No matter how careful you are, it is going to take some TLC to keep your vehicle looking like new. Car detailing is a great way to start. Sounds like a lot of work right? If you have kids in the car it will be. There’s no getting around that. The best car detailing company will get the job done for you, but there are also things that vehicle owners should be doing.
Wash And Polish
Washing your car might not be as simple as you think. There is definitely a right and wrong way to clean the outside of your vehicle. There should be much more involved than just spraying it with a hose. It also requires the use of a good cleaner and cloth. You’ll probably want to put on some wax as well. This will help it to remain completely spotless. The amount of effort required here is why many people choose periodic car detailing instead of doing it themselves. Speaking of doing it yourself — here are a few quick and easy tips you can try.
Quick Car Cleaning Tips
- Floor mats — If you have floor mats in your vehicle, then you have dirty floor mats in your vehicle. An easy way to clean them is in the dishwasher. At least the ones made of rubber anyway. Just make sure that you don’t put your dishes in the same load. You should also avoid using auto dry and ruining your rubber mats. If you have carpeted floor mats, you’ll need to find a different method to clean them.
- Sweeping — Sweeping? That’s right. The common way to clean the inside of a vehicle is by using a vacuum. But sweeping can actually give you some pretty great results. And it is much easier and quicker than paying for a vacuum at the car wash or using the extensions from your household vacuum. You can get your whole vehicle done with a small hand broom in just a couple of minutes.
- Headlights — Driving your vehicle around is going to get it dirty — even your headlights are going to need some cleaning from time to time. You can purchase a headlight restoration kit to clean them after they have gotten cloudy, but here’s another option — toothpaste. Have you ever tried to clean plastic with toothpaste? Try it. And try it on your headlights. Use a soft cloth to prevent scratching the plastic.
- Wiper blades — Here’s another idea you can try that will be easy and cheaper getting replacement blades. Clean your existing blades with rubbing alcohol. Alcohol wipes, paper towels, or a rag that has been moistened with rubbing alcohol should do the trick. Then you just lift your wipers up and drag the cloth along the blade a time or two. Easy!
Keep It Clutter Free
Car detailing will make your vehicle look great on both the outside and the inside. Of course, this won’t be possible if the inside of the car is a cluttered mess. Make an effort to keep your vehicle clean each time you get out of it and it won’t become too much of a burden. On the other hand, if you neglect to do this, pretty soon you’ll have a lot of work to do to empty the car out before you can have any car detailing done.
Repairs
While you are making the effort to keep your vehicle looking nice with car detailing, it is also important to make sure that it can also perform as it should. This means taking care of maintenance and repairs. One of the big reasons to do this is to prevent your vehicle from getting rusty sooner than it should. You also need to make it a priority to make sure that everything is working as it should. This will help to avoid any incidents that may damage the appearance of your vehicle. And if you are unlucky enough to have an incident that dirties or damages your vehicle, do not wait to have it taken care of. Otherwise, it will just continue to get worse and become a bigger issue down the road.
Be Prepared
One last thing that can be done to keep your vehicle in the best shape possible is to have the items you might need on hand at all times. Two of these essentials are your spare tire and a pair of jumper cables. Another one that you might now think of is cleaning supplies. All of these items will contribute to your car running well — whether you use car detailing or not.
Your vehicle is one of the biggest investments that you are going to make. Why not do everything you can to make it last? Most people use their vehicles every day so it is a huge part of your life. You’ll be much happier and even healthier when you are able to maintain a spotless vehicle.