How to Clean and Disinfect a Car Interior

Female wearing long-sleeve striped shirt sitting in front seat, wiping car dashboard with white cloth.

Car interiors get dirty, especially in cars that drive kids around. With the right products, it’s easy to keep car seats sanitized and cup holders, dashboards, and door handles clean and disinfected.

More from Clorox experts

While we’ve all put some thought into disinfecting our homes and maintaining clean office spaces, it’s easy to forget that many of us spend a lot of time on the road, and our cars need attention, too.

With lots of opportunities to pick up germs while driving around, keeping hand sanitizer and facial tissues (and a bag for trash) on hand is a good start to create a fresher, healthier space for your daily commute. Regular cleaning is also important, and if you use the right products, you can sanitize soft surfaces and disinfect high-touch surfaces to help stop germs from spreading.

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What you need

Steps to clean, sanitize and disinfect a car interior

  1. Start with the dashboard

    Wipe down all hard, nonporous surfaces with Clorox™ Disinfecting Wipes, including the glovebox, air vents, sound system controls and touch screen. Always follow car manufacturer's instructions for cleaning and disinfecting of electronics.

    Tip

    To disinfect hard, nonporous surfaces, use enough wipes to keep surfaces wet for 4 minutes before air drying.

    Female wearing long-sleeve striped shirt sitting in front seat, wiping car dashboard with white cloth.

  2. Wipe down the steering wheel and console

    Wipe all parts of the steering wheel including the turn indicator and gear shift, as well as the cup holders on the center console. This is especially important for a car that has multiple drivers.

    Tip

    Use the small brush to scrub away gunky stains on hard surfaces.

    A hand uses a white textured cleaning cloth to wipe a car steering wheel.

  3. Wipe the interior of each door

    All hard surfaces on the door, including door handles, window controls, locks, and cup holders, should be wiped with a disinfecting wipe.

    A hand uses a white textured cleaning cloth to wipe a car door handle.

  4. Clean the windows

    Use the glass cleaner and the microfiber cloth to clean all the windows.

    Tip

    Clean the windows when the car is parked in the shade.

    A smiling young woman uses a blue cleaning cloth to wipe her car dashboard.

  5. Vacuum soft surfaces

    Thoroughly vacuum all carpeting and upholstery, including any on the door panels. Collapse seats to better reach crevices and remove floor mats to vacuum under them. Leather upholstery may require pre-cleaning with a leather cleaning product; follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

    Tip

    For leather upholstery, use the brush attachment when vacuuming.

    Person using a vacuum cleaner with a yellow nozzle to clean black fabric upholstery of car backseat.

  6. Sanitize soft surfaces

    Hold Clorox™ Disinfecting Mist 6–8 inches from surfaces and spray evenly until upholstery or carpet is wet; do not saturate. To sanitize, soft surfaces should remain visibly wet for 1 minute before air drying.

    Tip

    When spraying the mist, make sure the car interior is well-ventilated by having windows down or a door open.

    Hand spraying Clorox™ Disinfecting Mist, Multi-Surface, at downward angle with visible mist showing.

  7. Air dry

    Allow all treated surfaces to air dry completely before driving.

    open window ventilation

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you clean urine from a car interior?

To clean urine stains from inside a car, use a product that breaks up the urine like Clorox™ Urine Remover. Spray it onto stains, then blot with a an absorbant cloth dampened slightly with clean water.