Cleaning the dashboard: Bring back the shine

Cleaning your car's dashboard is part of the maintenance of the inside of your vehicle. Don't neglect this visible part of your car, and follow our tips.

When we clean our car, we spend most of our time on just cleaning the bodywork on the outside so that it is nice and shiny, and we tend to neglect the inside. Even though we may not realise it, the dashboard is like the calling card for our vehicle when other people get in, and we should therefore always have it on our checklist, along with cleaning the upholstery in the car. If you don’t know how to clean the dashboard properly, or how to bring back the shine, keep reading and we’ll tell you how.

How to clean your car’s dashboard

The dashboard is the part of your vehicle where most of the controls and information displays are found to tell us about the conditions of the mechanics of our vehicle, the speed we are travelling at, the distance travelled and it is also where the main air vents are located, among other items.

The latter are places where most dust and mites tend to build up, which are then blown around the inside of the vehicle when the fan switches on.

• Getting rid of dust is fundamental when cleaning the dashboard. You can clean the dust away using a feather duster or a special dusting cloth on the larger parts, such as under the windscreen. You can also get rid of the dust from the air vents using a narrow brush or a toothbrush before cleaning them with a mixture of water and cleaning vinegar.
• Use a vacuum cleaner first to get rid of surface dust before deep cleaning the dashboard.
• The first thing we need to do before cleaning the dashboard is to find out what material it is made of. The most common materials are plastic and leather. If you have leather dashboard, it is best to use special leather cleaning products, or take your vehicle to a cleaning specialist. On the other hand, to clean plastic dashboards you will need: a bucket of water with a dash of ammonia, a microfibre cleaning cloth and a cotton cloth.
• Take the microfibre cleaning cloth and soak it in the mixture, wring it out well before wiping down the dashboard in circular movements. Warning! Rinse the cloth well and wring it out again before cleaning areas that you have not already cleaned.
• Use the dry cotton cloth to wipe down the dashboard and instrument panel to make sure it is properly dry. This will avoid marks from appearing.

How to bring back the shine to your dashboard

For plastic dashboards you can use a cleaning polish.

• Spray it all over the dashboard. Be careful with the air vents.
• Allow the product to dry for about 5 minutes.
• Wipe it all down with a dry cotton cloth in circular movements to bring out the shine.