Interior Shine Test:

Britemax Interior Dressing 

CarProductsTested Verdict: 85% - Nice finish, smells great, bad spray pattern 

What finish does it give?

Both in finish and feel, Britemax’s Interior Dressing is great. The shine is not overly deep, and furnishes trim with a smart look, and as there is no silicone in it (spray shop safe) the feel left behind is just like a waxed paint surface. There’s none of that sticky, gross residue left behind as some interior shines do – ready to ruin your best shirt sleeve, should you happen to lean on the door when driving.

Another plus with it not leaving behind a gummy finish or feel is that dust doesn’t tend to settle and stick to the surfaces as easily – helping to keep your interior cleaner, easier.

Whatever car’s trim you use the Interior Dressing on, it will not cheapen the look of it – but rather we found it improves it greatly and retains a smart finish.

How long does it last?

After many a test, we found it lasted for a good 2 – 3 weeks on average, and even then, a simple wipe-over on the trim with damp cloth will bring back a decent amount of shine.

We also used their Interior Dressing on the plastics and rubber in the engine bay (once we’d cleaned it using Britemax Grime Out), and it gave some superb results! The parts we used it on were given a fresh, vibrant and new look – and popping the hood a week or so later, it still looked just as great, even though we’d driven through a few downpours in that time.

Any other good stuff?

The Britemax Interior dressing smells great, and has the scent of freshly squeezed Orange juice. The aroma hangs around for a few days after you’ve used it too, which is nice. We also like the fact this is body-shop safe as no silicone’s are used. Lack of silicones also means a lack of that horrible, greasy finish that some dressings stuffed with silicone are guilty of giving.

At £12.95 for over 700ml of product, it may seem pricy but the Interior Dressing goes far and lasts a decent while, plus you are buying a quality product – you clearly get what you pay for here.

Any drawbacks?

The sprayer nozzle on the bottle we had fired too much product out, and the spray pattern itself tends to splatter the Interior Dressing, rather than misting it onto the surface. This is okay for larger surfaces, but for your dash and smaller areas it can make a mess of glass etc.

 Need-To-Know Info:

+ Leaves a fairly natural and non-greasy finish, smells superb

- Spray pattern not fine enough

Price: 709ml (24 fl. oz) – £12.95 / 3.78L (1 u.s Gal.) – £29.99

Related reviews: Interior Plastics and Trim

Buy from: i4Detailing.co.uk or Britemax.co.uk or Shinearama.co.uk

Related posts:

1. Britemax Interior Cleaner Review Simple to use and effective, Britemax Interior Cleaner leaves behind...
2. ValetPRO Talos Protectant Tested on Interior Trim Unbeatable value for money and one of the best interior...
3. Valet PRO Interior Revived Good price, leaves a very classy and crisp finish on...

We were impressed with the Britemax Interior Cleaner. It’s easy to use, cleans well and leaves behind a really pleasant-but-unusual fragrance, which is hard to recognise but maybe there’s a hint of Ginger in there? It’s not an overpowering smell though, which some interior cleaners can be guilty of. The only problem we found was that the scent doesn’t hang around as much as we’d have liked.

The Interior Cleaner was very simple to use, and was a literal spray on, wipe away job with no fuss or arm-ache involved. Even only going over the plastics once and using a soft microfibre cloth to remove any excess, it still left a great finish.

When we used it on ingrained dirt patches on lighter-coloured plastics and where any muck was more obvious, we found that at least 80% of the grime was removed with just one ‘pass’ of the product. If you want to get right into the grain of the plastics and rubber trim parts though, we’d recommend spraying on the product and working it in with an old toothbrush or similar, and then removing the excess with a microfibre cloth.

That method should work well in removing most ingrained soiling.

After use, the plastic and rubber had a soft-sheen-look to it, and you could almost get away with it on its own without using a dressing. Almost.

As a bonus, you can also use the Britemax Interior Cleaner on other materials such as carpets and upholstery too where it seems to work pretty well, removing stains without adding more. Remember though, as with most products, over-saturate the area and spray on too much and you will make stains worse, even enlarging the area.

Overall score – 8/10 Simple to use and effective, Britemax Interior Cleaner leaves behind a classy soft-sheen finish.

+ We like the ease-of-use, fragrance and finish

- You can get through a bottle pretty quickly, making it a little pricy. The smell doesn’t linger as long as we’d like.

Visit the Britemax website

Like the look of Britemax products? Why not try a samples pack then!

Price: £0.00

Looks like you have entered a product ID () that doesn't exist in the product database. Please check your product ID value again!

Grimey car door before being cleaned with Britemax interior cleaner

And the results - looking fresh and spotless again

Several weeks worth of dirt left behind...

... Which cleaned up quickly and easily. Only a few ingrained bits were left behind.

Related posts:

1. Turtle Wax ICE Interior Cleaner An interior cleaner that works well and that can be...
2. Britemax Black Max Review Black Max does as the label says and removed fine...
3. Valet PRO Interior Revived Good price, leaves a very classy and crisp finish on...

Prior to being contacted by Opal Products (main U.K. importer and distributor of California Scents) – who asked if we’d like to review some of their products – we’d already come across the California Scents range a few months beforehand. There was a fair bit of talk on the forum DetailingWorld about these car scents, and so our interest was caught.

A lot of people we talk to hate the traditional car scents, such as those trees you hang from your rear-view mirror and other sorts that you buy from large car part stores. They tend to be overpowering with a sickly scent nothing like Pine or Orange or whatever else they say. A lot of the time they smell more like toilet fresheners than anything else, and the strong smell makes for headache territory.

Organic and biodegradable vented/non-vented tins review: £2.49 each

So, after reading a fair amount on the above-mentioned forum, we bought a few of the little round tins. First impressions are that these look unusual, like nothing else out there, and also very cool too. Names such as Desert Jasmine, Laguna Breeze, Hollywood Tropicana and Malibu Melon are as appealing as they come, and almost enough to make the mouth water.

Opening the lid, there are 3 organic, biodegradable pads inside, which provide the scent. When it comes to fragrance, they are simply amazing and we’ve not come across one we don’t like yet. They kind of remind us of the sweet shops we’d go to when we were young where upon walking into the store, the smell of a thousand varieties of confectionary would hit you like a candy floss wall. Lovely, but here are also definite elements of realism to the aromas as well.

There’s none of the usual headachy, sickly-sweet smell, and although these are strong, they are not over-bearing like other scents.

As mentioned, we’d tested these for a good 3 months before Opal Products contacted us, so we’ve had more than enough time to see how they lasted. The tins say the fragrance will 60 days, but we had a good 12 weeks out of ours and they were still noticeable to people getting into our cars! A tip for these to make them last longer; after a couple of months, take out the pads, turn them over and return them to the tin and also add a a few ml of water – this will give them a new lease of life.

Some of the tins come with handy vented lids, which can be passed onto the next tin you buy, if there’s not one included. Handily, these tins also fit into cup holders, which is a good place to stop them flying about as you corner.

So, a huge Thumbs Up from us for the tins-with-pads, but what about the other products they sell?

Xtreme air freshener review: £2.79 each

We were also sent an Xtreme air freshener, which is a small tin containing ‘solid fragrance oil’. the scent was Twister Berry. opening the lids of slightly cool-looking black tin, there’s a kind of jelly-like substance inside, which doesn’t come out even if you tip the tin upside down. Again, the smell is excellent and I’m having good reports back from the owner of the vehicle it’s in.

The car we’ve been testing it in has had it in for 50 days now and there’s no sign of the smell getting weaker. Considering they have a 45 day-life, according to Opal’s site, that’s great going. Part of that could be the fact that you can put the lid back on the tin if you’re not using the car for a few days or whatever. A slight drawback is that if you want to adjust the strength of the smell you either have the lid on or off, no in-between. 8/10

Vented Clip Palms review: £2.79 each

Onto the ‘Vent Clip Palms’ now. The one we were sent to test was the Melon Mango scent. Again, it’s a ‘spillproof solid fragrance‘ with the gel-like stuff inside. To use it, you take out the little glass holder with the gel in and remove the plastic cap before replacing the holder into the vented plastic. Maybe it was just this particular odour but we found it a little too sickly and strong for our liking. Perhaps it was also because being clipping to the air vent, it’s blown more directly at you. Whatever the case though, we still prefer the organic tins. 6.5/10

Palm Hang Out review: £0.99 each

Finally, onto the Palm Hang Out. These are much like the trees you can buy to hang in your car, but maybe slightly less toxic-smelling. We were sent out the Monterey Vanilla fragrance, and it’s not too bad. The smell from the normal trees tend to hit you in the face like a 25kg sack of spuds when you open them, but this was fine. A little too strong perhaps, but hopefully it’ll soon ‘wear in’. We’ll update you as the test goes on.

A couple of points to be aware of that we noticed on the packaging on these Palms is no to leave them on plastic or painted surfaces or on upholstery. If that’s the case then they’re definitely more chemically than the others. 6/10

Summary: Out of all the air fresheners we tested from California Scents, we definitely found both the organic and vented tins the best, with the Xtreme coming in second. If we get chance, we’ll test more of the California Scents range.

Note: Please do all involved a bit of good, and support the main distributors of California Scents by buying through their approved resellers only – you know you’re buying the genuine article then, and not a cheap copy!

We officially love the Organic tins from California Scents. They’re unusual and cool visually and the aroma’s are not overpowering or chemically and they last for months too!

Click here to visit Opal Products website

No related posts.

Car Interior Plastic and Trim Products Test: Valet PRO Interior Revived – 500 ml – £4.62

An aerosol spray. We found this stuff to be excellent and it really does do exactly what it says on the can. This isn’t a cleaner though, so make sure your door panels etc have any ingrained dirt removed first.

After lightly misting the product onto the car’s interior trim, we used a microfibre cloth to polish it up.

The finish on both flat and textured plastics looks very classy and gives a good shine without being overly glossy (which a lot of silicone sprays are guilty of). Any plastics that looked tired or even faded were refreshed and perked up again and a rich lustre was added to them.

The Interior Revived spray also neutralises bad smells well too.We used it on an interior that smelled strongly of dog and the bad odour was halved a couple of days later after the initial nice scent of the spray had gone.

When used again the bad odour all but disappeared. A small negative is the slightly overpowering scent when the spray is being used (we recommend opening all the car doors and and use it in a well ventilated area).

A huge plus with this product is that the shine will last for absolutely weeks and weeks. We couldn’t believe just how long it did last, and the shine just would not budge! Excellent.

9/10 Good price, leaves a very classy and crisp finish on interior trim and also revives it excellently too. Will last for weeks and weeks.

Buy Valet PRO Interior Revived

Read more Upholstery Cleaner Reviews

Related posts:

1. CarPlan Interior Valet Cleaned carpets and seats well and left behind a nice...
2. Turtle Wax ICE Interior Cleaner An interior cleaner that works well and that can be...
3. Meguiars Quik Interior Detailer Does a good job for the price, keeps surfaces dust...

Interior Plastic and Trim Products Test: Armor All Protectant (Semi-Matt and Gloss) 300 ml – £3.99 / 16oz – $6.49

We were highly impressed with these. They cleaned very well, removing the majority of stubborn stains from the car’s plastic surfaces and not much of the product is needed either. We still have over half a bottle of each left months later, and that’s after at least a dozen applications of the stuff!

They also left a good quality finish, with the Gloss not being overly-shiny and the Semi-Matt leaving a nice silky finish. They were non-greasy and worked well in restoring faded plastics. To get the best results, we used a decent quality microfibre cloth and where necessary we sprayed the product directly onto the cloth to save it getting onto glass and upholstery.

The shine from these two should last a good couple of weeks, and as application is easy, it’s not exactly hard to get your interior plastics and rubber looking first class again.

9/10 Worked excellently and both leave a quality finish. Priced well as only a little is needed for a decent job.

Read more Upholstery Cleaner Reviews

Related posts:

1. Armor All Dashboard Wipes (Matt and Gloss) Cleaned well, left a nice finish and smell. More expensive...
2. Meguiars Endurance High Gloss Tyre Shine A good price and works well, but only if tyres...
3. CarPlan Flash Dash Wipes (Matt and Glossy) These wipes failed to impress. They didn't pick up dirt...

Interior Plastic and Trim Products Test: Armor All Dashboard Wipes (Matt and Gloss) 15 wipes – £2.99/25 wipes – £3.99

Armor All (U.S) 25 wipes Combo Pack – $13.99

After seeing the Armor All wipes around in the shops for a while now, we were eager to see how they performed. We were happy with the results as they picked up dust and grime well, and didn’t just push it around. They have plenty of moisture in them and you could get at least a full dash and a door card wiped over with just one wipe. They did leave some slight streak marks on some of the flat plastics, but the streaks weren’t overly obvious. The Matt and Gloss finishes were very obviously different visually, especially the day after using them.

The one slight negative we found is that you get a slightly better product and far more wipes for just £1.00 more from Big Wipes.

7/10 Cleaned well, left a nice finish and smell. More expensive than the competition but handy for keeping in your glove box.

Read more Upholstery Cleaner Reviews

Related posts:

1. Armor All Glass Wipes Worked quite well but left some slight streaking and some...
2. CarPlan Flash Dash Wipes (Matt and Glossy) These wipes failed to impress. They didn't pick up dirt...
3. BIG WIPES Automotive Interior Protectant Wipes Good at what they do, and well priced, but the...

Upholstery Cleaner Test: CarPlan Interior Valet 400 ml – £3.90

An aerosol spray foam with cleaning brush for car upholstery and carpets. We tested this product on some fairly dirty seats and carpets which had ingrained dirt and stains within the material. We recommend spraying an area of only about 20 cm x 20 cm at a time as the foam disperses quite quickly. After spraying the area and using the removable plastic brush provided with the can, we were able to get some impressive results.

The product worked quickly and effectively to remove the stains, and cleaned away any dust and dirt that had collected in the seams of the seats. It left the materials looking refreshed and very clean. Really dirty sections needed a couple of goes with it. It left a nice citrus smell behind. We’d recommend leaving the seats for at least an hour after as they do get slightly damp in the process.

8/10 Cleaned carpets and seats well and left behind a nice smell. Easy to use product.

Read more Upholstery Cleaner Reviews

Related posts:

1. BIG WIPES Automotive Interior Wipes Superb product. Great value for money and handy to keep...
2. Turtle Wax ICE Interior Cleaner An interior cleaner that works well and that can be...
3. CarPlan Flash Dash Citrus Dashboard Shine Does a good job at a budget price, leaves a...

Interior Plastic and Trim Products Test: CarPlan EcoCar Dash Cleaner 500 ml – £4.99

A pump action spray. We were highly impressed with this as a cleaner. It doesn’t leave any shine behind, but rather does what it says on the bottle and cleans. It cleans very well too as it happens. It will cut through dust and grime easily and removed any marks that were present on the door panels. It left a neutral and non-sticky finish which we liked, and brought up plastics and rubber trim up superbly and also smelt really good too (Ginger and Lime scents we thought). It’s also eco-friendly so any of you that worry about environmental issues can rest as it ‘contains coconut derived detergents; vegetable based glossing agents and natural fragrances’. A slight negative is that the spray came out too fast and covered too much of a large area, getting onto the glass and upholstery.

9/10 An excellent interior cleaner. It is well priced, smells great and is eco-friendly too.

Read more Upholstery Cleaner Reviews

Related posts:

1. CarPlan Flash Dash Citrus Dashboard Shine Does a good job at a budget price, leaves a...
2. CarPlan Flash Dash Wipes (Matt and Glossy) These wipes failed to impress. They didn't pick up dirt...
3. CarPlan Tyre Shine Foam Cleaner An excellent tyre shine which lasts pretty well and is...

Interior Plastic and Trim Products Test: CarPlan Flash Dash Wipes (Matt & Glossy) 15 Wipes – £1.49/25 Wipes £2.99

We weren’t impressed with either the Glossy or Matt versions of these wipes. Although they had plenty of moisture, they didn’t pick up dirt very well, and tended to push it around instead. They also left a lot of streaking on both textured and flat surfaces, and even after using a soft cloth afterwards to buff them out, they were quite stubborn to remove.

The whole point of interior wipes is to be able to do it all in one go, and these just didn’t come up to standard. They are available in several different scents including Citrus Orange and Apple.

You are far better off using CarPlan’s Flash Dash Dashboard Shine.

4/10 These wipes failed to impress. They didn’t pick up dirt well enough and left behind a lot of streaks.

Read more Upholstery Cleaner Reviews

Related posts:

1. CarPlan Flash Dash Citrus Dashboard Shine Does a good job at a budget price, leaves a...
2. BIG WIPES Automotive Interior Protectant Wipes Good at what they do, and well priced, but the...
3. BIG WIPES Automotive Interior Wipes Superb product. Great value for money and handy to keep...

Interior Plastic and Trim Products Test: CarPlan Flash Dash Citrus Dashboard Shine 500 ml – £3.99

An aerosol spray. If you like a nice shine to your cars plastic, then this product should be rather suitable for you. It can be sprayed directly onto the surface or applied onto a cloth first, preventing overspray onto glass or car seats etc. It worked well and is easy to apply on both flat and textures surfaces, leaving a shiny but non-greasy finish. The finish wasn’t overly ‘rich’ and has a nice silky look to it. At 500 ml, the can should last a while as not too much is needed to cover large areas. It smells nice too and also comes in 4 other scents (Wild Fruit, Vanilla, Orange, Apple). The only slight negative is that when spraying it can be slightly overpowering and chemically, but fine once the excess is wiped off and the product has dried.

The shine should last around 2 weeks, although the scent wears off after about 3 days depending on how often the car is used.

Note: Make sure you apply this product in a well ventilated area. Keep your car doors and windows open, and if using in a garage leave the garage door open too.

8/10 Does a good job at a budget price, leaves a nice silky finish and smells pretty good too.

Read more Upholstery Cleaner Reviews

Related posts:

1. CarPlan Tyre Shine Foam Cleaner An excellent tyre shine which lasts pretty well and is...
2. ProShine Tyre and Trim Shine – Trim Shine Review Works well on exterior trim and gives a deep shine,...
3. Turtle Wax Extreme Cockpit and Bumper Shine Not much shine, but it cleans plastics well. Go with...