Storage & Organization & Hacks

Cleaning Hacks For Your Car

kelleysdiy

If you keep up with my blog, then you know I am one of those persons who like to keep organized, and that I ‘love‘ hacks! If there is a easier way, or less expensive way, I’m all for it!

Most of us dislikes driving around in a garbage can on wheels. It’s important to keep your car as clean as possible. But getting your car detailed is hard and expensive, while cleaning out your car takes up so much time and energy.

So how about some simple cleaning hacks for your car? Here are some simple and inexpensive hacks to keep your car looking great!

This first one I have been doing for years.

Toothbrush Detailing

If you want to detail your car you don’t necessarily need all of those fancy tools and and kits. All you truly need is a toothbrush and a bit of moxie mixed with elbow grease. The bristles in the toothbrush will dig down deep into crevices and gets that dirt out.

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Toothpaste/Headlights

Are your headlights so cloudy that it looks like you’re trying to flash beams in a heavy fog on a super clear night, you may need to get over to a body shop and drop nearly $1,000 on new headlights. OR you can take a toothpaste (especially a whitening toothpaste), and clean your headlights yourself. Just put the toothpaste on the lense, scrub, rinse it off, and dry. Voilà, a brand new(ish) headlight.

 

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WD-40/Bumper Stickers

WD 40 is such a wonderful product, and has so many uses! remember when bumper stickers used to be cool? Bumper stickers have super sticky glue, so taking them off usually requires you peeling off some paint. But no longer, as all you need to do is spray some WD-40 on the sticker, wait until it soaks into the sticker, and then peel.

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Foam Brushes/ Air vents
I have been cleaning my cars air vents this way or years, and it really works. You know air vents need to be kept clean. You never know when someone with a dust allergy will come into your car and have a dust sneezing attack. Additionally, it simply is not healthy to be breathing in all of that dust. All you need to do is go to your nearest dollar store and purchase some foam brushes. Now you can clean out those vents and keep your car smelling fresh as well.
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DIY Washer Fluid

Washer fluid is very easy to make if you need some in a pinch – especially during the hot dry and dusty summer months. All you need to do is mix three cups of grain alcohol and four cups of water together, adding a miniscule two teaspoons of dishwashing detergent. Put it in an empty bottle to keep in case you have find yourself without the fluid in an emergency.

 

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Q-tip detailing

If you really want that on point finish and clean for your car, use a Q-Tip. Q-tips are amazing because they can fit anywhere and everywhere – from cup holders to car logos. Because of their cotton ends they are really able to clean up any excess cleaning product left over. And the best part – they come in packs of 1,000, so you do not need to worry if you use one or 20.

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Emergency glass polish

No matter who you are, man or woman, you should keep a bottle of clear nail polish inside of your car. This is because if a tiny pebble jumps up at you on the highway as you’re going 75 miles per hour, you will get a crack, a tiny crack which can grow and shatter the windshield on you. Put on this nail polish and the crack won’t grow, and you’ll be able to safely get to a garage.

Magic Erasers

If you have gross stains on your leather or vinyl seats, well there is no need to worry. You can fix those suckers up in a jiff. All you need to do is get a Magic Eraser from your local convenience store and just scrub out those stains. Just get the eraser a little wet and gently start to scrub. You’ll have clean, factory fresh seats in absolutely no time.

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Vaseline?

Vaseline is great for moisturizing a whole bunch of different things, but it can also help your car’s interior out a ton. If you have a vinyl or leather interior, put a dab of vaseline on a cloth and rub the cloth all over the car in order to prevent the leather from cracking. You can also rub it on the rubber door seals to keep them from freezing over in winter.

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Brush and a Vacuum

One of the worst things about cleaning the dust out of your buttons, vents, dashboard, etc, is that now the dust is on the floor of your car and you need to vacuum it up. Well, to mitigate this, what you can do it take a small brush and as you are dusting, take your vacuum cleaner handheld attachment and put it next to the brush. As you dust, the dirt and grime get immediately sucked up into the vacuum.

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Squeegee

This idea I have been using for years! My doggies love to go in the car with me, and I take them everywhere they are allowed to go! But, my bigger doggie sheds, and the seats are covered in doggie fur. The solution .. all you need is a small spray bottle of water and a hand squeegee. Just spray the water on the seats, and squeegee the seats. All the hair will be up in seconds.

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Rust Removal

One of the best ways to get rust out of anything – a car, a metal bar, a suspension bridge – is to spray regular cola on it. This is due to the fact that cola has a whole lot of acid in it which is great for breaking down rust. All you need to do it spray it, wait, and wipe it off of the rusty part of your car. It’s also great for putting in toilets to clean them and putting on your battery . Isn’t it  a bit concerning that some put this in their bodies?

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Buff Your Dash

Washing leather is one of the hardest things to do. If you put the wrong thing on it, the leather will stain, and your car will be looking a bit, well, janky. Instead, take a tiny bit of olive oil, put it on a cloth or towel, and rub it in circles on your seats. Olive oil lasts a while, so you won’t need to use too much.

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Baking Soda

So let’s say that your car stinks, and let’s just assume it’s because you are keeping your dirty gym clothes in there. But you have a date tonight, and you definitely do not want that special someone to smell your post workout stank. What do you do? Just take some baking powder and spread it all over the seats, let it sit for a few hours, vacuum, and Voilà, amazing smelling car.

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Window Wipes

If you are a parent or in the military, you know how wonderful, indispensable, and amazing baby wipes are. It’s always a good idea to keep a pack in your car just in case you spill something. Additionally, those things work just as good as window cleaner, and they will help keep your windows clean and safe for you to look out of.

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Hair Conditioner

Hair conditioner isn’t for making just your hair shiny anymore. Believe it or not, if you wash your car with hair conditioner, you can get that same exact waxy, shiny finish as had you taken your car to an expensive body shop. Buy some conditioner with lanolin in it, put the condition on a car shammy, and buff the car using circular motions until the car is glistening. Makes you wonder what it does to your hair though.

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Cupcake Liners

Cupholders are disgusting. So much is put into them, and more likely than not, you are NOT cleaning those disgusting beds of germ infested filth. An easy way to keep them clean however is by putting cupcake molds at the bottom of your cup holders. That way, you can take out the filthy molds, clean them easily, and have fresh and clean cup holders

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Keyboard cleaner

Just like with a keyboard, you can use compressed air in order to blow out the tiny bits of dust and dirt from the cracks crevices nooks and crannies of your car. Compressed air sends air out at a high rate of speed through a really thin straw, enabling you to direct the airflow anywhere with dirt that needs cleaning. This will make your clean up so much easier.

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Bumper Bugs

Dead bugs are really gross, especially when it seems like you have committed a genocide of the little flying critters and kept them on the hood of your car as a warning to all the other bugs. In order to keep your car looking fresh and bug free, take some water and a dryer sheet and rub the sheet gently on your car in order to get the bugs off.

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Rubbing Alcohol

You know when you wipe your wiper blades “clean”, but then when you turn them on to wipe off a little rain, it’s streak city. Very annoying, right? Well, to prevent that from ever happening, you take some rubbing alcohol, put some on a cloth or towel, and wipe the blade clean. When you turn those babies back on, zero streaks!

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Screwdriver

Grime and dirt always fall into the least expected places, and love to be in hard to reach places. So how do you clean your car’s nooks and crannies effectively? It’s actually really easy. Just take a phillips head screwdriver, put a cloth over it, and use it to wash around those difficult to reach places. Your car will be good as new in no time.

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Cup Holders

So remember when you spilled coke all in your cup holder in 2014? Well, it’s still probably there. Now you can get that cup holder nice and clean. All you need to do is get a cup, put a sock on it, and spray that sock with a bunch of windex. Put the cup sock side down in the cup holder, twist it a bunch, and lift. Now youre cup holder should be clean.

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Essential Oils

Your car may be stinky, so what do you do? Sprays only last a few hours while normal car fresheners are waaaaay to strong. So how do you make your car smell fresh easily, cheaply, and fast? Take a wooden clothespin, spray a bunch of essential oils on it, and stick the clothespin in your air vent. Voilà, a low cost, good smelling car freshener alternative.

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Floor Mats

Your car’s floor mats are disgusting. It doesn’t matter who you are, they’re gross. But why should have to go to an auto detailer and pay to clean your car when you can have that same clean for cheap at home? All you need to do is take the carpeted mats up, spray stain remover on them, and then put them in the washing machine with laundry detergent. Just set it to gentle (so you don’t break your washer), and you’re perfect.

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DIY Interior Cleaner
Sometimes you have stains in your seat that are so deep in there that no matter how much you clean they will not come out. So what should you do? Just make this simple solution:
1 Cup of Distilled Vinegar
1 Cup of Club Soda
1/2 cup of Blue Dawn dish soap
Spray Bottle
Scrub Brush
Put it all in a spray bottle, spray it, let it sink in, and then let it dry.
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Salt Buildup
When the roads are salted, ice is not able to form, and snow melts right away. Do you know what else melts from exposure to salt? Your car’s bodywork. So, next time it snows and there is salt on the road, mix some water and vinegar together and spray it under your car. The salt will wash away and your car will not erode out from under you.
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Car Seats
If you have little kids,then your likely have a car seat. When you remove that car seat, you usually see everything your kid dropped and left behind – for better or for worse. You’re busy and don’t want to have to clean the car all the time. So put a sheet underneath, and that way when things fall through the car seat, the sheet will collect everything for you. Or a towel.
Sticky Messes
If your child drops a gummy bear in your car and it melts into the fabric of your car, you may think that you are doomed. But never fear, for you are not – as long as an iron is near. Just take a thick piece of paper and put it on the sticky upholstery. Then take the iron and put it on the paper for 20-30 seconds. The mess will jump up and attach to the paper and leave your car.
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So, what do you think? Do you have any DiY tips you use to keep your car clean? I would love to hear them.

 Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC

Published by kelleysdiy

I love creating new ideas. And now that I am happily retired, I have lots more time to create them! Whether its crafts for decorating my home, or up cycling items I find at garage sales, thrift stores, and even on the curb, and turning them into something wonderful. The creative juices flowing in my head are almost always in overdrive....so many ideas! I love sharing my new ideas with all of you! So please follow me and let me know how I'm doing! I hope I can inspire you.....and if I do....send me a pic. I would love to see your creation.

60 thoughts on “Cleaning Hacks For Your Car”

  1. I don’t know about mixing that bleach powder and Lysol on the rims. Is that safe?
    I love the idea of the clothespins and essential oils. I think I would soak them in it for a bit to absorb more. for a cheaper option or for people who don’t have essential oils on hand but want to try that use the vanilla in your kitchen cabinet.

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      1. Thanks…we share DIY in common. Many of our clients are so gifted and are on fire with a simple, virtual interior design plan. We offer packages for every size project!

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    1. Thank you so much I’m so glad you found it helpful. I just love hacks and easy way of doing things than having to spend a fortune getting it done professionally. Even then didn’t rea thi

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  20. Pingback: Cleaning Hacks For Your Car — kelleysdiy – I CAN DO

  22. I wonder if it will be easy to clean my car. I have found my car online via Jacars ads and I was hoping the owner would sell me a clean car. It is a really a cool feature at that website. you can see photos of your car before buying it.

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