Interior Dash detailing

[2002ptcruiserwoody723]

What does everyone use to polish the bezel around the insturments on the driver's side and the passenger airbag cover???? (you know the parts that are usually the same color scheme at the exterior paint)

I tried windex and it cleaned a few spots off but I've seen pics where people have them polished like mirrors, any idea what they are using????

[CREWZIN]

Be careful of the glare if you polish everything to a mirror finish. I installed the chrome eyebrows over the guages to go along with the other chrome things on the dash and at certain times of the day the sun hits it just right and makes a blinding flash when it hits my eyes.

[Candyman]

Hey their 2002ptcruiserwoody723,

Wekcome to the Forum.

As for the painted dash pieces, they are sprayed with the same automotive paint as the exterior of your PT, and as such require the same basic detailing steps as the outside. A good cleaning with a either a Quick Detailer Product, or a 50/50 mix of Isobutyle (Rubbing Alcohol) and distilled water, followed by a good coat of wax will do fine, or for me as an ex-professional detailer, I prefer to use a hand glaze before waxing just to add a bit of depth and richness of color and follow up by a Carnuba paste wax, and finish off with a good Paint Sealant to max out the gloss and protection, but these are just extra steps to further enhance the overall look of the paint, and are a part of my routine for the entire vehicle under a normal detailing maintenance schedule. Remember to only apply a paper thin coat of wax as opposed to a thick layer as the paint will only absorb limited chemical at a time, and you are just wasting chemical, and making it harder to remove the product by going too thick. Basically less is more.

Then the rest of the dash, and plastic composite, as well as vinyl covered surfaces can be cleaned with a mild "APC" (All Purpose Cleaner) Meguiar's Quick Interior Cleaner, or other related types of product. Simply spray the chemical onto a clean Microfiber towel folded into four, and give everything a good wipe down to remove all dirt and other foreign contaminants form your interior till it is nice and clean.

Once your interior is cleaned, I would recommend using a good water based dressing to protect your interior from heat, UV Rays, and other related conditions which can harm your interior over time. I would recommend using something like Meguiar's Gold Class protestant wipes which already have the dressing saturated into them which makes life easier. Just wipe all your surfaces down till they have a nice sheen and you are good to go.

A couple of quick notes:

I would clean and dress the interior first, and then clean the painted pieces of your dash as you want to try to avoid getting dressing on the paint as it will get greasy, and oily as the paint is not intended for dressing. For any tigh corners and crevices around your interior like A/C Vents, and so on, two great tools I keep in my arsenal are a 2" One Coat Paint Brush which works great for quick cleaning, and in tight spaces around the dash, and also deep down into door jambs, and so on where it is impossible to reach, and Q-Tips which can reach into the tightest spots where your fingers just cant go. Once your interior has been cleaned, and dressed, then I would finish off by first cleaning all the painted surfaces with either a Quick Detailer Product, or a 50/50 mix of Isobutyle (Rubbing Alcohol) and water, and then finish off with either a good coat of wax, or as mentioned above, glaze, wax, and sealant.

If you have any questions on glazing, waxing, or sealing your paint, or most anything else related to Detailing, please check out my Detailing Guide at the top of this page, and if you have any further questions, please feel free to post them and I would be more than happy to answer anything else you might have.

Go easy, and I hope to see you around the Forum.

Candyman