Best Car Cleaning Products for Dirty Cars

A clean home is a well-functioning one. Parents manage to cook meals for our families, do loads of laundry, remember to scrub the toilets and walk the dog. If there’s one extension of a household that gets the shaft, though, it’s the family car.

Cracker wrappers, stickers and gunk—cars bear the brunt of modern family life. We often forget to clean them properly. If you’re looking to change that and want to know what the best car cleaning products are for family cars, read on.

Jessica Samson, a cleaning expert with The Maids says you’ll want to consider the ingredients you use in your family car. She suggests looking for products that have plant-based or natural ingredients when possible. “Avoid kids or dogs getting into harsh chemicals that could damage their bodies,” she says.

For example, 2-Butoxyethanol, which Samson says can be found in some window cleaners and spot cleaners. “If consumed, it can lead to kidney failure,” she says. If you choose to use products with these ingredients, make sure that your children and pets are away when doing so and that the area is well-ventilated and the interior dried before they come back in the car.

When looking for the best car cleaning products for your family car, check out this list including everything you need from cleaning vomit off carpets to glass cleaners and getting slime off leather seats.

This powerful little vacuum is a best-seller in automotive care with over 290,000 mostly-perfect ratings. And for good reason. It packs a powerful punch in a compact device. At about two pounds, it’s lightweight and small enough to store in your vehicle.

It has three attachments for detailing, plus a 16-foot cord that can reach all over your car without any issues. Plug it into a 12V outlet in your car if you need power and the battery is dead.

For all those super-hard-to-reach areas like the cracks of cupholders, air conditioning vents and more, you’ll want a gel like this one. Push it into cracks and crevices and watch the dust and dirt particles be carried away. You can continue to use it until the blue gel turns black, getting multiple uses out of it.

We think it does a better job of detailing cup holders and the crevices of your rotating car seats than a trip to the car wash.

 Parents everywhere know that a cleaning job is only as good as the cloths you have to clean with, and these microfiber towels are a perfect pair for any spray or product you might need. They’re lint- and scratch-free as well. You don’t have to worry about damaging your interior or exterior, and they’re perfect for detailing little spots and picking up dirt and grime effectively.

For a good solid wipedown turn to these multi-purpose cleaning wipes. These lint-free wipes can remove dust and clean upholstery, making them a one-two punch for general car maintenance on areas such as your dash, the console and inside doors. They won’t dry out or damage your interior and they’re grease-free.

A light, clean scent doubles as a short-lived air freshener without added trees hung from your mirror.

 Kids can really put leather seats through the ringer, so it’s important to condition and clean them with specially formulated wipes like these, which remove dirt while moisturizing leather seats. The wipes also provide UV protection through UVX-15 sunscreen to prevent cracking and drying.

Bonus: you can use these on any leather goods, such as purses, shoes, boots, briefcases and even leather sofas.

Cars are crumb magnets, so it’s good to have a set of detailing brushes lying around for hard-to-reach areas such as around the gear shift, car seat bases and where the steering wheel meets the dash. This set comes with five brushes of varying lengths which can be used wet or dry.

The brushes are scratchless and easy to maneuver into tight spaces. These make car care and cleaning fun for helpful kids, too.

 Who among us hasn’t felt the dread of a dried-on piece of bubble gum or lollipop? Goo Gone will remove anything, and has a surface-safe formula to make it easy. It can remove stickers, wax, crayons, glue, window decals, glitter—GLITTER!—, labels and more instantly, leaving behind a pleasant citrus scent.

This degreaser and tire cleaner is great for tires, but where it also shines is on rubber floor mats. Caked-on dirt is no match for a couple of sprays of Adam’s Tire & Rubber Cleaner and some elbow grease. Solvent-based with a nice citrus smell, it’ll make your rubber mats shine. Pair it with a car wax for your exterior and you’ll be riding in a new-looking whip.

If you have electronic devices or screens in your vehicle, get a mister like this one. Specifically designed to clean electronics, this handy little sprayer easily slides into the center console or glove box. Spray a few mists for a streak-free finish. Then, wipe the screen clean with the device, which is surrounded by a lint-free wiper.

Catch chocolate smears, marker slashes or spills in action with a pack of baby wipes. Keep a brick in your car to help clean up just about anything, including your kids. Plus, baby wipes are essential cleaning supplies for just about every corner of life.

If you have upholstery anywhere in your car, get the BISSELL Little Green Machine. It’s one of our all-around top small appliances and a must-have for mess-prone families. This compact carpet and upholstery cleaner sucks up whatever dirt, gunk or mess awaits you.

The tank holds 48 ounces of water or a combo of water and cleaning solution, enough to clean even the nastiest of spills.

• Jessica Samson, a cleaning expert with The Maids