How To Clean Scuff Marks Off Car Interior

How to remove scuff marks from car doors Has the constant in and out of your car left you with those really annoying scuff marks on your car interior door trims? Are you finding them a little difficult to remove? Here we detail 3 easy steps on how to remove scuff marks from your plastic car interior, door cards and trim.

The trouble is a lot of trims have a grain in them, which when receiving the occasional bash of your shoes or boots forces the dirt deep into the grain, as well as scuffing the surface of the plastic itself.

This makes it much harder to remove with just a damp cloth or your trim cleaner alone.There is however help at hand which makes removing many of these scuffs marks a doddle.

It comes in the form of the latest microcell sponge technology or commonly referred to as the Magic Sponge.

This type of foam was originally manufactured by BASF and used in sound-proofing and insulation.

It has however recently been shown to have amazing cleaning properties due to its structure which can be likened to a maze of fine microscopic strands that are able to get into the tiny grooves and pits of plastic and vinyl trims.

These sponges effectively have an extremely fine abrasive quality enabling them to remove otherwise "uncleanable" marks and scuffs from your trims.

So How Do You Use a Magic Sponge?

USMYTHA 100Pcs/lot Magic Melamine Cleaning Sponge Multi-Functional Foam Eraser Pads 10x6x2CM

Dampen the sponge with either water or your trim cleaner
Rub over the offending marks on your cars plastic or vinyl interior door trim until the marks have disappeared
Wipe a clean damp cloth over the cleaned area to remove any residue and then dry off.

It's as simple as that.

To make it more effective I recommend using your interior trim cleaner to dampen the sponge, as well as lightly spraying it onto the affected trim panel(s).

One of my personal favourite interior trim cleaners, as I have mentioned in other posts is Meguiars Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner and Conditioner, which is even more effective on hard to remove marks, when used with a Magic Sponge.

If you haven't already heard of this Meguiars product you can discover more about it, as well as other similar products in my previous guide to the best car interior cleaners.

The interesting thing about this product is that depending on your location, the same item is available in the automotive range "buff" colored bottle and also the blue, marine range bottle. It is the same product but just aimed at the two different markets. And depending on availability one may be cheaper than the other, so worth checking out both.

Sale Meguiar's M5716SP Marine/RV Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner & Protectant, 16 oz

Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner – Restores Life and Color – M4016, 16 oz

Other Uses For Your Magic Sponge

Magic sponges can also be put to may other uses. I have also personally used them to great effect to remove the greasy dirty finger marks the kids leave on painted walls.

They can also effectively remove crayon and marker pen and other dirty marks from painted walls and wooden surfaces, floor and walls tiles etc.

Although safe to use on such surfaces we would not recommend use on highly gloss finishes such as your cars paintwork etc, as the fine abrasive quality whilst perfectly okay on harder plastic trim will dull your clearcoat and polished paint finish.

When purchasing magic sponges to remove your scuffs and marks from car plastic & vinyl (or other surfaces) it is worth noting that by the nature of their cleaning action they wear away similar to when using a rubber eraser and thus can either be purchased individually or in multiple packs.

Have you tried other methods or products? We'd love to hear your thoughts on how to remove scuff marks from plastic car interior and details of what has worked for you.