Eight easy hacks to spring clean your car
Spores of pollen are riding the breeze, days are becoming longer and footy season is almost over – we’re not in winter anymore, peeps.If the increasingly abundant sunshine has inspired you to emerge from your lazy winter hibernation habits of bingeing on TV, skulking around in slippers and subsisting on takeaway, there’s no better time to tackle the list of seasonally neglected life admin tasks.
Rip off the blanket, throw down those PJs and follow our lazy person’s guide to a quick interior spring-clean. Feel the filthy car shame fade away.
1. Get rid of that rubbish!
Drive-through takeaway wrappers, half-empty water bottles, disposable coffee cups, crumpled receipts, soft drink cans – we all use our cars as dumping grounds when we’re on the go. Grab a bin bag, dive in and clear all of this crap out of your car. You know it’s in there.
2. Gather these handy household and two-dollar-shop items to give your car’s interior a quick spruce
Bonus tip: keep this stuff in a green bag and stash it in the boot of your car so you can deal with accidental spills and messes on the go. Take your mother’s advice and clean up after yourself.
3. Hit up the craft aisle at your local Hot Potatoes for one of these lo-fi painting implements.
The tapered foam tip fits perfectly between car air vents – just wiggle it around to collect all the dust that lurks in the gaps.
4. Pets provide nothing but joy – until they drop a stink bomb or leave fur deposits on every surface they come into contact with
Give your upholstery a light spray with water, brush downwards with a squeegee to clump the pet hair, and then pick it up and toss it. Or use it to weave your own yarn – whatever floats your boat.
5. Don’t forget to clean your cracks
Crevasses and corners are magnets for dust, dirt and grime. You could probe those hard-to-reach places with cotton buds, but that’s kind of wasteful. A sustainable alternative is to wrap a clean microfibre cloth around a flat head screwdriver – and the longer the screwdriver, the easier the job.
6. Make friends with microfibre
Use a clean cloth to dust everywhere from your dash to your car’s ceiling. You’ll likely be surprised by just how much dust accumulates above your head.
7. Gentle enough for a baby’s bum, gentle enough for your dash
A soft swipe with a baby wipe will remove any remaining dust particles from your interior’s surfaces, and stubborn marks like fingerprints or drink splashes usually come off with a bit of a scrub.
8. Erase like magic
We don’t know whether we can go so far as to endorse any manufacturer’s claims or names regarding this product’s prowess, but ‘magic’ erasers are relatively effective at removing marks, especially light pen marks and scuffs, from hard surfaces. For those of us who can’t afford vehicles with full leather upholstery and trim, or professional cleaning services, they’re a godsend. Viva la vinyl!
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