You do not need to take your car for service to the service station every month for its maintenance. Some useful car cleaning hacks explained in this article will make your car shine like new with the use of things lying around your house. Get perfectly clean and shining car with these useful car cleaning hacks:
Contents (Jump to Topic)
1. Cleaning of the floor mats
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It is natural for floor mats to get dirty every time you place your feet over them. How to clean the inside of your car is a matter of concern for many.
In fact, floor mats are the dirtiest part of any car. Stains on the mats are hard to remove more so when the mats are of fabric.
The rubber mats can be cleaned with a plastic or steel brush dipped in any detergent. The fabric mats can be put in the washing machine with laundry detergent.
Make sure to set your washer on gentle mode so that no damage is caused to it. The stubborn stains can be removed with the help of a spray stain remover.
Another useful car interior cleaning hack is to place the hubcaps and the mats in the dishwasher. They will come out looking amazingly clean and that too with not much effort!
2. Clean window glasses with old newspapers
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Your favorite mirror-cleaning hack can be applied to the windows of the car also.
Use old crushed newspaper sprinkled with a little water to rub the windows and make them shine easily. You can also use spray cleaner and then use crushed newspaper for a more effective result.
However, this trick does not work for tinted windows. For streak free windows, you can also spray the windows with a little vinegar and then wipe it off with newspaper.
3. Use silicone gel for cleaning AC vents
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Another one of car interior cleaning hacks is to use silicon get to clean the AC vents.
You just have to roll the gel along the vents with a little pressure. The gel picks up all the grime and dirt stuck in the vents.
This trick can be used to clean the small buttons also. Instead of using silicone gel, you can also use slime. It works as a good homemade car interior cleaner.
Slime can be easily made at home by adding borax solution to a mixture of glue and water.
4. Toothpaste gives a shine to the headlights
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To make the headlights of your car sparkling clean, you can use toothpaste. Just rub the toothpaste all over the headlight and wash it off.
The gentle abrasive used in the toothpastes works well to clean and polish the surface of the car.
You can also use car wax with UV protection or furniture polish for further protection.
Toothpaste is also a good homemade car interior cleaner. Rub it onto the stains and leave it there for a while.
Wipe with soft wet cloth and see the stains disappear.
5. Newspaper comes in handy to remove stickers
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The various stickers stuck on your car that are no longer needed are indeed a nuisance and make the car look shabby.
You can easily get rid of these stickers by using old newspaper.
You just have to take some warm water and put the newspaper over it for a few minutes.
The sticker will easily come off the surface with a light rub.
6. Use alcohol to clean wipers
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Smeary windshield wipers are really annoying. But a simple hack can help you fix this problem.
You just have to rub a little alcohol on the wipers with a cloth and wipers are good again!
Alcohol also comes in handy to remove oil and residue from painted surfaces.
7. Keep those cup holders clean
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The cup and bottle holders are the spaces that are filled with dirt and crumbs all the time.
You can use a vacuum cleaner to suck up all the dirt from the cup holders.
Use a wet cloth to pick all the remaining dirt. Thereafter line the cup holders with silicone cupcake liners to keep them clean for longer periods.
8. Battery cleaning gets easier
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You have your car shine like new from inside out, but wait- have you paid attention to the battery?
The corrosion on the battery can be easily removed by using a few simple car cleaning hacks.
A toothbrush dipped in lemon juice or vinegar when rubbed over the battery gently makes it thoroughly clean.
You can also use cotton swabs for the purpose. Alternatively, soda or a mixture of baking soda and water can also be used for the same effect.
Also Read: 15 Best Commuter Cars
9. Olive oil gives a nice shine to the dashboard
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Like the polished look of your dash when you bring it back from the service centre.
Well, you can get this look by using a really simple DIY Car Interior Cleaner hack. Take a clean and soft cloth and dab some olive oil on it.
Wipe the dashboard with this cloth and you get a nice shiny dashboard that looks polished and brand new. The same thing can be used for leather seats too.
But remember that only a few drops of oil should be used otherwise the surface will get greasy and will attract more dirt.
10. Make your own air freshener
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So car has been cleaned thoroughly and is ready to be driven. How about sprinkling it with a little perfume or freshener to welcome the riders?
It gets really expensive to use air fresheners and perfumes for your car. Charcoal is an easy and inexpensive way to absorb all the unpleasant odors in the car.
You can use store-bought charcoal air freshener or alternatively put some charcoal sachets in the glove box for that fresh smelling car.
You can also leave an open bag of charcoal on the floor board for a little while to get rid of unwanted smells.
Another way to make you car smelling good at low cost is to use any essential oil like lavender, rosemary or frankincense applied over a wooden clothespin.
Attach this pin to the AC vents to make your car smelling awesome.
11. Removing wax using hot iron
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Do have kids who love to carry their crayons on a long road trip and now pieces of wax crayons have stuck to the seats and mats?
How to clean the inside of your car is a concern for every parent with toddlers.
We have an easy solution to this problem. All you have to do is iron a piece of paper over the surface where the wax crayon is stuck.
The hot iron will make the wax stick to the paper and solve your problem.
12. Screwdriver as a cleaning tool
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The little cracks and the nooks of the arm rests are hard to clean. You just have to use a pointy screwdriver covered with a thin cloth.
The little crevices inside the car can be easily cleaned by following this simple trick.
You can also use flat-topped screw drivers for the wider crevices.
13. Simple solution for cleaning fabric seats
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Sometimes the fabric seats get so dirty that it gets really hard to clean them with regular detergent.
We have a good DIY car interior cleaning hack for this You can make your own cleaning solution by using distilled vinegar, club soda, and dish soap. Mix 1 cup of vinegar with 1 cup of club soda and ½ cup of dish soap.
Put this mixture into a spray bottle, just spray this liquid onto the seats and let it sit there for a while. The seats will appear perfectly clean when the liquid dries out.
14. Give a shine to the wheels
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Cleaning the wheels of the car is no easy task but we have got a great hack for it as well. Get some bleach powder and sprinkle it on to the wheels.
Now spray a little bit of cleaning spray on the powder. Scrub the rims of the wheels with a steel wool.
The hard grime struck on the rims will disappear in no time and wheels will start looking like new.
15. Baking soda for clean and fresh smelling seats
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Baking soda comes in handy for many car cleaning hacks. Another effective way to keep your seats clean is to sprinkle some baking soda all over the seats.
Let the baking soda sit there for a few hours. Then vacuum the seats and viola, the seats appear cleaner.
16. Hair Conditioner
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Using hair conditioner is an excellent hack to make the exterior of your car shine like new without spending too much on chemical shiners.
You just have to make sure that the conditioner you choose has lanolin in it. Lanolin gives a waxy finish to the car so that it sparkles!
Also Read: 18 Coolest American Police Cars
17. Achieve amazing shine with Kerosene
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Another way to achieve a shiny car exterior is to use kerosene. No, we do not intend to blow up your ride.
A little kerosene mixed with water can be used to give a no-wax shine treatment to your car. You do not need to spray the car before using this mixture and also there is no need to rinse or wax the car after using it.
This natural sheen so achieved is also repellent to rain
18. Dryer Sheets
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A dampened dryer sheet can be used to remove dead bugs stuck on your car. For this you can take a bit of water in a spray bottle and put a rolled dryer sheet inside it.
Shake up the bottle and spray the affected area with this solution. Then use another dryer sheet to rub off the bugs.
The chemicals in the dryer sheets dissolve the car’s finish slightly to get rid of any deposition. You just need to apply wax in order to restore the shine.
19. Clay Bar
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A clay bar is a rather inexpensive way to make the surface of your car as smooth as a glass.
Even after a maintenance wash, some contamination still remains on the surface. It might also not be visible to the naked eye.
Clay bar is an easy way to remove this contamination. The bumps and rough patches on the surface of the car are smoothened out by the clay bar giving a perfect shine to it.
20. Clean windshield with cola
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The windshield turns into a mess when it rains after a long dry spell. The streaks and blotches all over the windshield get hard to clean. You can use cola to get rid of such blotches.
The bubbles in the cola will eliminate all the grime and make your windshield sparkling clean. You can put a towel along the bottom of the windshield so that the hood paint is not spoiled.
You also have to make sure to wash off the cola properly else the surface will get sticky and will attract even more dust and dirt.
Here is the complete guide on how to defrost a windshield.
21. Vodka to be used as reservoir liquid
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You can easily make your own washing liquid to put into the windshield washer reservoir if it needs filling.
For this you have to mix 3 cups of vodka with 2 teaspoons of liquid dishwash detergent and 4 cups of water.
Pour this into a screw-top gallon jug and shake it well. Then you can pour this liquid into the reservoir.
22. Keeping the blades of the wiper clean
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Unclean wipers can steak the windshield of your car and can cause permanent damage.
You should take care to clean the wipers as often as possible to avoid such a situation.
All you have to do is take ¼ cup of ammonia and mix it with 1 quart cold water. Dab a soft cloth with this solution and wipe the blades of the wipers gently with it.
You also need to wipe the wipers again with a clean dry cloth before lowering them.
23. Banish greasy dirt
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It is common thing for the car to attract greasy dirt that gets hard to remove.
Mud build up also gets struck on to the car badly especially when the car moves through bad, patchy roads.
The cream of tartar comes in handy to banish such stubborn grime. Just sprinkle the cream of tartar over the surface that requires cleaning and then wipe it down with soapy water.
Rinse the surface with clean water once again and dry it with a soft clean cloth.
24. Baby wipes to clean the windshield
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Another one of effective car cleaning hacks is to use baby wipes to make the windshield clean. Baby wipes are moist and they leave behind an anti-static layer.
This layer is very effective in keeping away the dust of the dashboard or the windshield for long periods of time.
So stock up on some baby wipes in the dashboard for some quick clean up of your car.
Also Read: 12 Best Cars for College Students
25. Nail polish to cover up the scratches
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Scratches on car are inevitable. They spoil the look of the car no matter how clean it is.
One of the easiest ways to cover up the scratches at home is to use a nail polish in the same colour as the car.
Nail polishes are made of enamel paint and it dries out to form a very hard shell. It will be very effective to seal the scratch and will also prevent rusting.
With so many easy car cleaning hacks at your disposal now, you can easily give a makeover to your car anytime without shelling out big bucks!