Car Cleaning Hacks

Does your car get messy really easily? Do your kids make a huge mess and then between all the things and the mess it becomes overwhelming to clean? Well I have some car cleaning hacks to help you with the mess.

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Cleaning your car can definitely get pushed aside because if you aren’t inside your car, you tend to forget about it. But with some car cleaning hacks, cleaning your car can be done in a flash!

If you are anything like me, your car becomes a dumping ground for all of the things and between hauling kids everywhere, there are bound to be some spills and crumbs in every nook and cranny.

I usually clean out my car weekly, but sometimes I don’t get the chance for a full deep cleaning.

I always hated it because it was a pain with all the small spaces that are in cars, especially with carseats.

But with these car cleaning hacks, it had made cleaning out my car that much faster and easier!

Car Vacuum

Investing in one of these compact car vacuums that just plug into the cigarette lighter or plug in your car is life-changing. They even have cordless options too!

It makes cleaning up crumbs and messes when it happens that much easier.

We would go to the beach and as everyone knows, sand gets everywhere! This compact vacuum saved my sanity.

I was able to quickly vacuum up the sand once we were done as a quick once-through before I could get home and get the heavy duty vacuum.

It made clean up once we got home that much easier.

Plus it works perfect for carseats. With two kids, both in carseats, those bad boys get messy quick. Especially with all the snacking.

A car vacuum can easily get in between the cushions and crevasses of the carseat to clean out those tiny little goldfish crumbs.

This tool has definitely made my car cleaning hack list because of its ease of use and just overall handiness to have on deck. Fits perfectly in the trunk!

Wipes

Whether it is baby wipes, wet-ones or any time of wet wipe. Having wipes on hand will save your car.

This car cleaning hack is great for sticky hands in the car when road tripping or just in general. It is also great for wiping down the dash, center console area, steering wheel, door handles, etc.

It is great for any surface that can be easily wiped down.

This will save you some major elbow grease if you have these on hand inside the car to quickly wipe away the sticky mess before it sets in.

Then when you get home you can add the heavy duty cleaners to it.

Floor Mats

I highly recommend investing in some all-weather floor mats for your car.

This will make cleaning the floors that much easier and faster.

With these types of mats you can just hose them off outside and they are good as new!

Especially if you have kids or animals the floor mats are usually the first things inside a car to become gross and dirty.

All weather mats will help protect that actual car floor as well as making cleaning a breeze.

Line the Cup Holders

This is great if you are always in the car with drinks or if you have kids too!

Take a cupcake liner and line the cup holder with it. Makes for easy clean up if it gets dirty!

Or you can get silicone ones which can easily be washed or rinsed off for even easier reusable clean up.

The silicone one would work better for drink spills because it wouldn’t just soak through like the paper ones.

It makes cleaning your cupholders that much easier.

Heavy Duty Vacuum

Now this one isn’t necessarily for something to keep inside your car, but I highly recommend a big vacuum for those deep clean days.

This car cleaning hack comes in handy for a once a week or monthly deep clean of the car.

I use both my shopvac and Dyson for this cleaning.

I will use my shot-vac if my husband already has it out because it is super heavy duty and the suction power is great.

But normally I will use my cordless Dyson vacuum. This one works wonders and comes with so many different attachments to clean literally everything inside the car.

It has an attachment for small and hard to reach places as well as a a soft bristle one to clean the seats of the car.

Simple Green Cleaner Spray

This stuff gets anything out.

I love it because it doesn’t smell super harsh chemical smell plus with a little elbow grease, it will even get off super old stains that you can’t even remember what it is from originally.

Works perfect for under car seats or big spills that didn’t get cleaned up in time.

You may have to go over the same spot multiple times, but it will come out.

Drill Brush

Another car cleaning hack that will take all the work out for you, is this brush attachments for your drill!

There are so many different attachments to clean the carpets, seats, and even dashboards/floorboards of your car with one drill.

It takes all the manual labor out of car cleaning. Highly recommend this gadget and its under $25!

It also works great on carpets inside your home too. Read here for those carpet cleaning hacks.

Catch-All Car Bin

Having one bin to throw all the extra sweatshirts, shoes, random things that end up in your car is another way to help consolidate the mess for you in the car.

This way once a day or week, take the bin inside and place everything where it goes.

Toy Bin

I have a toy bin in my car between the two car seats.

This way, the kids can reach the toys themselves, plus it is a storage for all the toys inside the car.

It’s an easy way to have your kids help clean up too before the get out of the car and head inside. Make sure all the toys are in the bin and boom your car will look so much cleaner already.

Trash Bin

For this hack, you can just use an empty plastic grocery bag you may have and just throw all the trash in there and when it gets full or gross you toss the whole bag.

It might not look cute but it gets the job done.

If you want more fancy version, they do have trash bins sold specifically for cars on Amazon for decent price.

Personally I just use a trash bag that way I can throw it all out at once and not worry about having to clean out the trash bin if something spills inside.

Hopefully these car cleaning hacks gave you some ideas or new products to save you time and energy with car cleaning! For other car hacks, read here on my must-haves for inside the car.