How to Clean Car Roof Lining

Roof Lining is the most overlooked part of your car interior. People usually wash the car and clean the interior using a vacuum cleaner, but often ignore the roof lining. The ceiling of your car also gets dirty and stained, even if you keep the windows closed all the time.   

The roof lining fabric absorbs the smells and attracts the dust regularly and become stained. You need to clean it as frequently as you clean other parts of your car interior. Let us check in this post, how to clean the roof lining of a car.

The roof lining is usually made up of vinyl leather or fabric. All these materials serve different purposes like insulating the car from the cold, muffing the outside noise and offering a finished look.

Check these methods to clean the roof lining of your car at home.

Spot Cleaning for minor spots

To remove the minor soiling, you will need a microfiber cloth and a safe upholstery cleaner.  Firstly, you should gently wipe the roof lining and the dirty spots with a microfiber cloth and brush off any visible dirt on the fabric.

However, you should take care that you don’t rub the dirt or stains deep into the fabric. Instead, remove the dirt by rubbing the microfiber cloth gently. If there are no visible spots of dust or dirt after rubbing with the cloth, you have finished the cleaning process.

If you can see any dirty spots or stains, you need to use an upholstery cleaner. To apply the cleanser, spray a small amount of cleaner on the microfiber cloth and wipe the stained area with it to remove the dirt.

Apply gentle pressure to clean the surface of the upholstery. Blot the wet spot on the roof lining with a dry portion of your microfiber cloth to absorb the excess wetness. Wait till the wet spot gets dried to check if the stains disappear entirely.

Surface Cleaning

tips to clean car roof lining

If the spot cleaning method does not work for cleaning a minor spot of dirt or stains, it means we need to clean the entire roof liner more effectively.

To start with the surface cleaning, spray the upholstery cleaner on the entire surface of the roof liner. Try and aerosol upholstery cleaner as its foaming action breaks up the dust trapped below the surface.

Allow the cleaner to sit on the roof liner for the time as mentioned on the container. After the sit-time is over, use a brush with soft bristles to clean the entire surface of the roof liner.  

If you miss a part of the surface, it will be visible after the cleaner dries completely. You can clean the missing part to ensure that the entire surface is cleaned properly.

If the stains are still visible after cleaning, they may need a second treatment. You can repeat the entire process to remove the tough stains.

Deep cleaning method

tips to clean car roof lining

A deep cleaning method helps remove the toughest stains, but the method is so robust that it can cause the headliner to fall from the ceiling. So it is essential to use this method with extreme care. The deep cleaning method should be your last priority.

For deep cleaning, you need a deep cleaning system, hot water and stain remover. Follow the below steps to perform the deep cleaning for your roof liner.

  1.    Fill the cleaning system or machine with hot water and the cleaning solution. Mix the cleaning solution and water in the ratio as given on the cleaning machine. It is best to read the instructions provided in the user manual of the cleaning machine.
  2.     Turn on the machine to start with the cleaning process. Every cleaning machine takes some time to heat up the mixture of water and cleaning solution.
  3.    Place the upholstery cleaning tool onto the roof liner to start the cleaning. Start from the corners and move steadily to other areas.
  4.    Spray the cleaning solution as you move the cleaner on the surface of the ceiling. It is best to move the cleaner tip at a rate of 3 to 4 inches per second.
  5.    If the roof liner oversoaks the solution, try moving the cleaner tip a little faster.
  6.    Make sure you clean the entire roof liner using the same speed and technique. Also, move the cleaning tool in the same direction for every stroke.
  7.    Allow the roof liner to dry for an entire day. Run down the windows for the air flow, if you have parked your car in a secure environment.

Final Words

Cleaning the roof liner of your car will restore the interior of your car and also restore a pleasant aroma. The cleaning methods given in this post are the best methods to clean a car ceiling. If you want to clean the entire interior of your car, you must clean the ceiling before the rest of the interior.

In case you have cleaned the other parts before the roof, then cover the seats, dashboard and boot space with newspaper or plastic sheets to protect them from drippings. If you live in Brisbane or Gold Coast, you can avail the professional services like car roof lining repair Gold Coast.