A few weeks ago you may have seen our Instagram story of some car cleaning tips, if not, we are bringing them to you here. We are all cleaning the surfaces around every inch of our house and work but what about our cars? When you think of how many times a week you are in and out of your car you may wonder why you don’t clean it more often!
On a normal morning (before the coronavirus that is) you struggle into your car with files, bags, lunch and essential coffee in hand. You open the door whilst dropping your yoghurt onto the ground (disaster!), you slump into the driver seat, place your coffee into the cup holder, put the key in ignition and place your hands on the steering wheel ready to go (hands placed at 10 to 2, of course). Next up, you put your car into gear, reverse or drive, remove the hand brake and you are off. A few minutes in, you realise someone has changed your radio station to Classic FM (no judging if that’s what you’re into, it can be quite relaxing at times) so you switch the station over, then you turn the volume up. It’s a bit chilly so you turn the heating on, turning the temperature dial to the warmest it can be. Low and behold, the rain has come on in typical Irish fashion so you turn the window wipers on. Your fuel light comes on so you stop to get fuel. You open the petrol cap, lift the petrol pump, fill your tank (how the other half live!) and then you head in to the cashier to pay. You hand over some cash, receive your change, head back to the car, lift the door handle, close the door and ahhh back to the heat. You start the whole process again…and that is only ten minutes into your journey.
In doing all of that, think of how many surfaces, switches, buttons and handles you have touched in such a short space of time. Think of how many more times you are going to touch the same surfaces in the same day or the same week. What if you have picked up the virus or any other germ and you have had this on your hand? Now, think of how many times you’ve cleaned all these surfaces in the past week…probably not once.
The car has so many surfaces in which we touch yet we do not seem to think of cleaning it quite as often as we would clean our kitchen or bathroom surfaces. Now, more than ever, it is extremely important to remember to clean all of these surfaces on a regular basis.
We used Dettol wipes to clean down all the surfaces and switches which was an easy no-fuss method and only took five minutes. The details on the back of the wipes state that Dettol can destroy the coronavirus on surfaces. However, you may find another alternative antibacterial wipe which does the same job. We also used some Zoflora (just call us Mrs Hinch) which we diluted and sprayed on surfaces. Zoflora is a disinfectant and also leaves your car smelling divine. We recommend that you use disposable gloves during the cleaning process.
Here is a list of areas you should remember to clean:
- car key
- door handles (inside and out)
- steering wheel
- indicator toggles
- gearstick
- handbrake
- centre consoles
- cup holders
- radio buttons and screens (especially if touch screen)
- window switches
- light switches
- sun visor
- glove box surface and handle
- arm rest compartments
- handles for adjusting seat height or position
- lever handles for moving seats forward (usually in a three door vehicle)
- petrol cap
- boot handle
- temperature and air conditioning controls
We also recommend airing out your car once a day. To do this simply have your window open whilst driving or when you get home leave the window or door open for a short period of time as long as you are in a safe place and it isn’t raining of course. This will refresh the air inside your car. Please do not leave your keys inside your car whilst doing so.
If possible, keep some hand sanitiser in your car to use every time you are out of the car or when you get back in. However, we understand hand sanitiser is like gold dust in the current times, so we suggest not leaving it in plain visible sight whilst you are not in the vehicle. Treat it like the valuable it is!
With all that in mind, let the car cleaning commence!
