Disinfecting Cars | Danville, VA

How to Clean an Old Car Without Causing Damage

Everyone is becoming more aware of when and how often they touch things. Cleanliness and disinfecting have never been more relevant, and your vehicle should be on the list of your spaces that you clean regularly. Think about all the surfaces of your vehicle that you touch regularly: door handles, seat belt buckles, air condition knobs. The trouble is, the most popular disinfectants are not suitable for the interior of your vehicle, so our technicians at KTL Restorations put together a few tips on cleaning your car without harming your car.

Use Soap Carefully

Less is more. Scientists are advising that viruses like COVID-19 are broken down by good old-fashioned soap, so get out the cloth and bucket! However, this isn’t a car wash music video where you dump the bucket over your vehicle. Instead, use a microfiber cloth or wipe and wring it out thoroughly. Drenching your surfaces and letting them sit wet will cause waterlogging and damage to your interior.

Clean Top to Bottom

Move quickly. In a similar vein, cleaning section by section ensures that no one area is left soaking for an excessive amount of time. If the soap begins to evaporate off the surface, it may leave an unsightly residue that will require you to go over the section several more times to remove. A top-to-bottom approach is usually best, so you can keep track of where you have already been. Wipe once with the soap, then twice with a clean, wet cloth, and finally with a clean, dry cloth.

Detergents

Yes, detergent! In so many other instances, we are looking to reduce the detergents in the products we use. Not so with your classic car’s interior. Look for a wipe that has mild detergent. On leather, make-up removal wipes offer gentle cleansing while depositing moisturizers to keep the surfaces from drying out. If you are used to working with benzalkonium chloride, this is an ideal choice, but we wouldn’t recommend it without experience.

At KTL Restorations, we can’t wait to get back out on the road with our favorite classic cars, but in the meantime, we will support our community and our clients while we are all waiting for that day!