As the colder weather comes in, more rain and wind is to be expected and keeping your car clean can be a little more challenging. Taking a proactive approach can help you get on top of car maintenance and having a car cleaning routine will get the most out of your car. We’ve listed 5 quick-fire ways to keep your car clean.
Clean the outside of your car with warm soapy water, and then finish off with wax and polish. This ensures your car isn’t just clean, but will also keep it cleaner for longer and aids the longevity of your paintwork. Wax can help in the long term deterioration of your paintwork and makes your car easier to clean, so it’s recommended to finish off with a good wax.
Regularly hoovering out your car and shaking out the car mats eliminates any kind of dust or leaves that are being trodden into the car. If you’re regularly shaking out your mats, you can wait longer between vacuuming.
Cup holders can be fiddly and act like small bins where people throw small pieces of rubbish. Instead, clean them out with an antibacterial wipe and then put some silicone cake cases in there to prevent dust collecting. They’re wipe clean and help with keeping any condensation from cold drinks collecting in one place.
Stains on car seats are inconvenient, but car seats can come with a whole host of cleanliness concerns, including hair, dirt and crumbs to name a few.
Keep a bin in your car. You can buy small car bins that you can line with caddy bin liners and use this as an alternative.
Specified Cleaning Advice
If there’s a specific area you need more advice on, if it’s your tyres you’re looking to clean or maybe your car seats are looking like they need a new lease of life. We’ve split it into easy-to-read segments below for you to jump to.
How to clean your car tyres
You will need:
High pressure hose
A large bucket
Tyre cleaning solution
Tyre brushes
Microfiber cloths
Wax and a wax cloth
Hose down the tyres
Start by hosing down your tyres with a high-pressure hose. This is effective as it can blast off any form of buildup of dirt, brake dust or debris that has probably solidified onto your tyres. This is dependant on how dirty your tyres are but you should be able to remove most of the initial dirt through this first step.
Apply a tyre cleaning solution
There may be dirt trapped within the grooves of the tyres, so we’d advise leaving the solution to sit for a few minutes to loosen this.
Remove The Dirt
Scrub the dirt and rinse. Be sure to wash well but you may have to repeat this step a few times depending on how long it has been since they were last washed.
Drying your tyres
A microfibre cloth is an ideal way of drying tyres as it removes watermarks and removes any residue. They absorb more moisture than an average cloth, so be sure to dry the tyre itself and the rims.
Wax the tyres
An optional but worthwhile step is waxing your tyres. Providing they are completely dry, applying tyre wax will prevent mud and dirt sticking to the tyres and give your tyres a cleaner look overall. This process should be repeated every 2 months, and spot cleaning is valuable too. Not only does it improve the appearance of your tyres, but it will also help extend your tyre’s life.
How To Clean Your Car Seats
Whether it’s a long haul journey or your short day to day commute, you want your car seats to be comfortable and clean. Reducing unwanted odours, stains and potential pet fur are all reasons to regularly clean your car seats. There are a few factors to consider when cleaning your car seats. Below, we have divided it up into materials and the relevant cleaning products you’ll require.
Leather Car Seats
Unless it’s a stylistic choice, leather upholstery is a high maintenance seat fabric and so frequent cleaning is important. For cleaning leather seats, you will need:
A hoover
Microfibre cloths
A soft bristled brush
Leather upholstery cleaner
Hoovering
Ensure you hoover the seat itself, down the sides and underneath. This will remove crumbs and food that may have fallen down the sides of car seats over time. It’s helpful to use a nozzle to get to the smaller, harder to reach areas.
Cleaners
You can purchase leather cleaners from shops that stock car cleaning products. Avoid generic soaps that say they can target multiple surfaces as they can leave leather seats dry, which runs the risk of your seats becoming damaged. Watch out for wax based cleaners as these are greasy and can over saturate seats with moisture.
If you have a stain present, gently blotting the area with nail polish remover can be an effective form of stain removal. Once the stain has lifted, finish off with warm soapy water. You can also use non-gel toothpaste and allow this to sit for 30 minutes. It’s important to note: tooth paste can have a bleaching effect so this should only be used on light-colored seats.
For cloth seats, be sure to hoover seats as upholstery seats can collect dust and debris in small, hard to reach areas. If you have pets in your car, there are specific brushes which can be used that will collect pet hair and fur only, making the job much easier. You can purchase an upholstery cleaner and spray the seat. Be sure to read the instructions as they can vary by brand and follow the directions closely. Dampen the area with the cleaner and use a brush to rub the seat and massage the cleaner. Leave the cleaner for a few minutes and then take a fresh microfiber cloth and gently rub the damp area. Mild weather is the best condition for this to allow it to dry out quickly. Note: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to avoid damage to seats and upholstery.
Car Headlights
Keeping your car headlights clean is not only important from an aesthetic point of view, it’s imperative from a safety aspect. If your car headlights are particularly dirty, it will be hard to see the road ahead of you and potentially incoming traffic and this also makes it hard for other motorists to see you, so it’s recommended that you regularly clean your headlights. You can be pulled over by police and fined on the spot if your headlights are extremely dirty as it can be deemed a safety hazard.
When it comes to cleaning headlights, there are different options. You can purchase headlight cleaning kits, which come with a variety of tools and polishing extensions to help with cleaning headlights. These vary from model to model so prices will also vary, so it’s worth comparing prices if you go down this route.
For a more economical option, you can effectively clean headlights at home.
You will need:
Car shampoo/water based cleaner
Microfibre cloth
Car shampoo works well in removing built up grime and muck and can clean your car headlights for a fraction of the price. If you don’t have car shampoo to hand, any water based cleaner will work fine – just be sure to wipe off any residue with a soft cloth like a microfibre. It’s important to not use washing up liquid or any kind of acidic cleaner as these can damage car headlights.
If you’ve cleaned the headlights and they’re still not as clear as you’d like, it’s worth taking your vehicle to a garage to see if the headlight needs replacing.
Cleaning your car is important but it can be hard to know where to start, so these tips are a beginners guide on cleaning your vehicle. Whether this is your first car, or you just need a refresher; for extra information and tips please visit our website.
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