Why It’s Important To Clean & Sanitize Your Car

With regular hand-washing and more diligent cleaning becoming more prevalent over the new normal times, we have also become more aware of keeping ourselves safe and sanitized at all times. But when you think about it, when was the last time you really took the time and effort to ensure that the inside of your car is thoroughly clean?

Though the chances of catching Covid-19 from a contaminated surface seem to be slim, it's still possible. And other viruses, like influenza, are commonly transmitted that way. So keeping your car’s interior clean is a worthwhile health precaution, particularly if it gets used by more than one person. It’s also a good idea to clean the interior before a different driver or passengers use the car, and after anyone who develops symptoms has been inside.

Today, we’re looking at how you can stay safe by cleaning and sanitizing your car.

The Basic Cleaning

Cleaning can be done in 4 basic steps:

1.For a disinfectant to work it has to come into direct contact with the virus. Dust and dirt can prevent this, so the first cleaning step is to remove any obvious grime.

2. Wipe dust off dashboards and doors with a dry, clean microfibre cloth, taking care to get into gaps and corners in the trim.

Image from: Kiplinger *(Why It’s Important To Clean & Sanitize Your Car)*

3. Use a vacuum cleaner on the seats, centre console and carpets.

4. Remove the floor mats (look out for plastic clips holding them in place) so you can reach any dirt that’s collected around the edges.

What You Should Be Sanitizing

Next, you should know what you can be sanitizing. It’s a good idea, to begin with a list of things that need cleaning and work methodically through it, to avoid missing anything. These can include:

Image from: Carro *(Why It’s Important To Clean & Sanitize Your Car)*

Anything the driver or passengers might have handled needs to be wiped down, plus any areas which might catch droplets from coughs and sneezes.
Door handles outside and in, plus the boot handles if they’ve been used.
Interior door pulls and window switches or winders.
Steering wheel including any controls mounted on it, like buttons for the cruise control or audio system and gearshift paddles.
Stalks for the wipers and indicators.
Dashboard including the start/stop button and other switches and controls.
Air vents and heating/ventilation controls.
Front and back of the seat.
Seat adjustment buttons and levers.

Image from: Car Grooming Malaysia *(Why It’s Important To Clean & Sanitize Your Car)*

What Cleaning Materials To Use

Mild soap and warm water solution can be effective at removing grime and killing bacteria and viruses. Leather seats need more specialist care: use a proprietary leather cleaner and apply a leather treatment afterwards.

Microfibre cloths are very effective at removing dust and debris when used dry or damp, and damp and can be used with most cleaning solutions. Wash in a washing machine after use, but avoid adding any fabric softener.

You can now buy purpose-made sanitiser air care products for your car – you start the engine, set the air conditioning to recirculate mode, then press the button on the can and shut the door until the can have emptied and the sanitiser has ‘fogged’ the interior. But these still need the interior to be clean to work effectively.

Here’s a tip: wear disposable gloves at all times, and avoid touching your face or eyes as you work. Remove and dispose of gloves only after you’ve finished cleaning and tidied all the necessary.

Image from: BreakerLink *(Why It’s Important To Clean & Sanitize Your Car)*

We recommend not using bleach or any household cleaners, as they can contain ammonia. They’ll kill any nasties lurking in your interior but they are also likely to cause damage and discolouration to surfaces.

Cleaning Hacks

Below are some helpful cleaning hacks to help you clean quickly and more efficiently.

1. Whenever you’re using a cleaning fluid on a car interior – whether it’s a cleaning solution or just soap and water – it’s important to avoid getting things too wet. Apply too much solution and not only will your interior take ages to dry out, but it might also make controls slippery and cause problems with electronic systems. The best technique is to apply your fluid to the cleaning cloth you’re using, rather than directly to the car. That way you have enough solutions to do the job without any excess.

2. When you’re cleaning the inside of a windscreen the bottom part where it meets the dashboard may be a struggle to reach. The professional car cleaners’ trick is to face away from the windscreen and put your hand out behind you, palm up, to apply your cleaning cloth to the glass. With this method, you can reach right down to the base of the windscreen.

3. It can be hard to get the dust out of the small gaps around vents and switches, but there’s a simple solution. Use a clean, dry paintbrush to sweep the dust away. To remove ingrained dirt from textured surfaces on dashboards and grab handles, scrub with an old toothbrush.

Image from: Valley Honda *(Why It’s Important To Clean & Sanitize Your Car)*

At the end of the day, keeping safe during this time is all we really want, and seeing how we’re mostly stuck in our cars on the way to work, it pays to have a safe and clean environment. If you are going out, remember to mask up and stay safe!

What do you think about this article? Leave a comment below!

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If you’d like to know more about the automotive industry or if you’re still unsure whether it would be a good fit for you, don’t hesitate to have a chat with our automotive course counsellors, who would be happy to help you out!