Hints on cleaning interior

[Ladysmoker]

Yes another question from me. This Cadillac I have besides being a hard starter, has one of the dirtiest interiors I have ever seen. It is a light tan color, but the previous owner, my aunt was a chain smoker, like me, and the interior has a thick coating of that brown sticky film from cigarette smoking. Like I said, I am a heavy smoker, and can not drive without smoking, but I need to have some ideas on how to get the build up of years of heavy smoking off the dash and seats, and especially the area around the ashtray where it is the heaviest.
Any suggestions????

[Antiburn]

Rug cleaner with a hard brush for the floors. Also try to find a portable steam cleaner if you really want to get into the carpet. I bought some goo-off for general stuff but it works pretty good on anything that you want to get off. To get the brown film off windex and some paper towels works the best. I have the same problem with my caddy, the old guy that owned it smoked to many ciguars and now I cant get the smell out. A pine tree air freshener always masks the smell pretty good.

[MagicRat]

Antiburn is correct. Also the rug cleaner works well on the upholstery too.
Use the foaming rug cleaner and a soft brush on everything (including vinyl+leather) except the headliner. Use several applications; allowing it to dry and vacuum it each time.
For the final application, use a wet terrycloth to wipe off the cleaner. Rinse the cloth many times in clean water while wiping down the cloth.
The interior will be damp afterwards, so leave it parked in the dry with the windows open a bit for a couple of days.
For the headliner, the only thing to do is a vacuum and lots of Febreeze.

Finally, yes I know you hear this lots, but please try to quit. Its bad for you and your car, too.

[tj101]

additionally I have found using the orange scented mechanics hand cleaner works wonders on interior hard surfaces. It removes grime from the little voids. Use a damp cloth after scrubbing with the cleaner.

[cadillacmike]

Be careful using goo-off, it can dissolve some plastics, - I did this to a computer docking station.

For the headliner, take it to a detail shop and have them steam clean the headliner, just like they would steam the carpets.

Also, NEVER use MAX or HIGH on the Climate Control. These settings use 80% recirculated air, use either AUTO, LO, BI-LEVEL or VENT, and NEVER turn it off, leave it on VENT if its not too warm or not too cold out, that'll keep air circulating in through the vehicle. I usually leave my cars on AUTO and 75 degrees. If its 110 outside putting it on 65 and HI isn't going to cool off the car any faster...