From road trips to beach outings and kids sporting events to drive-in movie theaters, our cars take quite a beating during the hot summer months. Keeping up on the cleaning can make it not just easier on yourself but easier on your ride. Follow these quick cleaning steps to maintain your vehicles freshness!
1. Empty out all the trash. Wrappers, receipts, food containers and a few questionable items may lurk under your console and between your seats. Designating a trash receptacle for your car and emptying it out once a week can easily eliminate your trash buildup.
2. Wipe it down. With your favorite green all-purpose cleaner wipe down the door handles, cup holders, and dashboard. These areas tend to get sticky, dusty and covered in germs. A quick wipe once a week will help deter buildup over time.
3. Clean the inside of your windows. Mix 2 cups of water with 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar in a spray bottle and voila, you have yourself an eco-friendly, simple, and effective glass cleaner. This may not need to be done as often as once a week keeping up on it definitely helps the overall appearance of a fresh ride!
4.Vacuum out the vehicle. Many car wash facilities these days will offer free or cheap vacuums with the purchase of an exterior car wash. You can also simply use your home vacuum. Be sure to move the seats all the way forward and all the way back to get the problem areas where food crumbs and other mysterious items like to hide.
5. Shampoo the carpets. This is obviously a tad more tedious than the previous cleaning tasks, but it sure helps to extend the life of the vehicles appearance. Mix 1/4 cup of each; Salt, Borax & Vinegar. Rub the paste into the carpet and let it sit for a few hours. Later vacuum it up and watch the stain disappear in front of your eyes.
6. Spray, sniff, ahhhhhhh!. Mix 1 Tablespoon Vodka, 6 Tablespoons Water and 10-40 drops of your favorite essential oil into a travel size spritzer or spray bottle. Spritz this in your vehicle any time it could use a little pick me up.
