The 8 Best Car Cleaning Products of 2023

Best Kit

Chemical Guys 16-Piece Arsenal Building Car Kit

4.5

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Our favorite car cleaning kit is the Chemical Guys 16-Piece Arsenal Building Car Kit because it takes all the guesswork out of cleaning your car. Instead of spending time researching and buying a bunch of products individually, opt for this comprehensive kit from Chemical Guys if you really want your car to shine. It has all the essentials for removing stains from your interior and sprucing up your car, including a detailing bucket, a foam cannon, a flagged trip wheel, a rim brush, a cyclone dirt trap, an easy-grip applicator pad, an anti-scratch wash mitt, a glass-cleaning cloth, and three multi-use microfiber towels.

This kit works amazingly well on plastic, leather, dashboards, glass, and navigation screens, so the interior of your car will be ready to show off in no time. As for actual cleaning solutions, you'll get a medley of products. This bundle comes with the brand's signature Butter Wet Wax, Silk Shine Dressing, Diablo Wheel Cleaner, and Speed Wipe—to name just a few. This is great for someone who wants to order the best kit and move on, but it might not work well for someone who has a few of these products already, because then you're double-buying.

Price at time of publish: $140

_{Dimensions: 14.5 x 13.5 x 13 inches | Weight: 14 pounds | Material: Various | Color: Not applicable}

Best Soap

Chemical Guys Mr. Pink Super Suds Shampoo Superior Surface Cleaner

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Chemical Guys Mr. Pink Super Suds Shampoo is a pH-balanced foaming shampoo formulated to offer a deep clean on car exteriors without stripping the wax or sealant. It's also safe to use on vinyl, glass, rubber, and other trim pieces. This car soap does an excellent job of getting rid of dirt, dust, grime, residues, and stuck-on particles while also restoring your vehicle's shine.

It's a concentrated formula, so add 1 to 3 ounces to a 5-gallon bucket, and you'll be looking at a clean car in no time. We like that it can be used with a foam cannon, a pressure gun, or just an old-fashioned bucket of water. This cleaner is so sudsy that it could leave a slight residue behind, so make sure to thoroughly rinse when cleaning.

Price at time of publish: $40

_{Dimensions: ‎4 x 2.4 x 6 inches | Weight: 1.1 pounds | Material: Soap | Color: Pink}

Best Vacuum

BLACK+DECKER 20V Max Flex Handheld Vacuum

4.9

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If you're looking to banish crumbs, dirt, and even sand from your car's interior, you need a powerful vacuum with the right attachments, like the Black+Decker GEN 2 FLEX Vacuum. This vacuum not only impressed our testers with its compact design and powerful suction, but it's also cordless, so you can easily navigate tight cracks throughout your car. This vacuum weighs just 3.2 pounds and comes fully assembled out of the box. It promises fade-free suction from its 20-volt battery, and our tester can vouch for its strong suction on both soft and hard surfaces.

While the GEN 2 FLEX has a simple attachment package—a combination brush and crevice tool, plus a nozzle tool—it also comes with a rubber pet hair brush, which sets it apart from other car vacuums we tested. This pet hair brush helps to agitate embedded hairs from upholstery and carpet. Combined with the 4-foot hose, these simple attachments make this vacuum an unbeatable interior cleaning tool. Our tester did find that the hose nozzle was too narrow for larger debris like mulch, but overall it was incredibly effective at passing hair, dust, and Cheerios.

This vacuum does have a longer charge time (four hours to be exact), which can be a pain if you forget to charge it after each use. However, our tester was willing to overlook the large charge time and narrow hose diameter because of this vacuum's otherwise impressive performance and user-friendly design.

Price at time of publish: $125

_{Dimensions: 14.9 x 10.7 x 6.5 inches | Weight: 3.2 pounds | Material: Plastic | Color: Black, gray, and blue}

Best Brush

Carrand Flow-Thru 10" Quad Wash Brush

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We're big fans of the Carrand 93072 Flow-Thru 10-foot Quad Wash Brush because it's long enough to reach the entire roof of a taller car but gentle enough as to not scratch it, plus it has a telescoping handle and all-sided head that locks into place.

The handle extends up to 71 inches, allowing you to reach all the way over the roof of your car. It also has a variable-slide water control valve that you can hook your hose to if you'd rather not use a bucket. Depending on the water pressure, this feature can make it harder to control. However, if you wear gloves while using this brush, it may take some of the discomfort out of holding such a long handle for a longer period of time.

Price at time of publish: $43

_{Dimensions: 45 x 10 x 4 inches | Weight: 1.6 ounces | Material: Aluminum, nylon | Color: Black, white}

Best Wax

CarGuys Premium Series Hybrid Wax

4.8

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The Car Guys Hybrid Wax protects car paint and enhances overall shine, thanks to its streak-free formula. The carnauba wax combined with polymer additives results in a shiny finish that also provides long-lasting protection against UV rays. This wax is hydrophobic to repel moisture and rain, too.

This formula is supposed to last between three and six months, and its spray application makes it an easy addition to your at-home car maintenance routine. The packaging says that a little of this product goes a long way—you only need to spray once every 2-by- 2-foot section—so you can expect the 18-ounce bottle to provide up to six treatments, depending on the size of your vehicle.

To apply it best, spritz on the wax, wiping it with the microfiber cloth provided, then buff it with the cloth’s reverse side. Car Guys recommends applying this car wax only if the car’s exterior is cool enough to comfortably rest your hand on, and it's best to apply this wax when your vehicle is not sitting under direct sunlight.

Price at time of publish: $20

_{Dimensions: 8.23 x 7.68 x 2.87 inches | Weight: 1.43 pounds | Material: Hybrid wax | Color: Clear}

Best Rags

Chemical Guys Professional Grade Premium Microfiber Towel Set

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These ultra-absorbent, dual-sided towels are designed to handle both interior and exterior detailing on cars. They measure 16 by 16 inches, which allows you to easily wipe down a large surface area with one towel. The two different sides offer versatility when cleaning for absorbing water (the high-pile side) and buffing away waxes and sealants (the low-pile side). The edge is finished with a silk band, which prevents scratches on your car and maintains the towel's shape.

These towels can go right in the washing machine, and you don't have to worry about their durability over time. They're only designed to be used for car detailing as they're not durable enough for household scrubbing. Katie Berry, a cleaning expert and member of The Spruce Cleaning and Organization Review Board, does stress that you don't want your microfiber cloths to be too soft. "When your microfiber cloths begin to feel super soft, they're no longer as effective. That softness is a sign that the microfibers have shed, so what you're working with is just plain old cloth." When you've run down one towel's effectiveness, there's no need to fret as they come in packs of 3, 12, 24, 36, and 60.

Price at time of publish: $14

_{Dimensions: 16 x 16 inches | Weight: 6.3 ounces (full set) | Material: Polyester, polyamide | Colors: Yellow or blue}

Best for Leather Upholstery

Leather Honey Leather Cleaner

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This cleaning solution flaunts a non-toxic formula that works on any color of leather upholstery, whether in your car or on the leather furniture in your home. You will need a microfiber cloth, which is not provided with the cleaner, to apply this solution. Once you've tested a spot and are happy with the result, then you can gently rub the mixture into the leather, being sure to buff out any streaks.

Leather Honey's concentrate is premixed, so you can apply it directly to your seats using a clean, damp cloth. Work in circles until you've cleaned it to your liking. While it might be tricky to spread in colder environments, you can always mix the concentrate with a little water to create a thinner consistency.

Price at time of publish: $25

_{Dimensions: 7 x 2.5 x 1.5 inches | Weight: 9.5 ounces | Material: Concentrated solution | Color: All leather colors}