By: Lochmandy Motors
White vinegar
Vinegar is an excellent natural cleaner and deodorizer. Mix 3 parts water and 1 part vinegar to make a vinegar cleaning solution. Use it on your dashboard, windows and upholstery. It’ll clean everything!
White vinegar and baking soda
Want to deep clean your non-leather upholstery? Instead of mixing your vinegar with water, mix it with baking soda to make a paste. Scrub it into your upholstery and then rinse it out with water in a spray bottle and a dry rag or a wet/dry vacuum. You’ll be surprised by how much dirt comes out of your seats.
This mixture can also be effective at removing food, grease and gasoline stains from your car’s interior. Plus, the vinegar will help with any odd smells—yes, including pee!
Dawn dish soap, white vinegar and club soda
Another great deep clean for cloth upholstery and floor mats in your vehicle is equal parts Dawn dishwashing liquid, white vinegar and club soda. Combine in a spray bottle and then spray all of the upholstery. Don’t get it soaked, but don’t be stingy either. Brush the upholstery with a stiff brush and use a towel and a wet/dry vacuum to soak up the liquid. This combination could seriously damage leather though, so keep it off of leather seats.
Toothbrush
Need to scrub tiny crevices and cracks? A toothbrush will make it easy—just wet the brush with your cleaning solution and scrub away! The bristles should easily get rid of any gunk or debris lodged in small spaces.
Rubbing alcohol
If your upholstery (fabric or leather) or floor mats have a lot of stains, try using rubbing alcohol. Use a dye-free cotton or microfiber cloth to dab rubbing alcohol on the stain. Don’t rub, as that can damage the material, especially leather.
In the winter time, you can spray a mixture of rubbing alcohol and water on your windshield to prevent frost. Spray pure rubbing alcohol on ice to help it melt quickly.
Toothpaste
A whitening toothpaste on a dish rag will make your headlight covers be crystal clear. You can also use toothpaste to take care of minor surface stains on leather and vinyl vehicle interiors.
Silicone cupcake holders
These reusable cupcake holders aren’t just for baking. Put them in your cupholders so that any mess, dust, spare change and drink spills land on the silicone rather than in the cup holder. When they get messy, you can simply take them out, clean them and put them back.
Club soda
Did your kid vomit in the car and leave a stain? Get a bottle (or two or three) of club soda. Spray it on the stain and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Use paper towels or a clean towel or cloth or blot it up. Voila! No more stain.
Corn starch
Corn starch is an easy way to soak up messy liquids, especially grease and oil spots. Sprinkle it on the stain and let it sit for at least 12 hours to fully soak up the liquid. Then all you have to do is vacuum the corn starch (and stain) away.
You can also sprinkle corn starch on cloth interiors and let it sit for 30 minutes before vacuuming to help deodorize your vehicle.
Dryer Sheets
Dryer sheets are great for dusting your dashboard, especially if your vehicle has a lot of screens. The sheet will pull the dust off the surface and because it reduces static, your dashboard won’t get dusty as quickly.
In the summertime, you can wet a dryer sheet and use it to easily wipe off any bugs stuck to the front of your vehicle as well!
Olive oil
Once you’re done cleaning your dashboard, use a little bit of olive oil on a cloth to treat your whole dashboard. It’ll make it shine like brand new!
Paper towel roll
Vehicles have a lot of awkward, hard-to-reach places, and sometimes our vacuum attachments won’t reach where we need to go. Use an empty cardboard paper towel roll at the end of your vacuum attachment. Because the cardboard is easily smashed and moved, you can use it to get in a lot more places than your standard plastic vacuum attachments.
Lochmandy Motors is a proud supporter of the B100 Mom Squad!
