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10 Useful Cleaning Hacks for Your Car

Did you know you can use toothpaste to clean your headlights? These are the best cleaning hacks for your car to make it spotless!

By George NekilanPublished 6 years ago 8 min read
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So many of us find it to be such a hassle to clean our cars. Since they get so dirty often, having to clean it every now and then is seriously draining. Not to mention that we have to spend money on carwashes whenever our car gets the slightest bit dirty... which is about once every two weeks. But it's not just only the exterior, the interior of the car gets really... really dirty. There are even spots in our car where we forget to clean. If you're like me, there's trash all over the place. In the cupholders, the floor, in-between the seats, everywhere. While most of the time it's me making the mess, but my friends are pretty messy, too. Curse them...

Anyways, many of us spend money on proper cleaning supplies just to clean our cars. But why do that when there are simple cleaning hacks for your car? Yes, this means you don't have to buy the best of the best just to clean your car. There are household items you can easily use to swipe off dirt from the steering wheel, dust the vents, and even household items that can make the outside of your car shine like it's brand new. Check out the easy DIY cleaning ways to make your car look spotless!

Just how many times do we have to buy car scents to keep our car smelling fresh and clean? Not to mention that some of them are pricier than we expected. But the worst thing about these car scents it that the smell goes away after about two weeks! They're supposed to last for a much longer period of time. And especially if we keep buying more, what other way can we make our cars smell great?

In fact, there's a way better alternative to this—with essential oils! Essential oils last so much longer than regular car scents and just a single bottle can last you a year or more. If you get this amazing set by Lagunamoon for just about $20, it can basically last you your entire life. Grab a wooden clothes pin, put some of the oil on the clothes pin, and clip it to the air vents. Not only does essential oils last longer, but your car will constantly smell delicious when you have this set. This is definitely one of the easy ways to get rid of odors in your car.

Vacuum the dust from the air vents.

From the brilliant cleaning hacks for your car to try out now is vacuuming up the dust. Did anyone think of this? I sure didn't, and it's genius. Just how annoying is it to get rid of the dust in between the vents, buttons, and any other tight areas? We always strain ourselves to get in there with a tissue and our finger, but most of the time, that doesn't get everything.

So, what better way to do it than vacuuming the dust? Take a regular brush, any soft bristle brush, your vacuum's hand held attachment, and go to town. While you're sweeping the dust, you can avoid it from getting anywhere else by vacuuming the aftermath. This way, you're properly getting rid of all the dust that's stuck in the worst and tightest areas.

Bleach the car wheels.

Our car wheels are easily among the car parts that gets dirty the fastest and the most. Since the wheels are the ones getting us to places, dealing with the dirt and grime, and collecting all of the filth from the streets, they get pretty dirty quickly. And most of the time, the way we clean it, it doesn't really clean the tires. In fact, it looks like we didn't even try, so don't bother with soap and water.

Instead, bleaching your wheels is a much better way to thoroughly clean your wheels. Among the best cleaning hacks for your car, have you ever considered bleaching your wheels? With this method, you can use bleach powder, put some on a rag, and add some Lysol to the areas where the powder is. Then, start scrubbing the metal part of the wheels and you'll start to see your wheels shining already. Finally, rinse the wheels with water and I bet you've never seen the wheels of your car sparkle this much.

If you have either leather or vinyl interior seats, it's so easy for them to pick up filth and stains. What's even worse is that they're so difficult to clean. And when we do try to give them a good cleaning, we end up making the stains even worse. But don't assume that there's nothing to properly clean your interior seats and give up.

Did you know that Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser can actually clean the leather or vinyl seats in your car? From the smart cleaning hacks for your car, just grab a pack of Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser, wet it a bit, and start scrubbing! But scrub gently, you don't want to ruin your interior seats. And once you've finished, your seats should look spotless and even smelling fresher than before!

Use rubbing alcohol for your windshield wipers.

Don't you just hate it when you clean your windshield wipers with soap and water, believing that it's clean? But then you go ahead and use the wipers and it's starting to leave really bad streaks on your windshield... Thought they were clean, right? There's always a greater way to thoroughly clean your windshield wipers—and it's not with soap and water.

Since the wipers can get really dirty, because they're wiping off the rain, dirt, and everything else off of the windshield, they can pick up a lot of filth. Rather than the usual soap and water, consider rubbing alcohol. Rubbing alcohol can really kill and get rid of the dirt that's left on the wipers. Put some of the rubbing alcohol on a cloth or towel and start wiping down the blades. Now there will be zero dirt and filth left on the wipers and your windshield won't be covered in streaks anymore!

Use toothpaste to clean the headlights.

Yes, toothpaste can actually clean your headlights. Among the unique cleaning hacks for your car, toothpaste is known to make your headlights appear spotless. Headlights do tend to fog up pretty quickly. And when they're getting all dirty and fogged up, the lights won't be able to accurately pass through the lens.

While some people actually switch their headlights for new ones that can cost so much, try out the toothpaste technique! Apply some toothpaste to the lenses of the headlights, scrub, and rinse with water. Afterwards, your headlights should be crystal clear and you won't have to get a new pair anymore.

Who would've thought that clear nail polish only helped with preventing nail and nail polish from chipping? Since the product is so durable, it has the capability of controlling any of the cracks on your windshield from expanding! It's true; now clear nail polish won't just be used for your nails.

If your windshield has a couple of cracks, which is normal since we're usually driving through debris every now and then, try using clear nail polish to help it. The use of clear nail polish is that it'll help the crack not grow anymore. It's possible that cracks in the windshield can expand over time. However, if you apply clear nail polish in and around the crack, this will stop it from growing.

Use a toothbrush for detailed cleaning.

Using a toothbrush is one of the best cleaning hacks for your car to start using. Since little details in the car are so hard and annoying to clean, we usually leave them alone. And this just makes those little areas even dirtier because we're not bothering to clean them up. This isn't something that you should do, even if you have no clue how to get in there.

Rather than leaving them alone, use a toothbrush to get into those tiny, tight areas in your car. From the air vents to the buttons on the steering wheel and even in and around your cup holders, the bristles on the toothbrush can easily get into those areas in a breeze. Now, you won't have to strain yourself from getting into those areas when you can simply use a new toothbrush to do the work for you.

Use baby wipes for the windows.

If you didn't know this by now, baby wipes are very helpful in so many ways. People look past the product, but it can help you in multiple messy situations—especially for your car. Windows on the car do get really filthy. And they're so obvious, too, because they're windows. They pick up everything from the outside, leaving them looking like tinted windows from the dirt and muck.

Rather than wasting your time with soap and water, baby wipes can actually clean up the filth on your windows far more easier and better. Plus, you don't even have to prepare a solution for this. Just grab a bag or box of any baby wipes you have at home and use them to wipe around and clean the windows. They should sparkle and become crystal clear once you've finished.

Finally, from the brilliant cleaning hacks for your car you can do now, is using WD-40 to get rid of the bumper sticker stains on your car. If you have either one to 20 bumper stickers on your car, and you've had them on your car for a very long time, the chances of them leaving a stain on your car are pretty high. Since they've dealt with the hot sun, rain, snow, and every other weather condition, there's going to be a stain on your car. And they're very... very annoying to remove.

However, possibly the best way to actually remove bumper sticker stains from your car is using WD-40. Believe it or not, WD-40 can easily remove the glue from the sticker right off of your car. Apply some to the area where the stain and glue is, wait until it's soaked in, and then scrub to remove the glue.

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About the Creator

George Nekilan

Has a vegetable garden in his backyard, 5th son out of 8 and is a sucker for chick flicks.

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