Are you selling your car soon?  Do you want it to look professionally clean but don’t have the budget for it? Consider detailing the car yourself.  You can do it.  I’m going to show you how. The summer after my high school graduation, I got a job as a car detailer’s apprentice.  To this day, this was still one of my favorite job experiences. What I learned was a long list of simple and effective cleaning tips.  Combined, they turned grimy cars into masterpieces. More importantly, the owner, Vicki, worked directly with me on each car.  Ten years later, I can still remember what I learned. Anyone can do this. There are probably hundreds of steps people could take to detail their cars.  I’m giving you 15.  Things like “wash and wax your car” didn’t make the list.  We’re going for the details. What you will need:  Bucket, hose, old cloths, scrub brush, tooth brush, Q-tips, old towels, vacuum (or shop vac), air hose, pressure washer (if available)

Cleaning products:  Spray Nine – Multi-Purpose Cleaner, Armor All Ultra Shine Protectant, Glass Cleaner, Engine Degreaser 1.  Vacuum – air hose – vacuum – This is the most powerful, deep cleaning combo in the whole arsenal.  Empty your car and pull out the floor mats.  Then use an air hose (it’s like a pressure washer but with air) and spray every small surface, edge, crease, vent, console, etc.  You’ll be amazed how much dirt this brings out.  Vacuum thoroughly one more time. BONUS TIP:  Swing open each door and use the air hose to blast dead leaves and twigs from your door jams. 2.  Spray Nine – Your second most powerful, deep cleaning tool is my good friend Spray Nine.  This stuff is strong.  It works almost like acid to cut through deep stains and grime.  Spray directly on carpet stains then scrub with a brush and water.  WEAR GLOVES – and a mask if you’re not in a ventilated area. 3.  Scrub the ceiling – Take a minute and look up.  

Wipe it down with Spray Nine and a rag. 4.  Detailed wipe down of dash and console – Use Spray Nine to clean the dash, console, door panels, cup holders, etc. WARNING:  Spray Nine will remove the white symbols on your paneling – i.e. turn signal, door lock – so do a quick wipe with a damp cloth, toothbrush or Q-tip. 5.  Diluted Spray Nine on leather – Never spray solution directly on leather, unless you want it to look plagued.  Apply solution to a damp cloth, wipe leather, then dry immediately with a clean towel. 6.  Scrub seat belts – Pull seat belts out as far as you can.  Use a scrub brush and water.  Scrub hard, front and back.  Those things get filthy.  Wipe with a towel. 7.  Pressure wash floor mats – Set floor mats in driveway and scrub with Spray Nine and water.  For best cleaning, use a pressure washer.  If one is not available, use a hose.  WARNING:  Leave floor mats out until they are 100% dry.  If you put them back in the car while damp, it will create a musty smell.

8.  Use interior protectant on dash, console, door panels, floor boards, cup holders.  This gives a professional look to the car.  Use Q-tips for vents and tight edges.  Apply to weather strips to add extra POP.nilfix vacuum cleaners WARNING:  Do no apply protectant to the outer rim of the steering wheel or the gas and brake pedals.  portable car vacuum cleaner malaysiaThese surfaces cannot be slippery while driving!henry the vacuum cleaner reviews 9.  Crack windows and lift wipers – By cracking the windows, you can wipe the dirt line at the top, then roll them up and clean the rest.  By lifting the wipers, you can clean the dirt line on them as well. 10.  Use glass cleaner at the end to shine your metal seat buckles.  

Don’t forget mirrors and your sun/moon roof.  Again, this adds that extra “finished” look to your car. 11.  Pull buckle on lap belt out to the end and roll it up like a tight scroll.  Tuck it into place for a cleaner look. 12.  Pop your hood and spray the engine with degreaser.  Wash it off with hose.  Make sure your engine is not hot! 13.  Open gas tank lid and spray with degreaser.  Also open all car doors as wide as possible and spray degreaser into hinges.  Use a hose to wash hinges and gas tank.  Wipe clean with towel. 14.  Dampen your tires, apply degreaser, scrub with a brush and water, then wash off with a hose.  Once they’re dry, add protectant and wipe with a cloth to make tires shine. 15.  Wash and wax your car – IN THE SHADE.  This will help prevent streaks. Like I said, I’m no pro at this, so you don’t have to be either.  I’m just looking for one more way that you can accomplish your goals while saving money. Join the Discussion:  Have you tried any other detailing steps that make your car really shine?

This post contains affiliate links.No matter how frequently you vacuum, carpets eventually show their age. But often, what we consider general wear is just a combination of stains and dirt ground into the carpet fibers. Before you spend the big bucks to replace that tired-looking carpet, you might consider a thorough cleaning. There are three basic ways to do so: hire a professional carpet cleaning service, rent a carpet cleaning machine or buy your own carpet cleaner so you can haul it out whenever you need it. Also referred to as carpet shampooers, carpet cleaners are quite simple and straightforward. They all have one or two cleaning tanks. Some have just one for cleaning solution diluted with water, others have two, one for water, and one for carpet cleaning solution. All have a separate collection tank for the dirty water. The carpet is sprayed with diluted solution, that cleaning solution is agitated by power brushes or manually by the user with a hose attachment. Some have an extra step where you can spray clean water to rinse.

In the final step, the dirty water is sucked into the collection tank. Within that process, the user often has a lot of control for squirting extra cleaning solution, doing an extra rinse, or taking another pass or to suck up more water. The inconvenient part of any type of carpet cleaning is having to deal with wet carpeting. Drying times depend upon how powerful the suction action is and how much of the remaining water the unit removes. Our research shows that three hours is about the minimum wait time you can expect for dry (or dry enough) carpets from the best carpet shampooers. Some carpet cleaners have heated, forced air systems that will speed that up somewhat. When you fill the water tank of a carpet cleaner, it's suggested that you use hot water for the best cleaning and sanitizing, but that water will gradually cool down as you work. Some carpet cleaners have systems that keep the water heated, which is a very desirable feature for some. Full-sized carpet cleaners are usually as large as, or slightly bigger than, upright vacuum cleaners, so you have to allow for storage.

You also use them like an upright vacuum cleaner, pushing them back and forth along the carpet. A full-sized carpet shampooer is great not only for regularly-scheduled whole-house carpet cleaning, but also for dealing with bigger spills, such as larger amounts of spilled liquids, refreshing heavy traffic areas, and dealing with widely-scattered stains or spots. Some include a hose and attachments for cleaning upholstery or stairs. Depending upon the model and price, features may include forced air heating systems to help dry the carpet more quickly, or heated water systems to keep the water hot. Portable carpet cleaners are smaller and use a hose with attachments, rather than being pushed back and forth. They are great for stairs, upholstery, mattresses, automobiles and RV's, or just for spot cleaning of spills or pet accidents. Portable carpet cleaners often include just a brush-type attachment, so you may have to do a bit of scrubbing with it, but some have optional power or turbo brushes that will do that work for you for a relatively small additional investment.

Some also have heated water technology. Spot carpet cleaners offer "set and forget" convenience. They are self-contained units with built-in rotating brushes and a timer. You just fill it with water and solution, set it on the stain, push a button, and it will squirt, spin and then suck the water out automatically. These units are particularly popular with pet owners and often have the word "pet" in their name. Rental carpet cleaners are professional-grade carpet shampooers that you can rent, usually from supermarkets or hardware stores, for about $25 per day, plus the cost of the cleaning solution. These units work very well, as would be expected, and have wider cleaning paths to make the job go more quickly. Some also include a hose and tool attachment for cleaning stairs. The downside is that they're large and heavy, although some have handles on the body of the unit to make transport easier. If you rent a carpet cleaner frequently, buying one might make sense; they're actually pretty affordable and may pay for themselves quickly with regular use.

In this report we recommend carpet cleaners, but before you can deep clean, you need to vacuum thoroughly to remove loose debris for the best results. If you're not happy with your vacuum cleaner, see our recommendations for the best upright vacuum cleaners and canister vacuum cleaners, both of which we cover in separate reports. Alternatively, if you're looking for a way to deep clean your hard floors, check out our separate report on steam mops. There are very few expert reviews or professional tests of carpet cleaners; those we found are either rather dated or testing is not well-detailed. However, owners are very passionate about their carpet cleaners and we evaluated thousands of owner reviews across retail sites to see how the carpet cleaner performs in real-world use. The result of our research is our top recommendations for the best carpet cleaners. As it turns out, it's an apparent Bissell and Hoover love fest, with a soupcon of Rug Doctor; no other carpet cleaners even come close to those manufacturers when it comes to performance.