How to clean Corolla interior

paulginger2

Hi all, i am looking for solid advice and information on how to give a very grubby and dirty interior of my new acquisition, a 00 corolla saloon a serious cleaning. The dash is vinly (soft rubbery type stuff almost kinda leathery?) and the rest is just the carpeting and some plastic.

Its is all quite dirty and i want to know how to go about this, i have not got any fancy steam cleaners or wet hoover, ill be using the guns only on this one!!!

Any help would be appeciated folks, thanks

biko

Moved to detailing forum, this is includes cleaning the interior.
Couple threads on the topic you can have a look at
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83663882
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=83882619

paulginger2

Thanks Beko but there aint much to go on there, im looking for something more like a step by step guide, with an aim to avoid spendin much money, finances wont allow for getting a valet or renting a wet vac

biko

Right, the first link is what you're after then.
Car cleaning on the cheap:
1. Lift out foot carpets.
2. Hoover everything.
3. Spray everywhere including glass with a mild solution of any APC.
4. Let sit on fabric while you wipe down dash and windows.
5. Brush into fabric with shoe brush or other softer type brush.
6. Wipe seats vigorously with towels to lift out dirt.
7. Leave windows open to air out moisture.

Repeat next weekend until car is spotless.

sentient_6

It might take a few rounds to get it completely clean. Getting it all in one session is hard work anyway, & every time you go back don't be surprised when you spot things you didn't notice before. Good thing is your coming into the right time weather wise, you really want a full clear day & a few hours in the evening to leave it sitting with the doors open.

Micro fiber cloths, soft bristle brushes like those nail scrubbers, and any mild general cleaner can all be picked up in tesco for half nothing, you don't necessarily need official branded car cleaning stuff. After that its just elbow grease.

colm_mcm

If the seats are really dirty, I whip the covers off, scrub them with fairy liquid and a nailbrish, then put them in the washing machine at 30' with liquid detergent and plenty fabric softener.
A friend of mine bought an Octavia recently and the front seats were maggotty dirty, they look like new now.

If the carpets are still dirty after a clean, auto glym do a spray carpet dye.

paulginger2

Thanks very much for the replies i appreciate it, i will let you know how it goes for me, thanks again

paulginger2

Oh and forgive me but the vinyl (i think) on the dash and a couple of other bits around the car need a good going over, do i need to use a vinyl cleaner?? I dont want to damage it or discolour it or anything like that , its a 13 year old car, low mileage 80000 and i want to get it back to its best!

joujoujou

colm_mcm wrote: »

If the seats are really dirty, I whip the covers off, scrub them with fairy liquid and a nailbrish, then put them in the washing machine at 30' with liquid detergent and plenty fabric softener.
A friend of mine bought an Octavia recently and the front seats were maggotty dirty, they look like new now.

[...]

I did the same with my corolla's upholstery recently. And look like new indeed.

But didn't even scrub them before washing, just threw into the machine and washed well.

Good point re: 30*C temperature - that kind of upholstery gets stretched when washed in higher temperatures.

paulginger2

i dont know how to take off the seat upholstery, is it easy to feck it up or tear trying to get the off, and more importantly when putting them back on?

zman17

use carpet cleaner and a scrubing brush

biko

paulginger2 wrote: »

Oh and forgive me but the vinyl (i think) on the dash and a couple of other bits around the car need a good going over, do i need to use a vinyl cleaner?? I dont want to damage it or discolour it or anything like that , its a 13 year old car, low mileage 80000 and i want to get it back to its best!

Use normal all puprose cleaner diluted in water and elbow grease, it won't damage anything. More here
Once it's clean just keep a microfiber cloth in the glove box and give it a once over occasionally.
There are special sprays with anti-static qualities you can buy from detailer sites, but for Joe Soap that's not necessary imo.

paulginger2

Thanks very much everyone i appreciate all the advice and guidance

colm_mcm

paulginger2 wrote: »

i dont know how to take off the seat upholstery, is it easy to feck it up or tear trying to get the off, and more importantly when putting them back on?

Nah its a piece of cake, you just unhook the seat cover from the edges of the seat base, then there are a few metal bars slid into pipes sown into the material that are hooked into bars embedded in the seat foam - these hold the material into the foam. There's probably around 20 of these on the seat base, just snip these. With the seat back, you start at the ack, unclip the cover, then take it off like you're taking a jumper off. Again there's clips you have to snip off.
Take all the metal bars out of the material before putting in the machine obviously.
Putting back on is just the reverse, instead of the metal clips jut use cable ties.

Some may say its a lot of work, but you'll never get the same level of cleaning using foams. Otherwise we'd all be cleaning our clothes with spray foam.


It'll also give you the chance to repair any cracks in the seat foam bolsters which mean the bolsters have lost their shape. I use silicone sealer for this.

paulginger2

Thanks for the advice colm, is there anything electrical connected to the seats usually?? There are no heated seats or anything in this yoke im talking about, ill have a look

biko

If you have airbags then there usually a sensor under the seats to detect if anyone is sitting there. The same if there is a seatbelt warning chime.
Most modern car have sensors under the seat. Have a look at see if there's wires (usually on the inside).

http://johnpositive.blogspot.de/2011/08/remove-toyota-corolla-front-seat.html

paulginger2

Well its a year 2000 toyota corolla 1.4vvti. I dont think there is a warning chime or anything. Another question springing to mind is, do i have to remove the seat altogether to get working on removing the cover, and also im assuming its quite difficult to put the cover back on after washing??

paulginger2

Maybe the airbag might be a prob, a sensor or something under the seat? If so would removing it give me the airbag light on the dash?? Will it go away if reconnected again? Hmmm the fear is growing inside me, i may go the non-invasive route!!

biko

Just have a look next time you're in the car.
Do you have driver and passenger airbag?

If there is wires leading to the seat then disconnect battery 30 mins before disconnecting the wires, this should remove any chance of the airbag light coming on after the job.
You may need to enter a code for the radio after reconnecting the battery, it depends on the unit.

Tbh, I'd just stick with cleaning the seats in situ for now.

joujoujou

paulginger2 wrote: »

Well its a year 2000 toyota corolla 1.4vvti. I dont think there is a warning chime or anything. Another question springing to mind is, do i have to remove the seat altogether to get working on removing the cover, and also im assuming its quite difficult to put the cover back on after washing??

There are no airbags built in seats if it's Terra. PM me your car's VIN number if you're unsure.

Yes, you have to remove seats from the car - good thing is - if you do so, you can deal with your carpet as easy as never before.

Replacing upholstery is actually easier than removing, as you have to deal with metal rings - I just cut them off using wire cutter. You'll need approx. 150 cable ties to get upholstery back on.

Take your time, think twice, and all will be sorted.

colm_mcm

Corolla didn't get side airbags till 2004

paulginger2

Its a corolla 2000 saloon with a 1.4vvti engine, i believe there are air bags for front passengers but no side air bags, so im thinking therefore that there would be no sensors under the seats then???

I think i will stick to doing it in situ, and if i don't get the required result ill think about taking off the covers.
Again thanks everyone for the comments and help, my questions have been answered quite thoroughly.

I ordered the following to do the job, just in case anyone is interested and iv added the prices too.
24 microfibre cloths 300x400mm @ 10.50 pounds
Autoglyms interior shampoo 500ml @ 5.77 pounds
Autoglyms vinyl+ rubber 500ml @ 7 pounds
Bought in sterling off of amazon.

So roughly about 25euro all in.

Im gonna give it a go and ill come back and tell everyone how it went, i might even spring to a few pictures!!

Again thanks everyone i appreciate the help

paulginger2

Hi all im back to let ye know how i got on with the interior clean.
I have to say the inside of the car looks new!

I gave the car a serious hoovering out, then i used the autoglyms shampoo on the seats, coupled with a vigorous rubbing
with a damp microfibre cloth and then the same with a dry one and it worked a treat.

The autoglyms was pretty rubbish on the carpet so on someones advice in a previous post i used an all purpose cleaner well diluted in a spray bottle, gave the carpet (on the patch i was working on) a serious wetting (with all purpose cleaner) and a scrubbing with a small brush, then i used the damp cloth and plenty of elbow grease to lift the dirt, then a dry microfibre cloth to dry it a bit, and i repeated that cycle until carpets were sparkling.

For the vinly plastic and rubber i used the autoglyms rubber and vinyl and i must say its a fantastic product!! I cant recommend enough!
I sprayed it onto clean microfibre cloth, and basically scrubbed it like an epileptic crack head and it came up absolutely fantastic!! Made a huge difference and to be honest a professional valet would be hard pushed to have it come up as good.

Then i gave the car another serious hoovering and voilet!! job done

Again thanks to all for the advice and comments, i hope this thread will help anyone tackling their own vehicle and i encourage people to do it themselves, easier than i thought it would be!