Car Cleaning with Messy Kids
Posted on by The Simoniz Garage
When it comes to kids, no surface in your car is safe...
Windows, Seats, Floor Mats, are all susceptible to fingerprints, sticky candy, food, juice, markers, or not getting home in time for the bathroom. So many messes are caused by our kids so making sure we clean them up sooner and effectively can prevent long term or irreversible damage to the interior of your car.
Windows
Let's start with the easiest of the bunch; finger prints on windows. Simoniz Vision Clear Aerosol is an easy to use window cleaner that leaves a streak free shine. Vision Clear is also a neutral cleaner, meaning it is safe on all surfaces. Therefore, you don't need to worry about it on your upholstery, plastics, or seats.
Seats and Floor Mats
When it comes to seats and floor mats we can find just about anything there when it comes to kids.. A lot of messes left by our children can result in very difficult stains, stickiness or smells to remove. Some things we may run into are milk spills, melted crayons, drawings in marker on your head rest, chewing gum, ketchup stains, juice spills, crushed up cheerios, or even a child had an accident that needs to be cleaned up.
While tackling these, it is important to identify how long a mess has been there before using the correct formula to tackle the job. Lets start with messes that JUST happened. For this, Simoniz Interior Cleaner is perfect for all purpose interior cleaning. For small messes, you can spray a light amount on a microfiber towel and wipe away the spot. Or for bigger areas, it is safe to sprayed on all interior surfaces and then wipe away. It is formulated to dry quickly so you don't have to worry about the area staying wet for long after you spray on and wipe away the surface moisture therefore eliminating any mildew or water staining.
For messes that have been there for an unknown amount of time that may have caused staining, are stuck on or melted in, and maybe even smell, the process gets a little bit more time consuming, but nothing that can't be tackled.
Anything that contains sugar (candy, soda, juice) can be extremely difficult to remove once they have caramelized onto your cars surfaces. If this is candy, remove the piece of candy prior to any cleaning to just tackle the remaining residue. Depending on what surface you are cleaning will determine what product you use to clean it! For floor mats or carpets & upholstery, use Simoniz Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner. For Cleaning plastics, leather seats, door handles, etc. use Simoniz Citrus Clean Aerosol. This product is a convenient ready to use aerosol cleaner degreaser that cleans, deodorizes and degreases floors, walls, vehicles, equipment, washable painted surfaces, porcelain and all tile surfaces. Easily removes fingerprints, scuff marks, grease, light carbon etc. Does not contain butyl, chlorinated or petroleum solvents.
For anything that can create odor causing bacteria such as a dairy product or an accident make sure to shampoo that area thoroughly. You can accompany this process with Simoniz RTU Interior Surface Sanitizer, Disinfectant and Deodorizer.
For melted on crayons, gum or anything else that can melt and stick to the fibers on carpets that aren't coming out using any of the above processes try using Simoniz Chewing Gum Remover. Accompany that with a Dual Purpose Tooth Brush Style Detail Brush to effectively remove the stuck on contaminant.
For the stain that just wont come out, try our Simoniz Spot Remover. This spot remover is great for marker drawings! But it also helps get other things like coffee, lipstick, or ketchup off of anything. Because hey, we make messes too!
**NOTE** Before cleaning up after your kids, remove their car seats or booster seats as a lot of hidden messes can be found around them and are usually the cause for "that smell" which can be easily identified to be the case when it is outside of the car rather than mixed in with the mess inside the car.
Happy Detailing!