First post, saying hi and asking for help

[suckmyhatch]

Hey guys just joined the forum yesterday and got approved today so I can post. I'm coming from the Euro world, lost my 2004 A6 (hopefully my picture uploads) to some serious engine failure, and switched to a new Civic LX Hatchback (more affordable, better MPGs, LOVE the design).
I plan to be active on here, already read through the "What did you do to your Civic today" thread, ordered some of the things people posted, so thank you to all who posted in there.
One thing I'm noticing on the LX is the fabric center arm rest and the door arm rests are getting dirty. I'm not sure what to clean them with so I was hoping I could get some tips.
Yes, I did see they sell leather covers for them but I do actually like the fabric look and feel so would rather just clean them often.
Out with the old and in with the new, A happy new Civic owner (bought 4/28/2017 though lol)

View attachment 70390

 

[5inn]

Seems to be a common problem with the fabric. Many people have ordered leather covers for the center console and the door elbow rests from places like eBay for not a ton of money. It seems like the OEM Honda leather pieces are pretty pricey.

 

[suckmyhatch]

Seems to be a common problem with the fabric. Many people have ordered leather covers for the center console and the door elbow rests from places like eBay for not a ton of money. It seems like the OEM Honda leather pieces are pretty pricey.

Yeah I totally believe its a common thing, I'd like to see how hard they are to clean before I switch to leather

 

[cypress]

Welcome to the forums. This a common discussion about the cloth center console. What I do to keep it clean are water and a damp sponge. I clean it about every other week. My next mod is leather center console. No matter how hard I try to keep it clean still doesn't look good in the long haul.

 

[darkness975]

Not sure what everyone is doing to attract so much dirt on their consoles. I have the stock console no covers or anything and I have only had to clean very mild marks a couples times off it. I'm OCD (seriously) so if it was getting that consistently dirty it would irritate me to no end.

Ya'll going for a swim in the river before your drive to work???

 

[suckmyhatch]

Not sure what everyone is doing to attract so much dirt on their consoles. I have the stock console no covers or anything and I have only had to clean very mild marks a couples times off it. I'm OCD (seriously) so if it was getting that consistently dirty it would irritate me to no end.

Ya'll going for a swim in the river before your drive to work???

LOL, I'm not saying its like nasty dirty, it just has some discoloration from arms rubbing on it, was wondering how to get it back to that true black color it was day 1

 

[cypress]

Not sure what everyone is doing to attract so much dirt on their consoles. I have the stock console no covers or anything and I have only had to clean very mild marks a couples times off it. I'm OCD (seriously) so if it was getting that consistently dirty it would irritate me to no end.

Ya'll going for a swim in the river before your drive to work???

When you have people riding in your car you can only control it so much. I know if it was only me in the car 100% of the time it wouldn't be an issue but it makes sense to have my wife in the car when going out and running errands. This problem has irritated me especially since it's due mostly to skin cells. Hence, why the leather console is needed. Honda just picked bad material on this car. Never was an issue on prior years.

 

[darkness975]

When you have people riding in your car you can only control it so much. I know if it was only me in the car 100% of the time it wouldn't be an issue but it makes sense to have my wife in the car when going out and running errands. This problem has irritated me especially since it's due mostly to skin cells. Hence, why the leather console is needed. Honda just picked bad material on this car. Never was an issue on prior years.

Good point. It is me alone 99% of the time in the car since I am single and all, and I am pretty stringent about keeping my car (and everything else in my life) clean, neat, tidy, organized, etc. While everyone else is running around trying to figure out what to do about whatever situation they are in I am already 10 steps ahead. I am definitely not like most people my age/generation, who seem to be a disorganized mess that believes they know everything about everything.

 

[relentlessX]

This might sound weird, but try it since it worked for me. Get masking tape and apply it to the arm rest. Rub the masking tape onto the cloth. Then slowly take off the tape from one end to the other. For me, the cloth was getting dirty from dry/dead skin. Sounds gross, but this is the most common issue. I also tried a multi-purpose cleaner and it did ok...... Try the tape.

 

[Rojer]

While my car is sitting in the shop I ordered the leather console, side panels, side armrests, and steering wheel all leather with red stitching it's going to be tits if I ever get my hatch back!

 

[Rickmeister 48]

I got this cover off Amazon for about 18.00, its made of some sort fabric like polartech or something similar. Couldn't afford to do all the leather pieces at once and the console lid is the most expensive at over 100.00
The fabric sucks, if I cleaned it one day, the next it was right back to turning white. As someone said, it catches your skin,and it just sucks. It doesn't feel good either. I"ll eventually get the leather, but for now the cover is nice and soft and will probably be nice and warm for winter

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