54 Car Cleaning Tips - How to Organize and Clean Your Vehicle
1. Park your car in the shade to clean the exterior. If it’s in the sun, it’ll dry faster than you can dry it by hand and will leave drip marks.
2. Go somewhere with a hose close by, or at a car wash station. A running supply of water will be very helpful for rinsing after the soap. It’s hard to get soap off the car with soapy water.
3. Create a mix of water and soap to wash the car. Then, just like the movies, dip your big sponge inside and lather up the exterior.
4. Clean your tires first since they’ll be the dirtiest. Rinse them with water then scrub the insides with soap and water.
5. After the tires, clean the car from the top to the bottom so that the soap will drip down and clean the car as you’re cleaning higher parts.
6. When you spray the windows, try to spray downwards rather than upwards. If there are gaps in the rubber sealing, water may get in the car. Same goes with the sunroof. Make sure it’s fully closed before washing the car. Otherwise you’re going to have a real bad day.
7. Clean the windows with a window cleaner and squeegee regularly. This will help prevent buildup of grime.
8. Clean the inside of windows. There will be dust and grease from hands touching the windows, so wipe them down with a disinfecting wipe.
9. Use a scrubbing mitt in small circles to gently remove bird poop or other hard to remove substances. Use warm water to gently remove substances without damaging the car.
10. Rinse out your soapy water bucket if it gets too dirty. If not, you’re just reapplying the dirt you just removed.
11. Clean your sponge with the hose if it gets dirty during the cleaning process. Your cleaning utensil can’t be covered in dirt if it’s helping remove dirt from your vehicle.
12. Rinse as your work. If you leave soap all over the car, it’ll dry and leave soap stains. So, rinse after you scrub a section. Just keep a hose nearby and blast the car every few minutes.
13. Clean the tires with a plastic brush to get into the grooves. The buildup will be difficult to remove with a sponge. You can get special tire-cleaning brushes that clean better and have less risk of damaging the tire.
14. Use your hose to spray the bottom of the car. Unless you want to get up underneath there with a skateboard on your back, just spray it with a hose.
15. Remember to wax the car at the end. Use a cloth and some wax to polish your car exterior at the end. The water should bead if you do it right.
16. Use rust converter on any minor rusty areas. Let it sit and see if small rust spots can be helped this way.
17. Use a water-repellant on the windows. It’ll keep water from clouding the windows and keep your visibility better for longer.
18. Clean your license plate thoroughly with a soapy sponge. If a cop can’t read it because it’s so dirty, you’re either doing something very right or very wrong.
19. Fluff out the floor mats outside. Then, vacuum or wash them with soap and water depending on how dirty they are.
20. Keep a garbage in your car. Whether a plastic bag or actual garbage, this is the best way to keep your car clean. If you don’t have a garbage, you’ll just throw wrappers and cups on the ground or in cupholders.
21. If you don’t have a garbage, remove the miscellaneous garbage left in your car. Go through the backseat, trunk, and cup holders to find everything you left behind.
22. Recycle any water bottles or plastic left in your car. Don’t throw out everything for ease. Separate the recyclables from the garbage after it’s removed.
23. Get a car vacuum to go over the floor and seats. Get rid of crumbs, dust and dirt. If you don’t have a portable vacuum, get a long extension cord. Bonus: The car vacuum is good for cleaning a small room or a couch.
24. Use a disinfectant to wipe down your dash. The dash can get gross, with all the sneezing, dust, and greasy fingers going near it. Wipe it down with a rag and it’ll look brand new.
25. Use a Q-Tip or toothpick to get in hard to reach areas in the dash. Gently go between buttons and pull out the grime. Try wetting them first, this way more dust and crap will stick to them.
26. Wipe down your cupholders. There’s a low change none of your drinks have dribbled down, so make sure you disinfect them and prevent gunk.
27. Use a toothbrush to chisel down on any gunk left in cracks in the cup holders or side pockets. If a disinfectant wipe doesn’t do the job, you’ll have to resort to the handy toothbrush.
28. Use a long, skinny duster or pipe cleaner to get in the air vents. Dust will build up inside there and go into the air when you turn your air conditioning on. So, stick something inside to get clean the dust.
29. To get dust you can’t reach inside the vents, use a compressed air canister. It’ll shoot fast air and being out dust from inside the vents.
30. Vacuum the ceiling. The ceiling can hold dust and dirt. Not as much as the floor, but still enough to clean. Use a portable vacuum if you have one and go along the ceiling.
31. Clean the rear-view mirror and front sun blocking mirrors. Spray them with a window cleaner and rub them clean with a rag. (Don’t use an abrasive rag. Get a car-cleaning rag. Any damage to your car reduces its value.)
32. Disinfect the handles you use to reposition your seat. These are used by multiple people, especially in the passenger seat. Keep them clean and bacteria-free.
33. Move the seats to get anything that’s fallen under the seats. Remove the garbage, then vacuum everything you can reach to remove dirt and dust. You’ll probably find some food. Don’t eat it. You’ll turn into a zombie.
34. Clean your GPS. You know you touch it all the time while eating with greasy fingers. Wipe it down with a disinfecting wipe and remove any bacteria or grease.
35. Clean leather seats with a leather cleaner or saddle soap (used for leather horse saddles.) It’ll keep the leather soft and lessen the potential for cracks.
36. Use a cleaner for our fabric seats. After vacuuming, you may need to scrub them to remove stains or general dirt. Use a safe cleaning product that won’t damage your seats. You can look online for the best one for your car.
37. Keep a small stain remover in your car for accidents. If you spill mustard or chocolate, you’ll want a little stick remover to prevent permanent stains.
38. Spray the inside with an odor helper. It’ll help get rid of any dirt, mold, or smoky smells left behind. If you’ve cleaned everything and it still smells, you may need to keep a spray in your car to spray when needed.
39. Leave your car doors open for a while. Let any harsh chemicals and odors leave the interior. It’ll also help air out any wet seats from cleaning.
40. Leave an air freshener in the car. You can choose a scent that you feel describes your car and help mask any future odors.
41. Disinfect your outdoor and indoors door handles. People will touch these the most and will leave bacteria.
42. Leave a hand sanitizer in your console. You never know when you’ll need to disinfect in a snap.
43. Organize the papers in your dash in case you ever get pulled over. You don’t want to be fiddling around for documents as the police officer stares you down.
44. Leave a blanket in your trunk in case your car ever breaks down. You need to be able to survive through the night or longer if necessary. The blankets can also be used to prevent large or messy items from damaging/staining your back seats.
45. Leave chocolate in the car for emergencies. Whether you’re starving and need sugar, or simply had a bad day, having chocolate never hurts.
46. Leave a scraper in your car in case your car gets covered in snow or another substance. Mud, maybe? Either way, you need something to scrape your windows in case of emergency.
47. Keep a flashlight in your car to help in cases of emergency. If your car breaks down at night, you need to know where a flashlight is and how to get to it.
48. Keep an extra set of glasses in your dash for emergencies. If you must take your contacts out or your glasses break, you’ll need a way to see.
49. Leave a bottle of lotion in your car in case you break down in the middle of the day. It’s hard to focus on what to do with cracked, dry skin.
50. Keep water in your car in case of emergency. You can use it to drink if you’re dehydrated, but don’t drink it often. The plastic may get into the water and fill it with chemicals.
51. Keep a lip balm in your car to use when you get inside. This way, you won’t be rummaging around in the back making a mess getting one from your bag.
52. Always keep jumper cables in your car in case the battery goes dead. Leaving on a light can happen to anyone.
53. Keep the car manual in the glove compartment no matter how unnecessary you think it is. One day, you’ll need it. Maybe.
54. Extra phone chargers taking up space on your desk? Declutter your house and improve your car at the same time, put that charger in your glove box. Maybe invest in both an iPhone and an Android charger. You might have friends that need a charge!
