemon juice over the stain and allow it to sit in the sun. This will also neutralise the smell from the stain – just remember to do a test patch first so that you don’t strip the colour from your seats! If this doesn’t work you can try some upholstery cleaner- but again do a patch test. If you’ve got leather seats some decent leather cleaner should sort it out.
- Chocolate Stains
Sunshine = melting chocolate and the best way to deal with this is to eat outside the car! Otherwise the best method for removing stains is to pick off what you can with your nails and then use a steam cleaner to try and remove the deeper stain. You can also try some hand soap on the stain patch and then use the steam cleaner again.
- Coffee Stains
It’s important to get to work on coffee stains as they happen – dab a clean cloth or kitchen towel on the spot. Be careful not to rub it and spread the stain. Start from the edges and work in. Once you’ve soaked up as much as you can mix 2 parts water with 1 part vinegar (white) and a dash of washing up liquid in a bowl. Use a clean cloth to dab the mixture into the stain and let it sit for 20 minutes. Then, using kitchen towel, blot the stain until it’s completely removed. Don’t forget to dry off the excess! If your seats are leather skip the vinegar, use extra washing up liquid and make sure to follow up with a leather treatment.
- Sun Tan Lotion
Those tell-tale hand prints from the beach won’t vanish – even after a good wash. Sun tan lotion is one of the most difficult stains to remove from paintwork. Chemicals in the product react with the paint making it extremely hard to remove. You’ll need to start with a good paint renovator or paint cleanser and then move onto polish (followed by a wax treatment). Unfortunately if the stains don’t vanish first time round it’s a case of rinse and repeat until they do! (This will also make that patch of your car look much better than the rest which will result in the need to polish and wax the whole car…..)
Remember it’s best to clean an interior on a hot day to ensure the seats dry out properly – even if you have to leave the car make sure the windows are open (a tiny amount) to allow the moisture to evaporate. It’s also easier to clean seats outside of the car so if you’re comfortable removing them do – just be careful if your seats have airbags built in not to set them off (or turn on any warning lights) and don’t forget the elbow grease!
Suzanne Keane
28th July, 2014
