Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners for 2022
How often should I clean the interior of my car?
This depends on how much time you spend in your car, what you do in your car, and so on. But a good benchmark is once a month, with a deep clean seasonally. The monthly interior car cleaning can include a quick vacuum, cleaning your dash, vents, screens, and cupholders. For seasonal cleanings, this is when you wash your floor mats, scrub seats, and perform a thorough deep-clean. But each vehicle is different, depending on usage.
Can I use interior cleaners on my windows?
Some of them, yes. The cleaner will explicitly state that it’s safe on windows, but you should definitely confirm that before trying. Other interior cleaners will leave a finish or residue on your windows, which can be a nightmare to remove. Your best bet is to just use a separate glass cleaner.
Which car interior cleaners do the pros use?
Each detailer has a product they prefer, but we’ve seen many of the cleaners on this list included in detailing buckets. The pros typically stay away from the wipes, but the sprays come down to preference. Even the Car and Driver garage crew can’t decide which one they prefer—there’s a whole cabinet full of different interior cleaners!
How much do car interior cleaners cost?
Our test cleaners ranged in price from under $10 up to nearly $25. If you choose one of the sprays, you’ll want to invest in some good microfiber cloths too, which can add an extra $5 per handheld cloth.
Why trust us?
Car and Driver and its sibling publications at Hearst Autos combine the forces, talent, and knowledge of three of the largest, most influential automotive publications in the world. With these incredible tools at our disposal, we don’t have to worry about gaming search engines to get traffic or promoting lousy products just to make a sale. Rather, we’re concerned with our legacy, our reputation, and most of all the trust that you, our readers, have in Autoweek, Car and Driver, and Road & Track. We know you rely on us to give it to you straight, and we promise to deliver the truth, every time.
To mirror our values, this test was conducted in an environment that provided equal testing procedures for each product: the Car and Driver garage. We tested each cleaner on typical grime and used a butter test to gauge the strength of each product. We noted this, along with drying patterns, scent, and residue. Upon tallying up our findings, we agreed that our test was fair, legitimate, and provided the best information for us to recommend our picks to you, the reader. In the end, that’s what matters most.
Read more about our product testing and evaluation process here.
