Every August my car looks like someone fought a ghost in it. White sunscreen smears on the door panel, the center console, the steering wheel. It starts as a smear and then bakes in the heat until it is basically paint.

Regular interior cleaner barely touches the dried stuff. But sunscreen is mostly oils and minerals, and there is a specific way to dissolve it.

Start with what dissolves the oils

Sunscreen is oil-based, so you need something that cuts oil. A little dish soap in warm water is the gentle place to start. Mix a few drops into a bowl of warm water, dip a microfiber cloth, wring it out well, and work the stain in small circles.

Dish soap breaks down the oil, which loosens the white mineral residue stuck to the surface. For most fresh smears, this is enough on its own.

When it is already baked on

For the caked-on, dried-in stuff, reach for isopropyl alcohol on a cloth. Test it first in a hidden spot, because alcohol can dull some vinyls and leather. But on hard plastic trim and glass, it cuts through sunscreen residue fast.

Go easy. Damp the cloth, not the surface. You do not want alcohol running down into seams or switches.

Finish with a protectant

Once the residue is gone, wipe the area with a clean damp cloth to remove any soap or alcohol, then dry it. Finish with a vinyl or leather protectant, because both dish soap and alcohol strip the natural oils from the surface and can leave it looking dull.

The prevention tip nobody follows

Keep a small pack of wipes in the glovebox and wipe your hands before you drive. It is annoying, I know. But it is a lot less annoying than scrubbing baked sunscreen off your door panel every Sunday.