Car Organizing Tips: 10 Brilliant Cleaning Hacks To Keep Your Car Tidy When You Have Kids

Car is our everyday companion. We use our cars for various reasons throughout the day. Maybe you are going for an errand or taking your kids to school; maybe you are going to work or driving for work. No matter what, we need our car. As you use your car daily, keeping your car clean and organized is very important. You don’t always need a lot of money to keep your car clean and organized. You can come up with your very own car organization ideas. In this article, you will find some DIY car organization hacks and some car organization tips to keep your car clean. Let’s get started.

1. Collect and remove trash

Clearing trash depends on the last time you cleaned your car; you may have light to heavy trash in your car. According to the nature of trash, car organizing tips may vary. You may look for organizing tips from a certified car organizer. Before starting to clean your car, first, you need to get rid of items that your vacuum can not handle. Clearing these bigger chunks of trash will make your work a lot easier. So take out wrappers, toys, bottles, soda cans, and everything that will ruin your vacuum.

2. Clean floor mats

Your floor mats get the most dirt. Whenever you come from a beach or playground, your floor mats get messy. You will find every kind of dirt, trash on your mats. Take the dirt, trash out and dispose of them in a trash bag. Then take out the mats and shake them thoroughly to get rid of dry dust particles. Then soak them in soap water and completely dry them in the open air.

3. Use a vacuum 

The first step of how to keep the clean car inside is to vacuum. You can use your regular household vacuum for this purpose. Once you have removed your floor mats and bigger chunks of trash, vacuuming won’t be hard. Vacuum your car seat properly. Your seat contains small items, dry food debris, pet hair, and a lot more.
Take time while vacuuming. Reach for hard-to-clean areas. Go beneath your seats. Also, remember to vacuum in-between seats. Because of residue from cookies, crackers generally find place in-between seats. Vacuum every inch of your car’s inside. Always remember to start at a certain spot and carry on from there in a pattern. This way, you will not miss any spots.

4. Wipe away grime 

Now that you have vacuumed the inside of your car, you can go to the next step. Take a soft piece of cloth and start wiping away grime. Look for grimes in the door panel, on your dashboard, your steering wheel, in-between seat, on your break and acceleration paddles.

Keep your eyes open as you may find grime at other places also. You can spray car cleaner in small amounts on your dashboard. This will make wiping easy. Use cleaning wipes or a soft cloth. If you don’t have access to these two, you can use cotton balls as well. Wipe properly until you are happy with the result.

5. Clean cup holders

Cup holders are things that get messy pretty easily. You may spill coffee or soda in them. You may also find dead hair or dead skins. Your kid may throw something small in there. And once it gets in, it is hard to clean. Take a piece of cloth and try to wipe out as much grime or dirt as possible. Then you can use wet wipes or spray a bit of car cleaner on a cotton ball and clean the inside of your cup holder.

A smart DIY project you may do with your cup holder. All you need is a cupcake liner. Take a cupcake liner and put it gently in your cup holders. And your project is done. As your cup holder gets dirty, take out the cupcake liner and rinse them. Your cupholder is clean as new!

6. Clean windows

Your car windows can get dirty from both inside and outside. Sometimes it gets dirtier from inside. If you have kids, then there is very much the possibility of them drawing on your window. But you do not have to worry. All you need is a window cleaner and a piece of soft or microfiber cloth.
If you don’t have a window cleaner, there is also a solution. Take a spray bottle. Mix a cup of water, two tablespoons full of vinegar, and a cup of rubbing alcohol. Mix them properly. This works just as fine as a window cleaner.

7. Clean stains 

You will always find stains on your seat covers or your floor mats. If you have kids, then stains are a must. No matter how hard you try, stains will occur. But do not worry. There is a simple solution to this problem. You can remove stains with homemade cleaner.

Take a spray bottle. Take two cups of water, a cup of vinegar, and about a tablespoon of dishwasher soap. Mix them properly. Spray the mixture on the stain. Let it sit for 15 minutes. Then wash away. If the stain hasn’t gone yet, use products like Resolve.
While using these products, the thing you don’t want to happen is the discoloration of your seat. So first apply a small portion and check if the color is ok. Then proceed.

8. Clean pet hair

If you have a hairy four-legged friend, then you probably know the pain of removing pet hairs. After vacuuming, if you still find pet hairs, then use a rubber-dipped glove. Just simply brush away the fur with your hand, and the furs will stick to your glove. If you want to protect your interior from further damage coming from pets, you can use a waterproof seat protector.

9. Clean the crevices

There are always some spots that are hard to reach. You may find reaching these places difficult with just bare hands. You will need a paintbrush. With the help of a paintbrush, you can easily clean in-between your seats the area around your center console.
You just need to wrap a microfiber cloth on the back of the brush. And with the top of the brush, you can easily clean your air vents.
After you are done cleaning, use a car freshener to smell the inside of your car fresh.

10. Try some DIY hacks to better manage the inside of your car

If you are looking for ideas to increase storage of your car, how to keep the kid command center or the backseat organized then this part is for you.
The following are some hacks for better management of the inside of your car.

1. Hang a shoe organizer on the back of the front passenger seat. You can use it to store toys or snacks or your aid kit. This will also work as your backseat organizer and give you more storage. You can also use a car organizer between seats to better organize your backseat.
2. If you have old DVD cases and a kid, use the DVD cases, as cases for crayons or colored pencils.
3. You can use your empty tissue boxes to store plastic bags or grocery bags.
4. Use empty cereal boxes as a car trash can in your car. Once the box is full, just take it out and unload it in a trash can.
5. If you are searching for how to organize car trunk, then here are some organization tips. You can put a container in your trunk. You may use one or more containers. You can store your sports equipment in one container, some other item in another container. You may also use a laundry basket for the same purpose. After qualifying purchases, store them properly in the basket. This will increase your storage and keep the trunk clean. Also, no clutter will take place as everything will be in place. You can also check IKEA car trunk organizer for this purpose.
6. You may use a remote holder to keep important things beside you. This is a very unique car organization idea.

Frequently Asked Questions

Let’s mark some of the common queries that may come to your mind and find their answers.

1. How can I keep my car organized with kids?
You should always keep your important documents in the glove compartment. For toys, you may consider the hack provided above. You may keep your extra clothing or supplies in the trunk using a trunk organizer.

2. How to clean hard-to-reach spots in a car?
Using a vacuum cleaner is the best option. You can use both intake and outtake. Intake vacuums will help you to dust and debris. Whereas outtake vacuums will blow out the dust from inside.

3. How do I declutter my car?
To clear your car clutter, start by taking out everything. Whatever you find in your glove box, center console, seat pockets, take them out. Then sort them into necessary and unnecessary things. Put the necessary items back in an organized manner.

4. What does a clean car say about you?
A clean car reflects your personality. People who have clean cars have the possibility of having a clean house. Having a clean car also indicates that you are organized and capable of solving your problems.

5. Should you keep your car clean?
Every car has a natural expectancy of depreciating. But if you clean your car frequently, it surely helps your car to go a mile further. Dirt, grime, and salt are enemies of your car. They will eat away paint and damage the metal part.

Conclusion 

Car is one of the most important aspects of our life. Keeping it clean and organized will help you in times of emergency. You may use car organization products. You can also use homemade products. Whatever you use, keep your car clean. If you are looking for how to keep your car clean outside, then go to a car wash. Keeping your car clean will also help you to maintain a routine life.