The very best way to remove grease from auto upholstery

I try to keep my customers’ cars at least as nice as they keep them. You probably do, too. The only problem is that I am perpetually filthy. I have a trick I’ve used for a long time on the occasions I’ve sullied a nice interior with grease or dirt. (I will never understand why people choose those light tans and sand colors.)

The first thing I reach for now is a surprising item: brake parts cleaner. I know, I know. You probably think it’s insane that I would reach for such a strong solvent, as I did when this tip was revealed to me decades ago.

But it works, and it works mint. Now, the usual caveats apply. Don’t use this on anything like leather or vinyl or alcantara; this is a cloth-only trick.

To this day, I still take a cotton swab and test the stuff out on an “invisible” spot. (Under the seats is a good bet.) I have never once run into any issues with modern-ish auto upholstery cloth, but I still check, and you probably should too.

Blast a white rag with cleaner outside the vehicle, then dab the spot out. Colored rags often leach color in the presence of brake parts cleaner. I have found this out the hard way. Brake cleaner will also happily melt and discolor all sorts of plastics and other interior surfaces, which is why you shouldn’t spray anything directly in the vehicle.

The aggressive solvent gets to work almost instantly, carrying away grease and dirt and all mixtures thereof that your paws find daily.

After you get the interior looking good again, you better plan on airing out the car. The brake cleaner stinks to high heaven, and of course there are all the attendant health problems that come along for us now for your customer to deal with if you don’t allow that stuff to offgas for a bit. More acutely, your customer probably does not want a car that smells like your work shirt after a clean-and-adjust on a set of drum brakes.

I know it sounds crazy, but it really works. Try it on a beater with a shot interior, an old floor mat, or the next time you’re in a bind.