Interior trim cleaner
THE BEST Interior trim cleaner Remove sticky marks and dirt from plastics in seconds with these super sprays
LOTS of rain means plenty of mud tracked into the car unless you’re very careful or lucky. As the mud dries it doesn’t take long before the cabin is looking scruffy and in need of a spruceup, which is where an interior cleaner comes into its own. A quick spray and wipe can see mud and marks removed, plus dust from the dash top and greasy smears from those meals on the move.
Our test to find the best focused on their cleaning ability, rather than the finish each leaves behind. Apart from the need to remove rather than mask marks, glossy finishes are often at odds with today’s cabin materials. Using limited wiping, we tackled ground-in chocolate, dried fruit juice and a smear of margarine to find the best.
Price: £4.99 Size: 500ml www.armorall.eu Contact: 0845 602 1995,
THIS is pretty much a one-stop shop for cleaning cars. With the exception of paintwork and wheels, there’s not much Armor All MultiPurpose Cleaner can’t be used for – from cabin vinyls and fabrics to carpets, bumpers and dashboards. It lives up to its name, and that’s before you use it in the home. Our test hardly stretched its capabilities, but it was more than up to the task. The damp cloth certainly helped it work, leaving just traces of the chocolate and juice. The grease proved tricky, yet it made good progress. Versatile, effective and well priced – a great product.
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Price: £9.95 Size: 500ml Contact: www.dodojuice.com
DODO Juice doesn’t claim to moisturise the hide, like some rivals, but certainly left a protective finish, which resisted our water droplet. It didn’t leave a sticky surface, either – it felt soft and smooth. Where it really starred was for cleaning the leather, as it removed the most grime on test overall. It also made a good attempt at shifting the tricky ballpoint pen ink. As Supernatural topped the cleaning tests by a clear margin, it was an easy choice to crown this as our winning leather cleaner.
Price: £4 Size: 500ml Contact: 0161 764 5981, tetrosyl.com
OUR test took place way back in February, when we applied 19 of these products to sections of two tyres. We used Tyre Slik as a control to assess grime build-up on the two sidewalls as we knew it was likely to be around at the end of the six-week assessment. Now, months later, it is still visible, and its section is darker than the rest of the tyre. That is why this is the only product to have an unbeaten record across multiple tests. Simply a great choice.
Price: £7.75 Size: 325ml Contact: 01462 677766, www.autoglym.com
AUTOGLYM’S Paint Renovator has long been one of our favourite scratch removers. It delivers enough progress to prevent frustration, but not so much that you need to apply a more gentle formula to restore the shine. It was ever so slightly behind our winner on the wire wool and ice scraper damage, but left a good, ready-to-wax shine. Handily, it can also be used to brighten metals like stainless steel and copper.
Price: £5 Size: 500ml Contact: 01438 749501, blackdiamondproducts.co..uk
IF you just have a dull finish to your paint rather than visible scratches, then this Black Diamond product is ideal. It needed more work than our limited wiping allowed on the self-inflicted marks, but the overall finish was among the best on test. Cut & Shine restored the shine and made some progress on the marks. And it’s all achieved at a super price. Yet again this is our budget choice.
Price: £16.95 Size: 500ml Contact: 08446 931393, www.autofinesse.co.uk
THE instructions don’t mention applying this polish by hand; they prefer you to use a machine polisher. Auto Finesse clearly knows its products, though, as this is what it sent for our test and it worked well. The slower application by hand meant it needed two attempts at the marks, yet progress was made. The overall finish was good, too, with a clear improvement on our tired scrapyard bonnet. Not the cheapest option, but deserves our commendation.
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Price: £7.99 Size: 300ml Contact: 0845 602 1995, www.armorall.eu
THERE’S no doubt Armor All has hit on something pretty remarkable with its Shield range of protectants. We first saw the technology excel in a bodywork wax test, where Shield is still the most effective liquid product by some margin (as you can see on Page 46). That expertise is now being used on wheels, where its superiority is perhaps even greater. Shield for Wheels needs an hour to cure after spraying on, but it’s worth waiting, as the finish shrugged off grime throughout the test, leaving rivals trailing. All for a very reasonable price.