3 Ways to Keep Your Family Car Clean This Holiday Season
The holidays involve fun family get-togethers, dinners, and messy activities like carving pumpkins, going sledding, and exploring the great outdoors. Unfortunately, many of these important memory-building moments can also be exceptionally hard on your car, leaving you with a dirty interior or permanent damage when all is said and done.
Here are three ways to keep your family car clean this holiday season, so the memories stay with you — but the messes won't.
1. Install Food Transport Totes
Food can be exceptionally difficult to transport, especially on days when the weather creates slick roads. Even when placed carefully on a large towel, it only takes an instant for that pie to slide across your backseat and tip over.
Fortunately, by putting a few large plastic totes in your trunk during the holidays, you can be ready for any food transportation task.
After measuring the interior dimensions of your car's trunk, purchase one or two plastic totes with lids to place in the area. To keep the totes and the transported food items from slipping, line the underside of the totes and their interior bottom with rubber, non-slip drawer liner.
When you need to transport food, simply place the dishes inside the plastic containers, and close the bins with the lids they came with. In addition to keeping any spills from staining your car's upholstery, you may also be able to keep smells from emanating throughout the car and lingering for weeks.
2. Check Your Kids Before Car Rides
Children are notorious for sporting dirty hands, especially before they have developed well-established hand washing regimens. Unfortunately, it only takes a few poorly placed touches to make the vinyl handles and interior fabrics of your car dirty.
From odor and disease-causing bacteria to pigments from fruits, candies, and frostings, your car's interior doesn't stand a chance when kids with dirty hands and shoes are loaded into the backseat.
To prevent smudges and stains, get into the habit of checking your children's hands, clothing, and the undersides of their shoes before heading out to the car. Consider keeping a package of baby wipes handy to clean hands and spot-wash clothing, or make it a habit to stop by the bathroom with your kids to wash up before you leave an establishment.
Craft projects, papers, and even small toys can create messes in the backseat. Collect these items before you leave, and stash them in the trunk in a separate compartment. Although it might seem like an added chore, this extra step could help your car to stay clean — even during the busiest times.
3. Schedule Routine Professional Detailing
Soap is effective at removing dirt because it is more polar than grime particulates, which means it will dissolve in water. However, if soap residue is left behind on carpets and car upholstery, the residue can actually attract dirt, making your car fabrics soiled again in no time. For this reason, professional detailing is essential for the lifespan of your car's carpets and upholstery.
When a car is professionally detailed, the carpets, seats, and armrests are vacuumed carefully to remove surface grime, and then experts use powerful hot water extraction machines to simultaneously shampoo surfaces and whisk away extra soap and water. The result is fabrics that stay clean for longer.
To keep your car clean, experts recommend scheduling professional car detailing every 4 to 6 months , so consider booking a service right before and after the holidays.
Even the most diligent car owners can experience growing grime during the holiday season, so schedule your next professional car wash or detailing today. Here at Grand Prix Car Wash , we offer a variety of car washing and detailing services, including hand waxing, leather conditioning, and even high-speed buffing to make your car shine. Stop by today to improve the way your vehicle looks and smells.
