I'm sure this has been asked before, but my search-fu seems to be lacking today....

My car sat outside for some time, and got a good layer of dust/dirt built up on the dash. I went through about half of a bottle of Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer and a bunch of microfiber towels over the entire inside of the car (well, all the plastic parts, anyways :P), and while it did a beautiful job on the surface..I can't seem to get the dirt out of the "valleys" of the textured panels. Should I be using different towels, or perhaps some kind of brush on these panels?

Also, while the detailer seems to be doing well on the cleaning aspect, should I follow up with something like the Ultimate Protectant or Supreme Shine Protectant to keep the panels from cracking? Amazingly, there's not a single crack on the dash (especially so for a 16 year old car that wasn't maintained well on the inside), and I'd very much like to keep it that way

Oh, and I'm not stuck on the Meguiars products, it's just what I've always used, largely because it's what my Dad has used for as long as I can remember, lol.

 

Use a vacuum of course! It's what I do.

 

A brush. Horse hair like a shoe shine brush.

 

use an old toothbrush and a cleaner like 409 or simple green. Work on small sections at a time; spray, brush in circular motions and then remove the gunk with a paper towel. Then do a final wipe with a clean paper towel and more cleaner, it will look like new and will be ready for applying the protectant of your choice.

 

Simple green is overkill for nearly any project. All it takes is a quick read of the precautions on the bottle to make you realize it's crazy powerful.