When was the last time you really washed your car? When was the last time you gave your cars paint a wax, really scrubbed your car’s tyres or shined its windows? Unless you are dedicated to a regular car wash routine, the answer is probably – it’s been a while. Not washing your car often, or as often as you should is understandable, everyone lives a busy life and these things get overlooked or placed on the to-do list. Trouble is, if you want your car to last for as long as possible – not washing it is NOT acceptable.
Whether you really like it or not, detailing your car is one thing you should be doing, at least once a month. Dust mites and dirt can accumulate on the floor of your car or even in your seats, so once a month you need to do a little more than giving your car a quick wipe over. Even if you do regularly wash your car monthly since it’s last clean the carpets will need to be cleaned, the dash, console and other vinyl or leather parts will need to have their protection renewed and your windows will have a build up on them. Unfortunately, there are many times when you wash your car yourself – that you forget to do a more thorough detail.
The Top 5 Things You Forget to Clean in Your Car
- Vacuuming between the seats – when you do vacuum, make sure you move your seats all the way forwards and all the way back, it’s the best way to remove all that unwanted debris that gathers under the seats. Use the small crevice/sticky beak attachment from your vacuum cleaner to get into all those small, hard to reach places. It’s the frequent vacuuming that will pick up all lot of the dirt that accelerates the wear and tear on your fabrics and carpets. Don’t forget to pull down the centre armrest in the back seat as well – vacuum around that and in any creases in the seat.
- Windows – cleaning car windows is always challenging, but haven’t you noticed how much nicer your car looks when the windows are perfectly clean? Sadly, many of us neglect the windows just to save a few minutes of our time. To clean your windows roll them down slightly to clean the outer edges of the glass and then clean the rest of the glass. Dirty glass simply ruins the appearance of your perfectly waxed and clean car.
- Sun Visor – over time your cars sun visor gets dirty too, keeping it clean just adds to the overall appearance of your car. When you clean, don’t forget those sun visors. Unless it has been stained, a lot of people simply forget this part of the car’s interior, with some simple maintenance you can keep your sun visor looking just like new. If there are any stains, just remember that different types of stains require a different type of treatment.
- Exterior Undercarriage – lots of people forget to clean under their car when they are washing the car themselves. Cleaning the under carriage – or underneath your car is just as important as making sure the car is shiny and clean *up top*. While some simply forget to clean underneath, others just assume that driving through a puddle will remove the dirt and debris that has gathered underneath. Wiring, bolts and the muffler can all erode if not kept clean and when parts break that can be expensive!
- Door jams, boot and bonnet jams – door jams serve many purposes, they act as a seal between the door and the car body, they shield the cabin from wind, heat and the elements. Unfortunately, these areas don’t get rinsed off when they get washed. Not very many people actually look at the door jam. Cleaning boot, bonnet and door jams not only make the car cleaner over all, it also helps decrease the chances of rust forming from water just left sitting there.
Most car owners do nothing more than washing and the occasional waxing of their cars, cleaning your windows is a tedious task but it needs to be done, your sun visor gets dirt from the oils in your hands, hand creams, etc and you should always wash the undercarriage of your car… BUT… when everything is touched up and clean it will feel like heaven when you get into your car after that first thorough clean.
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