Lancer: DIY Interior Detailing

My goal is to make this car nice inside out - restore it to its former glory :) Time to go to work.

 

My lancer has a felt-like headliner - almost like the gamuza shoes I used wear in HS - and it has been touched by dirty hands too many times. See how dirty it has become.

3 years ago - I had my engine swapped in Evangelista (the path to a more powerful engine was horrible - let save that story for a different day) and a street peddler sold me a gallon of "heavy duty cleaner". It can  be used to clean everything from headliners to seat covers and to dashboards - you name it :) Costs less than 200 and has lasted me for years (though I think its made up of mainly just soap and water)

I use this spray bottle to make things easier - just a couple of sprays in the headliner . . .

. . .and wipe with a clean cloth - this technique has served me well in the past and I was confident that this will do the trick.

As you can see - it cleans quite well but for some reason - I'm not satisfied with the results. (Seems the above method is for moderate cleaning - I want to go a step further!)

So I decided to use a more aggresive route - some dishwashing liquid, water and foam.

After scrubbing it LIGHTLY using the foam (same one used in washing the dishes) - I wiped it down with chamois soaked in clean water. TIP: Don't be too aggressive in scrubbing as you might ruin the entire thing.

Before scrubbing down everything - test your solution in a little corner first. See if the results are okay. TIP: Be sure that it is sunny outside - you have to bake the car under the sun (windows down) afterwards. Failure to do so will leave your car musty and smelling awful! :)

Spot the difference :)

The results looks decent :)

Clean as it can be. (The headliner was still wet when the picture was taken - marks are still there...)

You can also see some dirt formation in the door panels - I think this is a result of too much armor all :)

They can easily be cleaned by the same soap solution used in the head liner. I used an old toothbrush to clean all the crevices.

Since we're detailing the car - every nook and cranny of the door and the door jambs needs to be cleaned.

I used a soft scouring pad to clean them thoroughly.

See the brown line going down the pillar?

Starting to fade with some elbow grease - you have to repeat it several times to thoroughly clean them. You could also use some rubbing compound if its too stubborn :)

After a day's work and some very tired elbows (scrubbing the headliner is quite a daunting task - take my word for it - but worth it :) ) - It looks pretty nice :)

Everythings coming together now! :) Wohoo!

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING THREADS:

http://www.mitsulancerph.net/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1223347101

http://www.mitsulancerph.net/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1207426968