Most of the traditional car cleaning products on the market today are full of toxic and petrochemicals that are not healthy for you and your family to breathe, or for mother earth. With recent innovations in the cleaning products, non-toxic car cleaning products are now coming onto the market. A great example are Laura Klein's Green Car cleaning products.
Here are some simple tips for a car detailing regimen:
- Exterior wash: weekly
- Thorough detailing: monthly
- Paint wax: 10-12 weeks
- Wheels: monthly
- Glass: weekly
- Vacuum interior: twice monthly
- Interior stain removal: monthly
- Leather conditioning: monthly
- Seal cleaning: monthly
- Clean and preserve/protect cracks: monthly
That doesn’t seem too bad, now does it? But what if you’re going to do several car cleaning projects in one day? What order do you attempt the various tasks in?
As a general rule of thumb, this is the best order in which to be cleaning your vehicle when you’re working inside and out in a detailed manner:
Step 1: De-clutter
It's time to de-clutter the interior. That means removing all of the trash from the interior, and remember to recycle as much as you can.
Step 2: Vacuum
Remove the floor mats and vacuum. Using your vacuum’s crevice and upholstery tools, vacuum the floors and the crevices between the seats, console, dash, seats and vents. If you do this on a regular basis, the job will take you less than 5 minutes.
Step 3: Clean floor mats
Look over your floor mats and check for stains. Use your Laura Klein’s Green Car Carpet Spot Remover by spraying it on the stain, lightly scrub with a damp rag or scrub brush, and blot dry.
Step 4: Remove carpet and upholstery stains
Follow the same procedure that you used with the floor mats, check the interior carpeting and upholstery for stains and treat as necessary with Laura Klein's Green Car Carpet Spot Remover. For leather and vinyl seats, use Laura Klein’s Tire & Dashboard Cleaner instead.
Step 5: Clean interior panels
Spray your Laura Klein’s Green Car Tire & Dashboard Cleaner full-strength on the interior panels in your vehicle—the dashboard, steering wheel, center console, etc., and wipe clean with your microfiber cloths. It conditions, protects and restores natural suppleness and beauty to rubber, vinyl and leather. This highly concentrated formula gives long lasting protection & shine! It is a water- and plant-based cleaning product that is free of petroleum ingredients and harmful silicone oils. It does not leave a sticky residue, and there are no smelly fumes for you or your family to inhale. There are no harsh chemicals. Just environmentally friendly, easy green cleaning at its best!
Step 6: Wash exterior.
Use Laura Klein’s Green car Waterless Wash & Shine to get an easy, streak-free finish without water. It even works on bird poop. To clean and degrease your engine, use Laura Klein’s Green Car Cleaner Degreaser . When using products that require a hose move your car over your grass or a gravel area to prevent toxic runoff of heavy metals, oil, gas and more from going into the storm drains.
Step 7: Polish and wax paint finish.
With Laura Klein’s Green Car Wash & Wax Concentrate, you’ll get a beautiful finish to your car washing efforts. Plus, this product contains ingredients that will provide full-spectrum UVA and UVB protection for your car’s exterior finishes. Remember, when using products like these that require a hose move your car over your grass or a gravel area to prevent toxic runoff of heavy metals, oil, gas and more from going into the storm drains
Step 8: Clean nooks and crannies
Use a good interior cleaner that has a UVA/UVB protectant in it like Laura Klein’s Tire & Dashboard Cleaner. Use it to clean various nooks and crannies in your vehicle, including cup holders, crevices in and around your center console, dashboard displays, and so on.
Step 9: Clean windows and mirrors
Finish by cleaning your windows and mirrors with a good non-toxic streak-free formula. Most conventional window cleaners contain asthma triggers that can set off an asthma attack at any moment. Toxic chemical cleaners can also trigger allergies, which is another good reason to choose non-toxic cleaners. Laura Klein’s Green Car Glass & Mirror is an excellent non-toxic choice for sparkling streak-free windows and mirrors. Simply spray your windows and mirrors and shine dry using a dry microfiber cloth.
It’s a great idea to have a regular cleaning schedule for your vehicle in order to properly maintain it, inside and out. After all, it’s much easier to remove dirt and grime on a regular basis then have to scrub to clean surfaces with an accumulation of debris. This will help to keep your vehicle looking newer for longer, which ultimately helps to keep your vehicle’s residual value high as well. And we all want that!
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