Auto Detailing FAQs | Cleaning your car’s headliner

Ever had a can of soda explode in your car? Not pretty, sticky little spots all over. For most of your vehicle it’s not too much of a problem. A couple issues could be the amount that soaked through the carpeting or upholstery into the foam layer underneath, & how long the soda sits on plastic, leatherette or vinyl & if it’s caustic enough to start eating through the dye. Today though we are going to focus on something you don’t usually pay much attention to; the headliner.

The headliner is the (usually cloth) material covering the underside of your roof. What is the problem here? Why can’t we just clean it like your carpets or upholstery? Well, the problem is how it’s attached. It’s only held up there by water soluble glue. That means if you soak it with all-purpose cleaner, or even soap & water, it may not be long before you start feeling something tickling the hair on the top of your head as the cloth starts to droop & fall. If this happens to you, you can either have a new headliner put in professionally, or if it’s not in the budget, get a whole bunch of tacks to keep it from blocking the view out of your windows. I know someone who did this & she’s perfectly fine with it so far, but I’ll issue the precautionary anyway…Watch out for falling tacks!

So what can you do? If you insist on trying to clean this surface yourself, try to keep it as dry as possible. You could usually vacuum it, especially if someone’s been smoking in your car for a while. You can also mist a little bit of cleaner on a brush or cloth & then brush lightly over the surface, but you don’t want to allow any of that liquid to get through the surface cloth to the glue above it.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line.

Best wishes & thank you for listening.