Mini Maid focuses a lot of attention on your home’s cleanliness. It’s our business. Kitchens, bathrooms and dining rooms, oh my!
But what often gets overlooked during a lot of busy summer days are our vehicles. Our cars, trucks and vans need some love too. Sometimes it feels like we live in our cars. Food crumbs, dirty clothes, dishes and dirt can pile up in our cars during the summer months. We travel. We go to the beach (sand everywhere!). We feed the kids on the road. Let’s take some time to freshen up our rides.
Clean the air vents. Those little air vents can be frustrating to clean. To avoid uncontrollable bursts of irritation, consider using an old paint brush or those really cheap foam paint brushes found in any home improvement store. Also, use the thin attachment on your home vacuum to pick up the dust and debris while your cleaning.
Vacuum while you clean. When your cleaning the air vents, seats, and the myriad of buttons and knobs, use the vacuum while you do. This technique helps you pick up the dust and dislodged chunks so they don’t land right back in your seat.
Clean the hard to get spots. Knobs, buttons and interior crevices accumulate tiny dirt and funk. It’s really hard to clean, even if you use a Q-tip. Try a cleaning slime. Yes, a slime. The slime gets in all the cracks and crevices and it’s sticky surface traps the dirt. Press it in and pull away. Voila! There are plenty of recipes to make some cleaning slime yourself but if you don’t want to hassle with it, you can find several cleaning slime gels on Amazon.
Replace your cabin filter. A dirty cabin filter can smell bad and cause allergens to get inside your vehicle. If you’ve ever been to a car maintenance shop then you’ve most likely been asked to replace your cabin air filter. You should thank them and decline. It’s too easy to do yourself! Buy the cabin filter from your local auto parts store and find a YouTube video on how to replace your vehicle’s cabin filter. In literally one to three minutes, it’s done.
Condition your dash. In Florida, your dash takes a beating. The heat and the sun is killer and can ruin your dash. Plus, it’s a focal point for dust and grime. That’s why it’s important to condition your dashboard and the other hard plastic interior pieces. You can use a home concoction for cleaning and conditioning or you can buy some quality cleaners and conditioners like Armor All. Either way, you’ll shine for the summer (and beyond!).
Take some time to take care of your ride. It gets you to those awesome summer vacations, to dinner with family and friends and to all your important dates. So give back some love. When you do, it will feel like driving a new car again.
