The interior of your car can take a real beating in the summer, with sand from the beach, trash from road trips, and sporting equipment rolling around. And who has time (or cash) to get the car detailed? Take ten minutes and cover the basics, and your car will thank you. This also an easy task for kids to do to help out with household chores.
Supplies:
Grab a vacuum with a nozzle attachment or a hand held vacuum, some cleaning wipes, Windex, paper towels and garbage bags.
Steps:
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First, take everything out of your car - throw out trash and put items that don’t belong in car away where they do belong, like coffee cups, beach towels, soccer balls, etc. Take out the floor mats too and place on driveway. Hose down rubber mats or vacuum non-rubber mats when you get to the vacuum stage below.
Second, wipe down all of the surfaces, starting from the top and working your way down. Start with the windshield and mirrors and clean with Windex. Then grab your wipes and wipe down everything else - the dash board, center console, etc. Even seats if safe for the wipes.
Finally, grab your vacuum and vacuum all seats then the floor. Pull up anything you can to get underneath like seat cushions.
Voila, you are done and saving some money in the process! Keep your car under control by keeping a garbage bag in the car to collect trash as you create it. Also, I have a rule with my kids that everyone is responsible for bringing their belongings and trash inside everytime we park the car.
08.06.10 @ 8:49 am
i can never get my windshield cleaned it always leaves a film on it.. need help…
08.06.10 @ 11:57 am
Dorothy, I use a 1:10 solution of ammonia and warm water. If your windows are really dirty, give them an extra scrub down. Instead of paper towels, I use newspaper and I never have any streaks or film. Hope this helps.
08.06.10 @ 7:17 pm
Do not use fabric softeners on cleaning rags.
Secret to window cleaning is not on a hot sunny day as will dry to fast.
The secret is 3 rags: one to WASH one to DRY one to POLISH. It is the secret to ALL cleaning.
08.09.10 @ 6:29 pm
Coleen, thank you! One, two, three good tips. I’m going to try the ammonia and water idea too - anything to be cheap and cheerful. Anybody got any ideas on getting pet hair out of the carpeted areas of the car? Bought a convertible for the dogs so that the hair goes wafting out as we ride (yup, okay, so I bought it for me too!) but the dog hair still embeds itself in the carpeted areas.
08.10.10 @ 7:53 pm
CLEANING WINDOWS- GLASS.
THE ABSOLUTE BEST CLEANER is CINCH MADE BY
SPIC AND SPAN. IT IS HARD TO FIND, SO IF YOU CAN GET IT, BUY LOTS OF IT. YOU WON’T EVER WANT TO BE WITHOUT IT. DO NOT USE PAPER TOWELS TO WIPE, AS IT LEAVE A WHITE FILM. FINALLY, USE MICROFIBER CLOTHS.
YOU WILL LOVE TO DO WINDOWS USING THESE EXTRA TIPS.
08.12.10 @ 1:10 am
WHAT ABOUT CLEANING YOUR VEHICLE AFTER CANADIAN WINTERS? That is so much fun to do! Mud built into the floor carpets of your vehicle with the salt/sand mix they use for the roads!! (We have 7 month winters) Not Fun and a pain in the behind to get rid of!! Any Suggestions???
08.22.10 @ 2:22 pm
I absolutely love Norwex window cloths. All you need is water, the cleaning micro-cloth, and the window micro-cloth. I have never had cleaner (greener) windows.
08.29.10 @ 1:32 pm
Have you ever tried using vinegar and newspapers to clean the glass windows.They work great.No chemicals. Try using a lint brush for the dog hair.Or spraying some hair spray on some old gloves and going over the seats might remove the hair.
09.01.10 @ 2:03 pm
For cleaning windows and mirrors you can also use non-used coffee filters…they are the best!
09.02.10 @ 12:42 pm
The light colored leather seats in my car are filthy and begining to look “cracked” and they are only 3 years old. I have tried Lexol products for cleaning and condiitioning leather but they don’t seem to get the dirt off. Any ideas?
09.15.10 @ 6:39 am
I also use White Vinegar to clean in my house. It works great in the bathroom (shower, glass doors, toilet, sink, mirror, soak and rinse shower head to disolve water deposits), kitchen (counters, microwave, coffee pot-clean pot & run through system to clean out hard mineral deposits, refrigerator), living room (use on glass surfaces and mixed w/bleach & water if necessary to do heavy cleaning of walls), laundry (use instead of bleach to clean and with colors to help colors from running). It is the best product I’ve found overall to use all through the house. I buy more of it than any other product for cleaning and it is a lot cheaper than those expensive cleaners. Good luck.
09.26.10 @ 3:25 pm
Voila!