Interior Detailing Guide 2023

**AyAyron** · 08-26-2023, 09:53 AM

Hey all! I do car detailing as a side hustle and wanted to share an updated guide on how to detail your Mirage and have it looking on point! Hopefully this will be the first of many guides. I will try and keep it simple, covering (i) equipment required and (ii) steps to perform.

PREFACE
Car detailing can be split broadly into 2 parts: (i) interior and (ii) exterior. This separation helps as the tools/chemicals etc need to be different for both.

Exterior detailing can be further broken down into

Wash
Paint correction
Paint protection

I hope to cover these in future.

THE INTERIOR

Supplies required

Plastic Bag or Bin (for collecting trash)
Small Brush - [soft] paintbrush or toothbrush works
Microfiber Towels - nothing fancy, save the expensive ones for the paint
Interior cleaner - any APC works at recommended dilutions
Interior Dressing
Carpet Brush
Vacuum (optional)

Steps

Clean out the trash from the door panels, back seat, etc.
Clean the floor mats. Remove them and shake them out, away from the vehicle.
- If they’re carpeted, brush/vacuum them.
- If they’re rubber, spray down some interior cleaner/APC and brush them. Rinse/wipe clean.
Set the floor mats aside to dry or air out.
Brush/vacuum the seats. Do not use the carpet brush if its too stiff. Use the brush to remove dirt/debris onto the carpet. Use your fingers to push along the seams to clean those areas.
Brush/vacuum the carpet. Use the carpet brush or vacuum to remove dirt/debris from the floor carpet.
Clean the plastics. Grab a microfiber and fold it into quarters. Spray the interior cleaner onto a quarter wipe clean. As the quarter gets dirty (visibly) swap to a new side and spray interior cleaner. Change out the towel when all quarters get dirty. Use a separate wet towel to wipe over the cleaned areas to remove the cleaner from the surface.
- Plastics include: the dash, doors, center console, gear shift, hand brake, interior pillars, steering column.
- Note: do not spray interior cleaner/apc directly onto plastics, they are usually caustic (alkaline) and can leave "burn" marks.
Apply dressing. Get a new microfiber and spray dressing onto it. Wipe all the cleaned plastic areas down. Typically more dressing equals shinier look. I personally prefer matte finish hence spray the dressing sparingly.

And you are done! For first timers, this process can take up to 3 hours, especially if your car has a lot of miles on it and is not cleaned from time to time. If crunched for time, I like to break it into sections: clean the mats+carpet one day (0.5-1h), do the plastics another day (1h) etc. Having a vacuum saves time (and your back).

Hope this helps!

Attaching the before and after of one of the doors of my partner's car (I forgot to take before/after of my Mirage

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