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Refresh Your Fall Day 6- Clean out your car

Refresh Your Fall Day 6- Clean out Your Car #carcleaning #detailing #refreshyourfall #simplify

I love the feeling of a clean car! It makes me feel ready to tackle the errands I have for the day. In contrast to when my van is covered in snack crumbs and random children’s shoes. That’s just not a good feeling. So for today’s task, we’re sharing how to minimize your car stuff, how to get a deeper clean, and how to keep your car sparkling!

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Minimize Your Car Stuff

One of the simplest ways to keep your car clean is to minimize the stuff you actually keep in your car!

Here’s a helpful list of some of the paper essentials (think insurance info) and other items that you will likely need in your car.

As you are simplifying, don’t forget to keep emergency supplies in your car! This jump starter has helped me several times and is easy to use if you’re like me and don’t know a lot about cars. We’ll be refreshing our winter car emergency kits soon. Make sure you have the supplies that are appropriate for your climate and travel plans.

Deep Clean Car Tips

Clean out cars with a few baskets or bags.

Mariah and I both clean out our cars with the “basket or bag” method. Have 1 receptacle for trash, 1 for recycling, and 1 for stuff to take inside. Sort through your car like a tornado and put the inside stuff away right away!

We both like using shop-vacs for car cleaning because they have all the attachments you need. Plus they last for years and are handy for other jobs! My children love vacuuming our vehicles. After we vacuum my family likes to use these Armor All leather wipes for the seats.

Make your car smell good!

Clean smell = clean feeling. I’ve used this car freshener scent, and it’s a great motivator to keep the car picked up to match the good smell! We’ve also heard good reviews about essential oil car diffusers and will update this post if we find one we love.

DIY car detailing tips.

We’re not professional car cleaners. But Best Auto Detailing Tips has great information about car detailing DIY for beginners.

Have your car professionally detailed.

We try to go the DIY route when we can, but we treat our minivan to a professional detailing at least annually. Groupon is our favorite source for finding an awesome deal! Also, new small detailers will often have promotional rates as they’re building a client base.

Tips for keeping your car clean #carcleaning #carwash #cardetailing #simplify

What are your car cleaning tips?

Keeping Your Car Clean

Clean your car on a regular schedule.

Work on developing the habit of taking out items daily to make cleaning easier, like taking care of wrappers and water bottles. Tara is helping her children remember to take in their personal items after each trip.

Joey and I used to be diligent about doing a deeper car cleaning weekly. It kept our car looking nice most of the time. We noticed a big decline in how our car looked when we slipped in this habit! We’ve been doing it again the past few months, and our minivan especially is staying much nicer all week.

Use car organizers.

I LOVE this foldable car organizer! We have two that we bought three years ago and they still look like new even with a lot of use. My husband has kept supplies handy when he was working as a house contractor. We also have kept emergency kit items and extra baby and kid supplies like diapers and wipes, blankets, and a spare outfit.

Consider your essential car items and find the most practical storage solution to keep your car neat!

Other Challenge Task Ideas If You Don’t have a Car

No car? Choose another task that will improve your transportation experience!

Pump your bike tires or do other bike maintenance.

Two Youtube videos to get you started: Essential Bike Maintenance Tips or this 1 Hour Bike Tuneup both from Global Cycling Network and

Or clean your favorite pair of shoes for walking around campus or your city!

WikiHow teaches you how to clean several types of shoes in this tutorial.

 

Please share your best car cleaning tips below!

If you would like to see the other challenge posts, go to Refresh Your Fall Challenge. We’d love to have you join us!

How to Keep Your Car Clean #cleancar #cars #cleanminivan #minivans

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