November 12, 2021 4 min read

By: Marc Tiu (Guest Author)
November 11th, 2021
how to detail car interior
Introduction:
Don't you hate detailing the interior of your car, or any car for that matter? I myself enjoy detailing the exterior of the car because you can see the fruits of your labor.  But I dread it whenever I have to detail the interior especially treating the leather. I always try to make any excuses not to do it and the interior ends up getting neglected.  
I'm going to try and provide a review and how-to article on how to clean your interior the fast and easy way with these amazing McKee's 37 interior products!
Review:
The car isn't really dirty to begin with.  It has some dust particles from the interior not being cleaned for a while.  Leather has also not been treated for a long time.
There are two techniques that you can use in applying the fast interior detailer. First, you can spray the interior detailer on a microfiber towel and then wipe off the surface.  Second, you can spray the interior detailer directly on the surface you want to wipe off.  There's no right or wrong way to do this but I personally prefer the first method because it prevents overspray from flying all over your interior.
Here's a shot of me spraying the McKee's Fast Interior Detailer on a microfiber towel.
how to detail car interior
Here's the before condition of the dash board.  You can see the dust particles.
 how to detail car interior
Wipe it off with the McKee's 37 Fast Interior Detailer:
 how to detail car interior
After:
 how to detail car interior
Here's the steering wheel and instrument cluster area covered in dust:
 how to detail car interior
Wipe it off with the McKee's 37 Fast Interior Detailer:
 how to detail car interior
After:
 how to detail car interior
You can also use this to wipe off your steering wheel. You'd be surprise how much dirt and grime comes off the steering wheel. Give it a try.
 how to detail car interior
You can also use this to wipe off your instrument cluster:
 how to detail car interior
This product works very well on navigation and touch screens. Unfortunately, none of my cars have this. 
As mentioned earlier, you can spray the Fast Interior Detailer directly on the surface and wipe it off with a microfiber towel.
interior car care how to
interior car care how to
Now let's move to leather. You don't have to worry about this step if your car is equipped with cloth seats.
I absolutely hate cleaning and conditioning leather. It takes so much time to clean and condition it and you have to do it every so often. If you neglect this step, there's a good chance that your leather will crack and tear prematurely.
Here are some before pictures of the leather seat in the car.  You can see it's pretty dry.  I haven't conditioned these leather seats at all and I don't know when was the last time it was conditioned.
 how to clean and condition leather seats
The first step to clean the leather.  That's when the McKee's 37 Leather Shampoo 70/30 comes in.  
I sprayed the Leather Shampoo on the leather:
 how to detail car interior
 
Then use your detailing brush to agitate the product and clean the leather surface.  This is actually specified in the directions as the suggested method of cleaning the leather.
how to detail car interior
Then wipe off the excess product after you're done cleaning the leather.
 how to detail car interior
 
This product was a joy to work with because it was giving off a leathery scent to it.
After the leather has been cleaned, it's now time to condition the leather using McKee's 37 Leather Conditioner.  
Apply a small amount of leather conditioner to your applicator of choice.
 
how to detail car interior
Then spread the product throughout your leather surfaces.  Make sure that you start on areas that are not perforated.  Try to avoid applying fresh product to perforated leather so that you don't clog the perforations in the leather.
 how to clean and conditioner leather
My seats were absorbing the leather conditioner in the first couple of applications.  This was telling me that my leather seats were extremely dry.  After a few application passes, the leather conditioner was taking longer to be absorbed.  
Once you're happy with the leather conditioner application, wipe off the excess. 
 how to clean and conditioner leather
Although I must say that this product doesn't feel oily at all and almost dries to the touch.  So long as you don't overapply the product of course.  
Here you can see the 50/50 difference in the driver seat:
 how to clean and conditioner leather
 
 
The following picture shows the entire driver side seat cleaned with McKee's 37 Leather Shampoo and treated with McKee's 37 Leather Conditioner:
 
how to clean and conditioner leather
You can see that the driver side seat looks darker and richer compared to the passenger side seat's bone dry leather.  The leather felt extremely supple after the treatment and smelled very leathery.
You can also apply leather conditioner to other leather surfaces of your interior - not just the seats!
 how to clean and conditioner leather
 
Finished results - don't forget to vacuum as well!
 
how to clean and conditioner leather
how to detail car interior
Opinions and Observations:
Fast Interior Detailer:
This is a great interior product. It cleans the surface effectively and leaves behind a matte/natural finish. It has a very pleasant smell (can't pinpoint exactly what it is). This product reminds me of my favorite interior detailer - the Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer. To be honest, I think this product will replace my Meg's QID.
Leather Shampoo 70/30:
This is a great leather cleaner. It cleans the surface effectively and leaves behind a matte/natural finish. It has a very pleasant smell like new leather smell. I really like how this product creates suds as it's being agitated. Suds make me feel that it's cleaning better. I think that a brush with stiffer bristles will yield better cleaning ability. But please be careful not to damage or scratch the leather surface.
Leather Conditioner:
This is a great leather conditioner.  It has a thick consistency and very easy to spread around.  A little goes a long way.  The smell is very pleasant and smells very leathery.  I like how it's not oily and the product dries to the touch if not over applied.  
 

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