Welcome back to the Proje’ blog. Today, we’re going to zoom right in on one small feature of your car – the dashboard. It’s probably the bit you and your passengers see the most of, so while it may be small, it has a massive impact on how you feel if it’s not in great condition like the rest of your vehicle. Fortunately, we’ve got some top tips for you today that will leave your dashboard absolutely immaculate and put a smile on your face the next time you go for a drive!
The Problem with Dashboards
The problem here is that dashboards are becoming more and more super-powered. They’re smart, the screens are large and ultra-high quality, and there are now hundreds of buttons that do so many different awesome things. Sure, not every car is a Tesla in the tech department, but all cars these days are technologically a significant step up even from five years ago. Now this is awesome – everyone loves great tech in their car – but along with this has come an increased level of difficulty in the cleaning department. Where cars of the past had a flat, plastic surface that you could pretty much throw a bit of tissue paper at for 30 seconds, there are now buttons, edges and crevices that collect dirt and dust, and more glass surfaces to clean to boot. Cleaning your dashboard isn’t just a wipe and go job anymore, so we’ve got serious and put together a couple of great products to help you fight the future.
The Products
We’ve got two great products, and a range of must-have accessories that you will need to do this job and do it right.
1) Alpha Interior Cleaner and Leather Cleaner
Alpha Interior Cleaner & Leather Cleaner is a pH balanced formula that quickly and gently cleans all types of surfaces including leather, vinyl, and plastic. It removes dirt, oil, and tough stains and grime. Alpha is a non-toxic cleaner that is made in small batches to ensure quality and effectiveness. This is exactly what you’re going to need to deal with the dirt that has got in to the crevices around your dash buttons.
2) Interior Finish Satin Protectant
Ok, so this one is to get a real good shine and protective seal across the main body of your interior. Interior Satin Finish Protectant is designed for dashboards, vinyl, door panels, consoles, and door moldings. One application is usually all you will need to leave your surfaces supple and protected against damaging UV rays. This interior protectant is dry to the touch, never greasy and leaves surfaces with a beautiful matte or satin finish in a matter of seconds. Other than it getting in your eyes, it is easy to overlook the damage caused by the sun when you’re in your vehicle. UV rays are extremely harmful to dashboards, vinyl and moldings, causing them to crack and fade over time. This can then lead to warping, further cracks and eventually the need for replacement. This is easy to avoid though, as our Interior Satin Finish Protectant seals and finishes these surfaces, allowing for long-lasting protection from harmful rays at the same time as an attractive, natural-looking finish.
The next part of the process is going to be cleaning your glass dash surfaces. Genesis Glass Cleaner is an ammonia free, streak free formula that will deliver crystal clear glass every time. It’s safe on all kinds of glass, including interior dash glass. This versatile cleaner will also remove fingerprints, smudges and anything else life may throw at your glass. Use both inside and out for the best effects and for the kind of perfectly clear shine that you only see in the movies.
And what about the accessories we’re going to be using?
Our specially-designed weave towel makes the process of cleaning glass and mirrors smooth, quick and easy. Use the Diamond Window Towel to ensure that there are no streaks or swirls when you wipe your glass, so you don’t have to spend hours going over and over your work – it’s infuriating, but you can avoid it by purchasing this towel. The weave of the microfibers is slightly different; the fibers trap the water and absorb it in to the towel. This means you get drier surfaces more quickly, which helps to avoid streaks.
5) White Intensive 2-Sided Interior Towel
The White Intensive 2-Sided Interior Towel is specifically designed for Proje's Intensive Process. One side of the towel is constructed with terry weave material and the other side a soft microfiber, meaning that you can change up the amount of friction depending on the softness of your interior surface. It’s the perfect combination for light duty cleaning, wiping and protection application. One of the best things about this towel is its dual purpose. When you’ve absorbed the bulk of the liquid using the Terry Weave side, simply flip it over and you’ll find a soft microfiber side for the last wipe away of any remaining dust. This towel will not only leave your interior dry, but beautifully soft too. Remember – for your in-terior, think intensive!
The Blue Applicator Pad works great for general cleaning, applying coatings, conditioners, waxes, sealants, glazes, dressings and more. It has been specifically designed to fit perfectly in your hand and ensures that you will never introduce swirls or scratches to paintwork or interior surfaces when used correctly. Better yet, the Blue Applicator Pad is 100% machine washable.
The Easy Reach Crevice Brush makes cleaning the small cracks and crevices of your interior simple and effective, saving you time and energy.
It’s safe on all plastics, leather and interior trim and specially designed to reach in to any crevice, no matter how small, awkward or angular.
This is the most detailed, professional choice you can make for your interior. Even our finest microfiber towels can’t really work their way inside your vents or the tiny gaps between the raised part of your buttons and the main dash. This crevice brush is designed to do exactly that with barely any force, and will easily get rid of those irritating crumbs that got stuck, and will lift and remove small food and sticky drink stains with ease. This brush is designed to get right inside and get rid of all the build-up, so you can clean the bits you can’t even see before any issues with long-term stains or mold develop.
So, now we’ve got our gear, let’s get on with enjoying the process!
Step 1 – Start with the Crevices
We’re going to start small on this occasion; you don’t want to do this stage after cleaning the dash and get lots of debris popping out of the crevices and on to your newly-clean surface, meaning you have to clean it again!
For this deep clean, we want to get the active ingredients working through lathering. So, spray Alpha Interior Cleaner & Leather Cleaner directly on the surface you are going to clean, and agitate the solution with the Easy Reach Crevice Brush. Our brushes are designed to remove stains but be soft enough that they will not damage the integrity of even your softest surfaces. Once you have generated a good lather, use your 2-Sided Towel to wipe away the solution.
Step 2 – Cleaning the Dash
Now we’ve got rid of the toughest, deepest dirt, we’re going to focus on the main bulk of your dash – the plastic and vinyl surfaces.
Using your Blue Applicator Pad, apply a generous amount of Interior Satin Finish Protectant. You will see that the protectant isn’t runny, so you won’t need to worry about spillages.
Apply the applicator directly to the surface, working in a cross-hatch pattern to ensure full coverage. As you move up, down and side to side, the Finish Protectant is both cleaning and sealing your surfaces so that dirt and dust cannot penetrate beyond a superficial level and the harmful effects of UV light are banished.
Once you are satisfied that you’ve achieved full coverage, use your White Intensive 2-Sided Interior Towel to remove any excess. Now stand back and take a look at your surface. If you aren’t quite happy yet, just repeat these steps until you reach your desired level of shine.
Step 3 – Getting perfect, shiny glass
Now the dirt has gone from the surrounding dash, we’re free to shine the glass and then sit back and relax!
Spray Genesis Glass Cleaner directly on to the glass; two squirts per glass surface should be enough to ensure complete coverage.
Fold your Diamond Window Towel in half, and wipe in a back and forth direction across the glass, ensuring that you cover the surface all the way to the corners. Make sure that the glass is completely dry before moving on the next section – refold the Diamond Window Towel and repeat if necessary. The best way to avoid any streaks, is to alternate the direction in which you wipe. For interior windows, wipe in a horizontal direction; for exterior windows, wipe in a vertical direction. This will ensure zero streaks.
The Pay-Off
It’s time to admire your handiwork. Admittedly, in a car with a complicated dash, this is a fairly product-heavy task, but it’s so, so satisfying to see your dashboard incredibly clean. In fact, it’s so satisfying that we want to see yours. Give your dash a real deep clean and send us your pictures. At Proje’, we love cars and we people who are happy with their detailing products and processes even more! We’ll be back with another post real soon – in the meantime, from all of us at Proje’: Enjoy the Process!
If you have any questions about any of the techniques or products that I’ve mentioned in this post, just contact us on info@projeproducts.com and one of the Proje’ team will be in touch with you! Remember that we stock only the best auto detailing supplies, so why not click some of the links in this blog post, or visit our products page to find out more? From all of us at Proje’, Enjoy the Process!
ALPHA INTERIOR CLEANER & LEATHER CLEANER 16OZ
