Holy week is right around the corner and it only means one thing: time off work. And what better time than then to give your trusty car a good cleaning that it needs? With your free time, you can try out these hacks, tips, and tricks for cleaning your ride.
Brighten up your headlights with toothpaste
Toothpaste does more than protect your teeth and give you a bright white smile, it can also remove stains on your headlights and restore them to its crystal clear glory. After cleaning your headlights with soap and water, grab a dry cloth and dab a bit of toothpaste on the headlights. Start scrubbing and add more toothpaste as needed. Rinse the surface with clean water and leave time for the headlights to dry off. For added protection, apply wax.
Catch hard-to-reach places and crevices
Keep the hardest to reach nooks and crannies inside your car tidy with DIY slime, which is great for places your vacuum can’t get. You can use this goop to clean up crevices on your gear stick, window switches, dashboard, center console, air vents, and more. You don’t even have to buy slime from the store, you can make your own with these ingredients you can find around the house: liquid laundry detergent, Elmer’s glue, and water.
Squeaky-clean cup holders
From water to cups of iced coffee, your car’s cup holders see various types of liquid, some of which have probably spilled into it. To clean up this mess, wrap a fluffy sock around a cup. Spray it with a cleaner and twist it around.
To avoid spills in the first place, line your cup holders with silicone muffin cups. This way, when you need to clean up, all you have to do is take out the muffin cup and rinse them out.
Say goodbye to lingering odors
Get rid of bad smells inside your car, like upholstery, by sprinkling on some baking soda on the area of concern. Leave it sitting there for a couple of hours then vacuum it up once done. Another thing you can try to do away with unwanted odor is by leaving a small cup or bowl of vinegar in your car overnight. You can also spray the area with a mixture of vinegar of water and rub it with a wet cloth.
Remove stickers without leaving a mark
Removing old stickers on your car can be a drag. One wrong move and you can leave behind residue on your windshield or paint job. If you’re getting rid of a sticker on your bumper or any part with paint, grab a hair dryer and start heating. The heat will help loosen the adhesive, making the sticker easier to peel off. Meanwhile, for windshields, get an ice pack and hold it over the sticker. Wait for a few minutes for the adhesive to cool and use a razor blade to carefully remove the sticker.