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Resolve to Join the Clean Car Revolution
Dec 12 2007 by Sara Lacey
12/12/2007
Moms Draw Up Rules for Car Cleanliness
No one likes to admit their car looks like a landfill, but that's often the case. As we spend more time in our cars than ever before, we need to do something about it. Now is the time for a Clean Car Revolution! It's time to do something about whatever it is in the back of your car that goes "skssssssssss, thunk" every time you make a turn. It's time to stop being disgusted by the ground-in goldfish crackers in the carpet and the juice spots on the seats. Can't cope with the to-go coffee cups you stash in your cupholders and "forget" to remove for DAYS? Well, let's do something about it! The time to tidy your car is now, friends. Make it your New Year's resolution.
We here at Mother Proof have gotten used to a certain level of tidiness in our cars, for a few reasons. One is that we spend a good chunk of time in test cars, so our personal cars don't get as trashed. The other is that we've gotten used to cleaning out said test cars at the end of the test period (usually two weeks), so we do it a lot and have a system. We've also learned from other clean-car mamas who've shared their wisdom about how they manage their car clutter. One friend uses her wait time in the carpool lane to pick up trash in the front seats. Another splurged on cool mesh pencil bags to keep small items organized. She keeps her garage door opener, toll-pass transponder and change in one, while another houses Band-Aids, lip balm, sunscreen and lotion. It is just a car, after all — you shouldn't need a drugstore-sized cache of supplies.
Using tips like these that we've learned from others, and drawing upon our own collective wisdom, we've come up with a list of the Official Rules of Car Cleanliness, just for you:
Rule No. 1: Don't put a lot of crap in your car in the first place. We know this sounds simple, but that's only because it is. Items that go in your car should be necessities. Ask yourself if your kid really needs to bring along his 1,000-piece puzzle, juice box, gummy fruits, pull toys and swim floatie on a trip to the grocery store. We understand that snacks and beverages have to be taken in the car for any number of reasons, and even toys can be a necessity, just be sure to think it through. Try to select water instead of juice, and easily vacuumed snacks instead of sticky, gooey ones. Keep toys small, but not so small they get lost under the seats. You don't want your car looking like a yard sale in waiting.
Rule No. 2 (if you simply must bend Rule No. 1): Keep a small basket or organizer in your cargo area to house items like first-aid kits, sunscreen, wipes and diapers, plus anything else you like to keep in there. Look for a trunk organizer with Velcro, hooks or mounts so you can avoid having it slide all over the place. If your car came with a cargo net, use it! The neat thing about nets is they hold anything, regardless of size or shape. They're a great way to ease yourself into organizing — just be careful where you keep your stash. While ones that hang on the back of a seat look practical and helpful, we tend to avoid anything like that. What's more destructively tempting to a 4-year-old than a nice, tidy organizer full of toys, tissues, pencils and paper within kicking distance? Fun with a capital F!
Speaking of annoying, let's discuss Rule No. 3: Don't buy CD holders, sunglass clips or anything else that attaches to the sun visor. They almost never work as promised, and usually wind up looking junky and messy. In addition, they render the visor useless. If you can't find proper space for a few CDs and their cases, it's time to tidy the rest of the car (jump back to Rule No. 1).
Rule No. 4: Hit the car wash regularly. One of the best things to happen to our car-cleanliness habit was the addition of a neighborhood drive-through car wash. For $3, we get a handy super-sized wet-wipe, a drive through the wash and unlimited use of the vacuum. Kids love the car wash, and they love to help vacuum up their areas in the back. They also like to put the vacuum on their leg and watch it try to suck up their pants. Cheap thrills, people! If you want to spend more for a better wash, you can do that, too. Most drive-through car washes have a really fancy wash that includes undercarriage cleaning and entertainingly colored foamy soap. Woo-hoo!
Products to support your new life as a Mom With a Clean Car: If you need to tidy things up inside your car, the whole suite of Blink! products is great for doing so in a hurry. We recommend keeping them in your garage. A quick go-through of your car, even if it involves nothing more than removing trash, will make you feel so much better, but if you have an extra minute, why not wipe the seats down, too? It may leave some major grime in the backseat between the seat bottom and the back, but you can just be a little more thorough with the next go-through. On the organization front, www.thebusywoman.com has some that look hopeful. We would love to try the Carganizer Vehicle Organizer and the Kids Back Seat Organizer (the compact version). There's also a cargo organizer that looks very flexible, though you can't strap it down to anything (it does have grippers on the bottom to prevent shifting). There's a trunk organizer at www.auto-expressions.net/organizers.pdf that has some promise, as you can anchor it down. Stay tuned, as we're hoping to try them out ourselves soon and tell you how well they really work.
So there you have it — some of our most adoptable tips to make your vehicular life a little more enjoyable. You don't need to change every habit, just adjust them ever so slightly to make your daily adventures less cluttered and less plain-old gross. Let's just not bring up the subject of our homes...
User Comments
Why is it that kids want to pack their lives with them wherever they go? Mine stuff a purse to bursting point with ‘necessities’ (the gummy vitamin they didn’t eat at breakfast, Disney princess cell phone, note I packed in their lunchbox two months ago, dirty baby doll sock, broken watch found at the park etc…).
I love the rule about bringing anything with you as long as it goes back in the house. I do the same as much as possible. I like to think it’s also establishing some good habits, right?
i love you the cars h need pormeg cars
I admit to being a terrible trash person - the rear floorboard of all my cars was a dumpster that I would clean out once every six months. Buying my first minivan two years ago cured me of that. I saw one too many junky vans - packed with toys, crumbs, trash, etc. that I swore to keep it clean because I didn’t want it to look like the typical nasty Mom-Mobile. I’m happy to say I have a little black trash holder that I empty everytime I get gas and the kids can take whatever they want with them but the rule is they have to carry it right back into the house when we get home - I don’t let anything stay in van!!