After sharing a few photos on the Bongo Owners’ Scotland facebook group, I was asked what different cleaning products I had used for the big 3-day valet. So, I will share my “trade secrets” here! There are about a million different products out there, from a thousand different brands, and some work better than others, in my humble opinion, however different folk have their own preferences, and I completely respect that.
DISCLAIMER!! Please, please, bear in mind I am NOT a professional car valeter, nor do I work for any supplier or manufacturer of any of the products used!! Experiment at your own risk, and bear in mind also that whatever “that stain” is on your upholstery might not shift! If you’re okay with that, then please read on!
Inside-Out
It might seem the wrong way round, but for a number of reasons I started with the interior, and finished with the exterior this time round. I wanted to really deep clean the blinds, headliner and upholstery so decided this would take a day or two to fully dry out, hence tackling it first. I started by stripping out the Dickie seats from the van. These were an Ebay purchase last year, unusual in that I have never seen any fitted with extra covers over the seat part, and they came with a cover that fits over the rear of the engine cover area. What a clever idea – these would prevent the seats and carpets getting dirty from your passengers’ feet, if they used the middle seats and hence the Dickie seats as footrests. Having a degree of success before, after some Youtube research, I mixed up a bucket of very hot water with a scoop of laundry detergent, mixing thoroughly to get the detergent in solution. I applied this with a small round microfibre sponge pad, the kind for applying car polish, being generous and wetting the seats well. Once this was soaked in for a few minutes, I gently scrubbed with a scrubbing brush, getting a good lather going, and watching the dirt come out! Seat pads and covers got the same treatment, and they were coming up a treat. Now I needed to get the detergent out, as it would make everything sticky and attract dirt quicker in the future if not rinsed out, so a good spray with the garden hose, until no foaming was visible. These now got hung in the sunshine which has been basically a constant over the Lockdown period, ironically.
Next came the roller blinds in the rear, which were really showing their 25 years’ worth of grime, finger marks, cigarette stains, cooking, dogs’ noses, all leave their mark before I bought the van. I hadn’t really tackled them before, as I didn’t want to have to strip them out, a fiddly process involving stripping most of the interior (could have done this when I had the back stripped before!), but they really needed a good clean. So, I worked out how to carefully extend them beyond the tracks, securing them with luggage straps to the lowered bed, stuffed towels behind on the window surrounds, and got ready. For this job, the bucket got refilled with clean hot water and a new sponge pad – no scrubbing brush this time. I prepped the small steam cleaner my wife has for cleaning the oven. And brought out my trusty Autoglym Interior Shampoo bottle! I have used Autoglym products for about 35 years now, not the cheapest and not as popular as they once were among the car fraternity, as more trendy products (Angel Wax, Car Guys) appear, but the brand is still endorsed by Jaguar and Aston Martin, so it will do for me! I have also started using Meguiar’s All Purpose Cleaner D10101, buying in neat form and mixing up as required. This stuff is very versatile, neat it makes a good degreaser for engine work, or wheels, but in a 1 to 4 parts water is fine for interior on stubborn marks, both on plastic and fabric. These blinds were going to be CLEANED!
I sprayed on the Autoglym shampoo, soaking well, and waited impatiently. Now to agitate gently with the sponge pad, keeping rinsing in the bucket of clean water. At first, there didn’t appear to be much change, other than a bit of a lather, but as the soap died away it became clear that the bllinds were now not the original yellowy-grey, but an off-white with blue-grey patterns!! Brilliant! I worked away at all four windows, and on the sliding door blind I could get to both sides, and applied a dose of the Meguiar’s to a particularly greasy spot of what looked like part-rust and part-food. It didn’t go completely, but was invisible to anyone who didn’t know where to look, a vast improvement. I finished the job off with a liberal blast from the wee steam cleaner, to blow any last chemical and grime through the material, then gently dabbed the worst of the water off with my towels. I now left the blinds extended overnight to dry, and the results were very satisfying!
Between the Dickie seats and covers, front mats and the blinds, I had now spent over six hours cleaning today – enough for one day, I decided. Tomorrow, the rest of the interior!
Another big job I had been putting off was having a go at the headliner, which wasn’t too bad, for the most part, but had greasy marks from years of heads rubbing against it and grubby hand marks around the edges above the front doors. In the rear, above the rear windows was grubby, and the floor of the AFT was marked and abit tired looking too. The big worry was that the headlining was a one-piece construction, like most relatively modern cars, a sandwich of cloth, foam and insulation. From previous experience these can delaminate and bubble, looking horrendous, and I knew that if that happened I would have to replace the whole thing – a major job and expense, as well as something that would NOT go by post! I resolved to have a go anyway….
I used the same cleaning method as before, spraying the Interior Shampoo, sparingly this time, leaving a few minutes to work, then very gently using the microfibre sponge pad, I worked at the dirtiest bits, being careful not to get everything too wet this time in case the headlining came away. It was hard to see progress due to foaming, but when this was rinsed off, things were looking much better, although I would have to wait until it was dry to see the real difference. I replenished my bucket and worked through the back and roof floor as well. This last was at least a bit easier, as I could stand up to tackle it. Everything else had meant lying at some weird angles upside down!
Lastly I tackled the seats, and especially the driver’s seat, as they were looking a bit grubby too. I had cleaned them when I got the van, but being light grey, they were starting to get a wee bit dirty looking. On went the Autoglym Interior Shampoo again, liberally sprayed and left for 10 minutes. Then out came the clean hot water, microfibre sponge pad and the elbow grease! A couple of stubborn marks on the back of the driver’s seat required retreating, this time with the Meguiar’s, and came up great. Finally, the dashboard and door cards got a good scrub with the Meguiar’s as well, all except the fabric parts which got the Autoglym shampoo and sponge treatment. A full 8-hour day spent on the interior, but it was looking, and smelling, a whole lot sweeter!!
So, two whole days work, just for the interior, and I would think most folk would dsay it wasn’t that dirty to begin with! But, it is very therapeutic, and satisfying, to see a well -used interior cleaning up. It is far from perfect, there are scratches and scrapes showing the 25 years of use and abuse the van have had. But, I quite like that. I enjoy looking round at a well – kept and cared – for interior and can accept the imperfections. I would be terrible with a brand new one!!
Very few chemicals used for different surfaces. Laundry detergent for the seats and covers, Autoglym Interior Shampoo for the blinds and seats, headliner and fabrics. And, Meguiar’s All Purpose cleaner for everything else – plastics and stubborn greasy stains. Plenty clean hot water, plenty towels to dab dry, some microfibre pads and cloths. Oh, and two days of your time, lol!
I will save the exterior for another post. Spoiler alert – Autoglym products feature heavily, as well as the elbow grease.
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