Interior detailing
Interior car detailing, done by hand
From $240 for a sedan. Steam, extraction and a lot of patience, including every surface you would never think to check.
What's included
Every interior detail covers all of this
There is no tiered interior menu. A detail either cleans the whole interior or it is not a detail.
- Carpets and upholstery steamed and extracted
- Leather cleaned and conditioned
- Stain removal, including set-in stains
- Pet hair removal at no extra charge
- Vents, seams and door jambs by hand
The order matters
How an interior gets done
Everything comes out
Mats, seats forward and back, anything loose. You cannot clean under a floor mat you have not lifted, and most of what makes a car smell is underneath one.
Dry first, then wet
Full vacuum and compressed air through the vents, seams and seat rails before any liquid goes near the car. Wetting grit first turns it into mud you then have to extract.
Steam and extract
Steam lifts what chemicals alone will not, set-in stains, mold, spilled milk in a seat base. The extractor then pulls the water back out so the car is not damp when we hand it over.
Surfaces by hand
Leather cleaned and conditioned, plastics and vinyl cleaned without being left greasy, glass done last so nothing overspray-fogs it afterwards.
The same car, twice
What a full interior detail actually changes
One job, photographed before we started and again when it was finished. A daily-driven Scion FR-S that had been parked under trees and driven on gravel roads.
The dust sitting in the vents, the seams and around the buttons is the part a wash never reaches. It comes out with a brush and a vacuum, not a cloth.
Footwells take the worst of it and get looked at the least. The sill plate under the door had not been visible in a while.
The hard cases
Pet hair, mold and smells cost nothing extra
Most shops price these as surcharges, and a few will decline the job outright. Our prices are flat rates: pet hair, mold, heavy soiling and bad smells are part of the work, not an upcharge on top of it.
What we do ask is a heads-up when you book. Pet hair and mold both add hours, and knowing in advance means we set aside enough time to finish properly rather than running out of daylight. The price does not change either way.
Mold in particular needs doing properly. It grows where moisture has been sitting, under a mat, in a seat base, in the spare wheel well, and cleaning only what you can see means it comes back. Steam kills it at the source, and extraction takes the moisture out so it has nothing to return to.
See the full price list“The car had been sitting for a while, and a combination of hidden toddler snack crumbs and moisture created the perfect storm for mold growth. He worked his butt off addressing the mold and still managed to get the car looking like brand new!”
What people ring about
The five jobs that make up most of our interior work
Cars, trucks and vans all end up here for roughly the same handful of reasons. If yours is on this list, it is routine work and the price does not change.
Truck interiors that live outdoors
Work trucks carry grit into the carpet on every trip, and it grinds into the fibres each time someone slides across the seat. Truck interior detailing is mostly patience: dry extraction first so the grit comes out rather than turning to mud, then steam on the rubber mats and the door sills where it collects.
Child seats and what lives under them
Nothing hides more than a car seat that has not moved in two years. Take it out and there is usually crushed food, spilled milk and a stain nobody knew about. Lift the seats out before we arrive if you can, or tell us and we will work around them properly rather than cleaning up to the edges.
Spills that have gone through the carpet
A drink goes through carpet into the foam underneath, which is why a surface clean smells fine for a week and then does not. Extraction pulls the liquid back out of the foam. If it has been sitting long enough to reach the floor pan, we will tell you straight rather than promising the smell is gone.
Smoke, and why it is different
Smoke is in the headliner and the cabin filter, not just the surfaces, and the headliner is the one panel you cannot scrub without risking the adhesive behind it. We can get most vehicles a long way with steam and a filter change. A heavy smoker's car of ten years is an honest maybe, and we will say so before you book.
Getting a car ready to sell
This is the one with the clearest return. A buyer forms an opinion of how a car has been looked after in the first ten seconds of sitting in it, and the inside of the car is where they sit. A full interior detail costs $240 to $288 and routinely moves a private-sale asking price by more than that. Pair it with an exterior detail as a full detail and you are at $360 to $408 for a car that photographs properly.
Prices
Interior detailing prices
An interior detail on its own, or bundled with the exterior as a full detail. Mini SUV covers small crossovers and two-door trucks; Full SUV covers three-row SUVs and four-door trucks.
| Package | SedanCars and coupes | Mini SUVSmall crossovers and 2-door trucks | Full SUVThree-row SUVs and 4-door trucks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full detail Most booked Interior and exterior, everything we offer on both. | $360 | $390 | $408 |
| Interior detailInside only, start to finish. | $240 | $270 | $288 |
Boats and RVs are quoted on inspection, the interiors vary too much for a flat rate to be honest. Text a photo and we will give you a number.
Not only cars
Boat and RV interiors too
Marine vinyl has a harder life than any car seat, sun, water, sunscreen and being left covered while damp. It also stains and mildews faster, and the standard advice of scrubbing it with an all-purpose cleaner is how people wear the texture off it.
Same approach as a car interior, gentler chemistry: steam to lift, extraction to remove, then a conditioner that does not leave the surface slick underfoot.
Questions
Interior detailing questions
How long does a full detail take?
Three to five hours for interior and exterior together, depending on the size and condition of the vehicle. If it needs shampooing or pet hair removal, plan on the five-hour end. Interior alone runs two to three hours, exterior alone an hour and a half to two, and a buff and polish adds another one to two hours on top.
Do you charge extra for pet hair, mold or a really dirty car?
No. Our prices are flat rates. Pet hair, mold, heavy soiling and bad smells cost nothing extra, the quote you are given is the price you pay. A heads-up when you book is appreciated so we know what we are walking into and can set aside enough time, but it does not change the price.
Are car detailers worth it?
Honestly, it depends what you are buying it for. If you are selling the car, yes, almost always: a full detail is $360 to $408 and it moves both what a buyer offers and how quickly. If you are keeping it, the case is comfort and protection rather than resale, and the answer is yes if the inside bothers you every time you get in, or if the paint is going to keep getting worse without correction. If the car is two years old, garaged and clean, a detail is a nice thing rather than a necessary one, and we will tell you that on the phone rather than sell you one.
What is interior detailing, exactly?
Cleaning every surface inside the car by hand, rather than vacuuming the carpets and wiping the dash. Seats come forward and back, mats come out, compressed air clears the vents and seat rails, steam lifts what has soaked into fabric, and an extractor pulls the water back out so nothing is left damp. Leather is cleaned and conditioned, plastics cleaned without being left greasy, glass done last. It runs $240 to $288 depending on size, and pet hair, mold and heavy soiling are not charged extra.
Book an interior detail
Tell us the vehicle and what is bothering you about it. Pet hair, mold and smells included, never surcharged.