u/kenthehedge

ive had this nerite for more than a year but he has this stuck to him and some poop. is he dead??? and what is that 😭😭

Im trying to restore this 2012 Honda Civic that I might inherit. This is the first car Ive ever tried to clean up. Im focusing on the interior for now.. the exterior is a bit intimidating to me right now. Its never been detailed and was probably last vacuumed several years ago. Well loved- nearly 200k miles. Was wondering if anybody could give me any pointers. Most details I see are with black interiors. Took the rubber mats out and vacuumed best I could with this old Bissel pet vacuum from like 2005. In the last pic, you can see a bit of the progress I made on the drivers seat with some basic Meguiar carpet and upholstery cleaner and a Shark wet vacuum. What I have been doing is foaming up the chair, letting it sit before rubbing it in with a microfiber cloth, and then extracting with the vacuum. Im not done, but I think its looking good?

I ordered a few drill brushes online. I was wondering if that would help get out some of the embedded dog hairs? Or do you guys recommend a different tool for that? Additionally, theres some bad hardening in the carpets in front of the front seats- that dark stuff you see is pretty much rock solid. Some of it was salt, but I still cant seem to remove the rest with either my dry or wet vacuum. The carpet is not very great quality to start and I am kind of worried about ruining it even more. I have the same situation under the drivers seat and passenger.

I have a couple interior cleaners, but most of them are old. I ended up getting Meguiar's quik interior cleaner since it was only around 6 bucks and was hoping that was good enough, but I was struggling with some of the grime and was hoping to get something a bit stronger and ready to use. I was just scrubbing with a microfiber cloth, but I bought some bristle brushes to see if that could help.

My final thing is: the wheel. I wish I got a better picture, but it is quite worn. Is there anything I can do to make it look nicer at the very least? Or is it hopeless?

Also wondering if there is anything I can use to freshen up the look of the plastic dashboard and door panels and give it a nicer finish.

All in all, this car is still in quite good condition for nearly 200k miles, and Im quite fond of it and older civics in general for some reason. Im by no means seeking out how to become a professional- I just want to have a fresher feeling car that I can feel nice about. Im on a bit of a budget, being a broke college student, and I do not have a steam cleaner- so if anyone has cheap but effective pointers or products- let me know. Any tips and advice at all are greatly appreciated.