Cleaning your car after a long, dreary winter will help you get in gear for spring. If you’ve been driving your vehicle for a while, you know how dirt and grime can pile onto surfaces, detracting from its appearance. Although some drivers prefer to take their cars in for detailing services and a professional clean, you can achieve a thorough clean by relying on the cleaning car tips we’ve outlined here. By maintaining your auto’s cleanliness, you’re sure to better enjoy your commutes.
Top 5 Tips for Spring-Cleaning Your Car
Before we explore our top five cleaning car tips, helping you learn how to clean your car from top to bottom, we’ll start by reminding you to gather all the supplies you’ll need for the job. Having these supplies at the ready will help you streamline the job. Ideally, you should have a vacuum with attachments, bucket, sponge, auto upholstery cleaner, chamois, microfiber towels, wipes, and interior cleaners, window cleaner, and car wash liquid. Additionally, you might also want to include a wheel cleaner and brush, car polish, and car wax.
Also, before you jump into cleaning tasks, remember that it’s best to wash from top to bottom–inside and outside your vehicle. Before performing any cleaning tasks inside of your auto, remove all items so that nothing will be in your way as you clean your vehicle.
Cleaning Car Carpets and Upholstery
Your car’s carpets and upholstery can take a serious beating from daily wear and wear. Spilled coffee, drips from juice boxes, ground-in dirt, and even pet hair can take their toll on these surfaces. The best way to clean these items is to first remove all crumbs and loose dirt. First, you can take a soft brush to gently loosen the debris. If you can’t get into nooks and crannies, use an old toothbrush to dig out dirt from those places.
Once you’ve loosened the dirt and debris, use your vacuum and attachment to vacuum it up. If you have car mats, you can wash those in your washing machine or with a garden hose. Cleaning car carpeting doesn’t require a special auto carpet cleaner unless you prefer it. You can also use mild dish soap and warm water to thoroughly clean the carpet fibers. After scrubbing away dirt, allow the carpeting to thoroughly dry before replacing the mats. You can leave the car windows open to speed up this process.
To clean the upholstery, it’s a good idea to check your auto manual to ensure that you use the ideal products to clean it. In many cases, you can use a commercial auto upholstery cleaner as directed on the product label to safely and effectively refresh the fabric.
Cleaning Car Glass Surfaces
Make your windows and mirrors gleam during your spring car cleaning project. While auto stores sell auto glass cleaners, these products often cost double the price of regular glass cleaners, which will certainly suffice for the job. Remember, if your windows are tinted, you should avoid using a glass cleaning product that has alcohol or ammonia as these additives could damage the tint.
To clean your auto glass surfaces, spray the fluid on the inside and outside windows. Then, use a microfiber cloth to wipe away the dirt and dust buildup. You’ll be amazed at how a single wash can make a difference. For severely dirty glass, you might want to perform this task twice to ensure that you remove all the grime.
Interior Wipes
Your car’s interior hard surfaces can become caked with germs and debris. After removing all the crumbs and particles during your vacuuming session, you can dive right into this task using your cleaning wipes. Again, start high and work your way down. Take particular care to clean the steering wheel as well as the car’s dashboard. Gently clean the knobs and buttons of the dashboard to remove oils and dirt from their surfaces.
After cleaning the front of the car, work your way toward the rear of the vehicle. Use wipes to clean all of the hard surfaces. If you have kids, you might find that you spend just as much time cleaning the back of the car as the front, but the thorough clean will be worth it.
Wash the Car’s Exterior
When washing the car’s exterior, you can use a car wash liquid purchased at your local auto store. It’s important to clean the exterior thoroughly as dirt and grime can affect your vehicle’s paintwork. All the liquid detergent to bubble away the dirt; then, rinse the soap and dirt clean away. Take care to rinse thoroughly so that you don’t leave any soap residue behind to dull your car’s exterior surface. If you choose, you can also apply car polish and car wax as a final exterior finish.
Mind the Wheels
After a long winter, your car’s wheels may look especially grimy. While an exterior wash will certainly remove most of the grime from your car wheels, it might not remove all of it. For a complete clean, use a wheel cleaner and brush to get in the nooks and crannies of the wheel to removall the dirt. Then, rinse it away. You’ll find that your wheels will gleam after this professional detailed finish.
Driving Into Spring with a Sleak, Shiny Vehicle for the Sunny Days Ahead!
Enjoy the warm weather and sunshine of spring with a thoroughly cleaned vehicle. Once it’s clean from top to bottom, you’ll find it easier to maintain for cleanliness in the months ahead. If the car gets excessively dirty again, you can simply repeat your cleaning car spring tips during the summer season.
Cleaning Your Car Can Be Fun!
Cleaning your car doesn’t have to be a tedious chore. Play some music or listen to an audiobook as you perform these cleaning tips. You might also enlist the help of a family member or two so that you’re not doing all the work yourself.
Use these springtime car cleaning tips to clean your car any time of the year. Cleaning your car in spring, however, will help you get ready to enjoy the warm weather ahead.
Recommended reading: Best Car Maintenance Tips for First-Time Car Owners
