Best Car Cleaning Tips and Tricks 2020

Owning a car looks like a big responsibility now? I felt the same when my car used to get dusty after a single trip because of bugs and sometimes for no reason. But professional car cleaning services always cost around $20 at once. It’s hard to find free car cleaning tips without any additional expense.

So, I was in a dilemma about how am I supposed to get rid of this additional expense, but not ditching my car? Even though it seems a bit of a burden, but isn’t it possible to have a good vacation without a car? It is with a heap load of inconvenience.

It led me to do some digging. So, I started looking for something that is both budget-friendly and easy. Finally, I’ve come up with several DIY hacks that I think are the best car cleaning tips I’ve ever been able to share with you.

We will be focusing on both exterior and interior cleaning hacks.

Well, let’s get started and look into the best car cleaning tips and tricks 2020!

Cleaning Tips for Car Exterior:

Cleaning the car exterior is not as complicated as the interior. But, still, there are several things you can consider that make the work a thousand times easier than your usual process.

1. Cleaning tips for car windshield:

A clean windshield is important because no matter how dirty your car is, you can drive well as long as it is clean.

Microfiber cloth is quite efficient for windshield cleaning. In that case, you do not require any cleanser to get rid of the dirt.

First of all, clean the glass with any random damp cloth. Do not worry as long as it is clean. Then, gently use a dry microfiber cloth over the glass and keep rubbing it until it is dry and clean.

2. Cleaning window with baby wipes:

Using baby wipes was one of my experiments to clean the car windows. Even I was surprised to see the outcome after a few wipes with baby tissues.

You do not require any cleanser or soap, only a simple rub with a tissue. However, it can efficiently work well in cleaning because baby wipes come with mild alcohol that helps to clean windows.

Do not forget to roll down the window and clean it. Many of us just wipe it without rolling it down, so the shaded part remains dusty. So, make sure you are also washing the upper portion.

3. Toothpaste as a headlight cleaner:

If you think toothpaste is only good at cleaning teeth, then you are wrong this time. It is a magic ingredient to clean the car headlights.

Most of the headlights come with a plastic frame that becomes dirty and foggy due to dust, rain, and sometimes heat. It also gets oxidized.

So, toothpaste is an excellent cleaner because the plague layer in teeth and the foggy layer are pretty close to each other.

Materials:

• Take a dry cloth
• Regular toothpaste (the white paste is preferable)

Steps:

• Squeeze out toothpaste as much as you need for one headlight
• Rub it until the grits vanish
• Rinse off with water

However, if you do not prefer DIYs, then you can purchase specialized headlight wipers. These are helpful because it adds some restoration ingredients that easily clean all the dirt, streak, and fog.

4. Cleaning tips for car body:

Automatic car cleaner is not always convenient because it might leave a scratch or minor dent in your favorite car during the process. So, why not try something that can clean the car as well as save your money.

These types of clothes are beneficial because you can use them multiple times as well as it can take a lot of soapy water.

Materials:

• Purchase a microfiber mitt from a nearby shop, or you can get it online
• Get soap
• A bucket full of water or pipe water

Steps:

• Rinse off the car
• Use some soap (preferable detergent)
• Keep rubbing the car body as required
• Rinse off the vehicle with water to get rid of the soap

5. Cleaning rim and tire with baking soda:

Can you have a great road trip with defective tires? Undoubtedly, the answer is no. So, your car tire and its surrounding parts could be damaged if you don’t clean it from time to time. Then, let us see some tricks to wash it very quickly.

Materials:

• Baking soda
• Liquid dish cleaner
• Warm water
• Sponge or towel
• Tire brush
• Bowl

Steps:

• Take ½ cup of baking soda in a small bowl
• Add dish cleaner and warm water ( try to keep it semi-fluid)
• Mix all the ingredients well
• Now scrub the tire and rim with this homemade cleaner
• Use tire brush to reach the narrow areas of the tire
• Finally, rinse off properly with water

6. Cleaning car stickers with a hairdryer:

Most children and sometimes adults do love putting stickers on their cars. However, it is easy to attach a label, but when it comes to cleaning, it is pretty tough.

Materials:

• Hairdryer
• Hard plastic
• Blade (only applicable if the sticker is on glass)
• Soap or detergent

Steps:

• Heat the sticker areas with a hairdryer (do not keep very close)
• Start with center and slowly move to the edge
• Peel off the sticker with that stiff plastic
• For window, you can use a blade (Be careful about scratches)
• Wash the area with a cleaning solution

Cleaning Tips For Car Interior:

So now it’s time to get inside the car if you have cleaned the exterior. While it may seem complicated, it’s not at all. I agree that there are a lot of things to wash, but moving with tricks step by step can render cleaning effortless.

1. Cleaning dashboards and console with coffee filter:

One of the common scenarios inside the car is dusting. It is pretty easy to come and not that difficult to clean. But, if your cleaning mat keeps spreading fabric everywhere, then it is not suitable at all.

In that case, coffee filters are very convenient for cleaning because it does not spread the lint anyway. With that, you clean dashboards, console, gear as well as all other hard components.

2. DIY carpet stain remover:

Your car rug is going to get stained because undoubtedly you cannot avoid shoes inside the car. So, we have a simple homemade stain cleaner that is super-efficient.

Materials:

• Water
• Brush
• Lemon essential oil
• Hydrogen peroxide
• A dark bottle

Steps:

• Take 1/3 of hydrogen peroxide in a dark bottle. (Do not use transparent bottles because it can neutralize the solution)
• Mix rest of the 2/3 portion with water
• Add five drops of lemon essential oil and mix them well
• Slowly spray it in the carpet and wait for few seconds
• When the rug thoroughly wet with this cleaner, brush them repeatedly
• After repeating 2 or 3 times, you will see the difference

Safety tip:

If you notice this remedy is bleaching your carpet, then add some water. It’s also safer to check it in an unused carpet or rug beforehand.

3. Get a shiny dashboard with Olive oil or Vaseline:

Dashboard cleaners are always quite expensive. Besides, if you get it at a lower price, it might not work well. So, look at your home and check whether you have these listed ingredients or not.

Materials:

• Olive oil
• Vaseline
• A clean cloth

Steps:

• Dust-free the dashboard with a tissue or paper
• Take some Vaseline on the fabric cloth and wipe the panel with it
• Use olive oil if you do not have Vaseline. Make sure to use paper towels for olive oil and rub it thoroughly to get rid of excess stickiness

4. Dust-free cup holder with a sock:

Cup holders are mostly narrow and hard-to-reach areas. So, we’ve come up with a great idea to make it easy to sweep.

Materials:

• A plastic cup (adjustable in your holder)
• A sock

Steps:

• Wet the sock with any random cleaner
• Put on the sock on that plastic travel cup
• Adjust it inside the holder and twist
• Do several times so that all the dust can come out of it

5. Cleaning tips for leather car seat:

If your car seats are made of leather, it is essential to keep them clean. When the leather is stained, there is a high chance that it will stink and sometimes crack if we try to clean it with water.

So, let us see how you can avoid this unwanted situation.

Materials:

• Vacuum cleaner
• Cleaning solution (avoid ammonia and bleach-based cleaner)
• Homemade leather cleaner:
• Castile soap/ liquid dishwasher
• Warm water

Steps:

• Use the vacuum cleaner to get rid of debris and dust
• Mix soap and water in the ration of 5:1
• Take a clean cloth and dampen it in the solution
• Wash the seat surface
• Do not let the car seat soak excessive water because it might damage the leather

6. Stain-free car seat with homemade ingredients:

Even though you can quickly get rid of the dust, but cleaning the stain is indeed a big deal. Do not worry if you have access to our car cleaning tips and tricks.

Try one of the following and get a stain-free car seat.

Use rubbing alcohol or nail paint remover:

Steps:

• Take a cotton and dip it into remover or rubbing alcohol
• Rub it in stain areas and keep doing it until your car seat is clean
• Those areas need another wash with a mild solution (mix lukewarm water and liquid dish cleaner)

Use baking soda to clean grease or oil stain:

Steps:

• Scatter some baking soda (powder) in the stained area
• Rub it with a wet cloth
• Wait a few hours and for better result wait overnight because keeping it for a night will adequately absorb the oil
• Clean the baking soda with a damp cloth and then with a dry one

Use ream tarter (acidic salt) and lemon juice:

Steps:

• Take equal amounts of lemon juice and cream tater in bowl
• Mix them well with a spoon
• Use this paste in the stained area and wait at least 30 minutes
• Clean it with a wet cloth, and you are good to go

7. Cleaning Animal fur with a rubber roller:

If you have a pet carrying in your car, then you must have noticed hair all the car seats. It is difficult to get rid of this animal fur if you try to do it by a brush or cloth. So, let’s take a look below car cleaning tips and see how simple it is.

Materials:

• Water
• Spray bottle
• A squeegee or rolling rubber

Steps:

• Spray the car seat (keep minimum distance and do not saturate it)
• Then gather all the animal fur using the squeegee
• Keep moving it as long as all of them are clear

8. Dust-free vent with compressed air:

Air vents are pretty narrow, and it’s hard to make it dust-free if you don’t have a craft brush. But, there are still some ways to clean up your car vents.

Steps:

• Purchase a compressed air can from any nearby store
• Keep your car engine off
• Spray all the vents properly
• Start the car and set the a/c on the max blower
• Remove your cabin filter and spray inside it
• Turn off the cooler and locate it on fan mode
• Keep all the doors open for five minutes and enjoy fresh air from your air vents

Happy Journey

If you have gone through the article, you can realize that cleaning a car is not difficult at all. Besides, adhering to the best car cleaning tips and tricks indeed makes this task easier.

Now you know how to start and get a sparkly clean car from both inside and outside. So, try any of them and maintain a car cleaning schedule to take care of your car on your own.

I hope these car cleaning tips & tricks will help you to get rid of that overwhelming expense of car cleaning.