For most car owners, cleaning the interior of their daily driver consists of little more than the occasional 75-cent vacuum rental at the drive-through car wash. Worse yet, others feel the need to douse the interior with shiny and sticky plastic and vinyl preservatives, advertised as beneficial in the back of car magazines and on car-themed televisions shows. As with properly washing a car, the correct care of a car's interior takes a bit of work, but the long-term payback in maintaining a car's value is worth it.

Step one is identifying the materials needed, including both tools and cleaning products. Microfiber towels are a must-have item, and dirty interiors will require quite a few. Dedicated microfiber towels should be used to clean glass (and clean glass only, to avoid picking up grit that can potentially scratch the inside of a windshield), and it's best to use a microfiber towel designed specifically for glass cleaning (usually with a finer nap than an all-purpose microfiber towel). Bristle brushes are needed to dust vents and scrub things like leather seats, door panels and steering wheels; it's best to have one "dry brush" dedicated to dusting only, with a second brush that can be used for wet scrubbing. A vacuum is a must-have item, and while a plug-in vacuum will provide the most suction, a rechargeable or 12v outlet-powered vacuum is better than no vacuum at all.

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