How To Clean Leather Seats and Interior Carpets

As soon as I take ownership of a car, my first priority (after I get it home safe) is to clean it inside and out to get rid of 'other people' germs.

Using a multitude of products and techniques I gradually coaxed the S5's interior back to showroom condition.

I started off by thoroughly cleaning the luscious, S5 monogrammed, Nappa leather super sport seats; they were by no means in bad shape but were looking a bit too glossy for my liking.

After scouring the net for advice on the best car leather cleaning product, I settled on the spray variant of Dr. Leather Advanced Formula Leather Cleaner. They sell Dr. Leather moist wipes too, but I favoured being able to apply a controlled amount of product.

Using a number of attachments for the Henry, I got into all the nooks and crannies vacuuming out the loose debris. 

Next, working one leather panel at a time, I applied cleaner directly to the seats then used a soft bristled shoe polishing brush, under light pressure, to agitate.

Once satisfied the area was clean I buffed any excess cleaner off using a clean microfibre cloth.

I can't recommend Dr. Leather enough, not only is it a fantastic cleaner, it also leaves behind a genuine smell of leather. Not an artificial chemical like smell that some products leave behind.

The images below don't really do the difference justice, but you can see the difference in gloss levels.

Before and After

Having taken care of the seats I moved to an area that rarely gets any focus, the pedals. 

Monty's are just the standard rubber with a plastic footrest, but when they are clean, it's surprising how much difference it makes to the overall feeling of cleanliness when you open the door and climb in. Those of you out there who have fitted metal pedals, e.g. the RS5 metal covers, keeping them clean would make even more impact.

To clean them up I used AutoGlym Interior Shampoo agitated with a detailing brush and a shoe brush.

Before and After

Finally, I vacuumed all the carpets, sliding the thin nozzle attachment side to side to really get into the pile and lift the dirt. After vacuuming, just to be extra fancy, I sprayed some AutoGlym Interior Shampoo onto the mats then brushed them in alternating directions to create stripes.

And here's what they look like fitted!

I know, I need to get a life putting stripes into my car floor mats, but honestly it looks great and everyone that gets in comments on them.

Not wanting to rush the job, I left out cleaning all the plastics and dash for another time (although I did clean the wheel and gear shifter).

Let me know what you guys think of my stripes, have you used any products you think are better than Dr. Leather?

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