4 Hacks for Keeping Your Car Clean and Organized

Check out these four hacks to make keeping your car clean and organized a simple task.

Keep It Clean

One of the best tactics to employ in the fight against car clutter is to always take something with you anytime you hop out, whether pulling into the garage, gassing up, or stopping on an errand. Glance around your immediate area and chances are you can find something that needs to go. To make it easier, use a small dedicated trash can that you can quickly empty. Repurpose a cereal container by inserting a small garbage bag into it, and stow it out of sight. Pack a toilet paper tube with plastic grocery bags to stash in the center console, and pull them out as needed to make a quick sweep through the cabin. If you clean out the interior while fueling up, be sure to always touch the metal body of the vehicle before handling the pump to avoid the risk of static electricity igniting flammable gasoline vapor.

Use Your Space

When it comes to the available storage areas in your vehicle, such as the center console, glove box, and door pockets, get creative. Look at what came from the factory as a blank canvas and feel free to modify the stock space to suit your family’s needs. The inventive crew at Popular Mechanics recommends placing leather or corduroy tool belt pouches–available in a variety of sizes–into door pockets to keep small necessities in place. Also recommended is using a bungie cargo web strung across the vehicle’s ceiling from overhead handles to make a convenient place to store jackets in winter.

Don’t Wait

In order to win the battle for a clean car, employ the tactic of never letting it get to dirty to begin with.  Put together a small detailing kit, consisting of automotive wipes or coffee filters, towels, a small broom, and large cotton swabs, in a plastic shoes bin and store it in an out-of-the-way place. Break it out as soon as the need arises, sweeping out sand or wiping off sticky fingerprints before stains set in and require a more vigorous, and possibly damaging, intensive cleaning. Keep a regular schedule for deeper cleaning, and use a shop vacuum or the handheld tool of a carpet cleaner to remove debris that accumulates deep in the carpet and upholstery.

Get the Kids Involved

Often, children are the primary culprits (or favorite scapegoats) when it comes to a dirty car. However, they can be part of the solution. Draft them onto your ship’s crew, with each crew member responsible for his or her station. Give each child a seat-back organizer for things they like to bring with them while riding, such as electronic toys, tablets, and coloring books. Have a competition to determine who has the cleanest station, or the cleverest way to store their goodies, and make each child responsible for bringing trash with them when they exit the vehicle.

A car is an investment, and by keeping it clean you maintain its value. Don’t let it go until it is so dirty that cleaning it becomes a herculean challenge. Instead, make keeping it clean a matter of a few small changes in tactics, and the addition of a few clever hacks.

Image via Pixabay | CC 0