How To Clean Headliner In Car Smoke

When cleaning your car interior, it's easy to be overwhelmed by stains, marks and dirt on your upholstery and interior trim. In fact, cleaning your car headliner is probably the last thing that comes to mind.

If you're not a car enthusiast, you might not even know what or where your headliner is. So for the unaware, your car headliner is essentially the interior roof of your car.

Though you might not think of it getting dirty, smells and smoke can penetrate through the layers of your headliner and leave an unpleasant odour in your car. If you've ever had a toddler squeeze their Capri sun too hard, spraying it all over the headliner, you'll know the pain.

To save you money rushing off to a detailer, knowing how to wash your car inside and out is a massive help. Here we'll guide you on what to use to safely clean your headliner.

What is a good headliner cleaner?

For cleaning your headliner, most fabric upholstery cleaners will be effective. Some of our top recommendations include:

Glart Interior Cleaner
Meguiar's Carpet & Interior Cleaner
AutoGlym Interior Shampoo

These are all highly rated and come in an easy to use spray bottle. If in doubt, when using on a large area, it's best to spot test in an inconspicuous place to check how it reacts with your fabric.

How do you clean the fabric on the roof of your car?

Your car headliner is typically made up of a soft foam, then a backing material of fibreglass or cardboard that is covered with fabric.

Cleaning of any kind has to be carried out carefully, as too much water or liquid can cause your headliner to sag or deform. With this in mind, it's best to choose from one of three methods when washing your headliner:

A spot clean
A surface clean
A deep clean

Which one you choose will really depend on how badly your headliner needs cleaned. If you're just dealing with a mark or two then a spot clean should suffice, whereas prominent odours and marks may need a deep clean.

Spot Cleaning

If you're regularly transporting large items in your car, you probably won't be surprised to find the odd mark or two on the inside of your car roof. But you don't have to break out the steam cleaner just yet, as these should come away with an upholstery cleaner and microfibre cloth.

If there is visible dirt on your headliner, gently wipe the area to remove any debris.
Spray your upholstery cleaner directly on to the cloth, then gently wipe against the stain or mark. If your stain is just on the surface, you don't want to soak through to the foam.
Blot the area with a dry microfibre cloth to remove excess moisture and liquid.

When your interior has dried, your mark should hopefully be gone without a trace. However, if you're still left with a stain or spot, proceed to the next cleaning method.

Surface Cleaning

If you've got a number of marks, or your spot clean wasn't successful, you can carry out a more in depth clean.

Using your upholstery cleaner, evenly spray your entire headliner.
Leave to sit for the recommended amount of time if specified on your product.
Gently work a soft bristled brush against the fabric, making sure to cover all areas sprayed.
Remove excess moisture with a microfibre towel if necessary, then leave to dry.

In most cases this should remove any stains or lingering bad smells, but if you're still facing issues, you can do a deep clean.

Deep Cleaning

A deep clean should really be done in only the most necessary circumstances, as excess heat or moisture can cause damage or sagging. It has to be done carefully to avoid softening the glue, as doing it incorrectly can mean needing a replacement.

Prepare your steam cleaner by following the instructions for water and cleaning solution. It's best to check if your steam cleaner requires a specific product to be used.
Apply the appropriate attachment. It should ideally be smaller and non-abrasive.
Turn your steam cleaner on, wait to heat up, then begin to move over your headliner.
Try to move fairly quickly to avoid oversaturating any one area.
Leave to dry before using your car again.

How do you get water stains out of a headliner?

If you've accidentally left your sunroof cracked open, you could be left with unsightly water stains. If your headliner is still wet, try to soak up any moisture with a dry microfibre towel. It's important then to wait for it to dry before attempting any stain removal.

For small or insignificant water stains, you could be fine using distilled water and a soft microfibre cloth. If you find the stain doesn't come away, follow the above steps for spot cleaning.

Conclusion

It might seem like an insignificant step that nobody's going to notice, but cleaning your car headliner is an important part of cleaning your car interior.

Including it in the cleaning section of your car maintenance checklist will keep your car smelling fresh and clean for months to come!

Chloe is our resident wordsmith. If you're looking for car leasing tips and tricks, advice for car maintenance, or information about the latest car technology, Chloe writes easy-to-understand posts that cover all bases!