Like our homes, if we don’t clean up, our cars can get pretty nasty. You can take it to get detailed, but wouldn’t you rather keep that cash in your pocket? Well, you can if you follow these genius car-cleaning hacks and organization ideas.
Most of these brilliants methods require things that you already have in your home, so you don’t have to head out to the store and stock up on cleaning products. What even better is that most of these car cleaning/organizing hacks use natural cleaning solutions.
Here are 55 genius DIY car cleaning hacks that will help you get your car sparkling clean and keep it that way!
1.) Castile Soap Car Wash
Instead of taking your car to the car wash where they use chemicals to clean your car, you can clean it at home using castile soap, which is made from plant oils. Just mix with some water, lather up your car, and rinse off for an organic car wash
If your car is smelling not-so-fresh, first find the cause of the yucky smell and remove it. Next, mix some baking soda and essential oils inside of a mason jar and poke holes in its lid.
You can store your air freshener in the cup holder or another spot where it will stay upright. This will pull the odors from the air and help your car to smell fresh again.
Make your wheels look brand new by covering them in a paste made from baking soda and water. Just rinse the paste off after a little while and they’ll be all shiny like they just rolled off the assembly line.
Having streaky windows can be extremely maddening, especially when the sun shines through while you’re driving. You can avoid this by spraying your windows with vinegar and wiping it up with newspaper. This will leave your windows streak-free.
Use can use olive oil as a natural way to shine up your dashboard and leather interior. Just rub some olive oil onto the surface with a clean cloth. Plus, it smells lovely!
Pet hair can be tough to get off your fabric seats, but not with this hack. Just spray some water onto your seats so it’s a little damp. Then drag a squeegee along the upholstery to pull up all that pet hair.
If you have kids, they probably like to color in the car. But if they drop a crayon, it could melt all over your beautiful car on a hot summer day. The remedy for this is to place a piece of wax paper over it and run a hot iron over it. This will take the wax right up. You may need an extension cord for this one! You also may want to follow up with a cleaning solution.
If you’re one of those people who eat in your car, then you know your upholstery can get stained or sticky all too easily. You can mix white vinegar and baking soda together to make a paste and rub that mixture onto your upholstery or car mat stains using a brush or even a toothbrush.
Let it dry then vacuum it up. This should remove your stain and freshen up your car’s fabric.
Toothbrushes work great to get crumbs and yucky gunk out of the crevices in your car. You can actually use your toothbrush to clean most of your car including scrubbing the seats, headrests, and dashboards. Try not to get too grossed out over how much grime you’re cleaning out of your car.
Dust can easily sneak into little hard to reach spots in your car and build up quickly. You can use a foam paintbrush along with a vacuum to clear out that dust and suck it away from spots like your vents.
Bumper stickers can leave a nasty film behind when you take them off. Next time you want to remove a bumper sticker, just spray some WD-40 on it and let it sit for a bit. After it’s soaked for a little bit, you can pull the sticker right off without any gunk left behind.
If your car has some chrome wheels you can spray them is a mixture of equal parts water and vinegar and wipe them up with a rag. This will shine up your chrome wheels really well.
Place a few drops of essential oil on a clothespin and place it on your air vent to create a natural DIY air freshener. You can even glue some cute things onto it if you want it to look a little fancier. Little pom poms will help absorb the essential oils too.
You might have seen the infomercials for a product called Drop Stop that fits between your car seat and the console. It helps prevent your keys, phone, or change from falling into the abyss of your car. You can make your own Drop Stop by using some foam plumbing pipe insulation–it only costs $1! Here’s the tutorial.
Purchase a few suction cup shower caddies and place them on the inside of your car windows. You can store so many things in here! Toys for the kids, an ice scraper, you name it! So very handy.
Here’s another super clever way to use a handled shower caddy for your car. If you tend to have to eat on the road often, it can be a bit messy. Keep your car clean and prevent food or drinks from spilling by placing a shower caddy in the seat next to you to hold it.
Keep your car’s drink holders clean by placing some silicone cupcake liners inside. That way, if you ever need to clean out any crumbs, they’re easy to lift out and wash. This is also an easy way to grab loose change.
Hang a shoe caddy/organizer on the back of your driver and passenger seats for a ton of extra easy-t0-reach storage. This is awesome for keeping wet wipes, toys, headphones, or anything else that might be needed during long car rides.
Head over to the dollar store and pick up a sturdy, plastic cereal container. These handy products are perfect for making a trash can for your car. Just line it with a small plastic bag, and you’re good to go. The lid closes to prevent any spills while driving.
To help keep bags, groceries, and other items from slipping and sliding around in your trunk, install a simple rod in the back of your car. Add some S hooks so that you can conveniently hang your grocery bags and be sure to keep a canvas strap handy to keep bottles of liquids in place.
Prevent your purse from falling off the seat and dumping out all of its contents by holding it in place with a pretty scarf. Just tie and untie when you need to take it somewhere. Plus, the scarf adds a pretty pop of color to the interior.
If you’re picking up fast food for a few people and you don’t have enough cup holders, this little trick works like a charm. Just place a muffin tin inside a small laundry basket and you don’t have to worry about spilling the drinks.
While you’re at the dollar store picking up some of these nifty items for your car, you might as well add ‘popsicle molds’ to the list. These simple little products are great for using in your center console for organization.
Another easy way to keep your change from rattling around and falling out of your cup holders is to use an empty gum container. They fit perfectly in a cup holder or can easily be hidden in your console or glove compartment.
The inside of our cars can become very dirty, very quickly while on road trips. Keep things organized and clean by making road trip kits. Each kit can serve it’s own purpose such as first aid, snacks, extra clothes, wet wipes, etc.
Attach a few carabiners to the headrests to add instant storage to your car. These are great for hanging purses, groceries, or umbrellas–keeping all of these items off of the floor.
Keeping plastic bags in your car is always a good idea because you just never know when you need one. They can store muddy shoes, be used as a trash bag, or keep wet clothes off seats. Create a handy plastic bag dispenser by stuffing a few of them inside an empty tissue box.
Do you have the habit of going to the grocery store only to realize you forgot your reusable bags at home…again?! Never let that happen by always keeping a stash of them organized in your trunk using a plastic storage bin.
If you have some empty cotton bud holders, these are perfect items to help keep things organized in your car. Use them to store auxillary cords, hair ties, or anything else that would usually be strewn about in the center console or glove box.
Once the air filters in our become dirty and filled with grime, it can give our cars a musty and unpleasant smell. Prevent this by removing and replacing them often. You can do this yourself or have it done the next time you get your oil changed.
Magic Erasers really are magical. They clean just about any and everything–including the interior of your car! Dampen one and use it to scrub off any gunk and grime from your car’s vinyl or leather interior.
The trunks of our cars can quickly accumulate a bunch of junk. Some of it we need, some of it we don’t. The Castro Family blog shared how they use shoe caddies, hooks, and other inexpensive items to keep everything nice and organized. Head to their blog for details.
It’s always smart to keep a packet of baby wipes and some hand sanitizer in the door compartment. These come in handy for so many reasons: unexpected spills, yucky gas station bathrooms, and more.
You can also be sure to have tissues handy with this fun DIY trick. Using an empty (but clean) disposable coffee cup, cut a small hole in the lid and place some tissues inside. Thread the tissue through the hole on top for a tissue dispenser that fits perfectly in your cup holder.
Another easy way to clean stained and dirty upholstery is by making a simple cleaner using diluted all-purpose cleaner, a sponge or brush, and some washcloths. Scrub away and let air dry.
“Quick tip: dingy floor mats? No steamer or extractor? No problem. Soak your floor mats down in color safe degreaser, hang the mat up and spray with water until it runs out of the mat clear,” a Reddit user shared.
Although it’s not difficult to do, cleaning a baby or toddler’s car seat can be time-consuming. Ask Anna Mosely explains how to get a car seat as clean as new by using dish soap, baking soda, and a few other items. Here’s the tutorial.
Using this technique, you’ll only need to clean your windshield a few times a year. Give your windshield a scrub with glass cleaner using a piece of fine steel wool, then treat it with a thin coat of Rain X. Learn more about the process in this video tutorial.
After a while, our windshield wipers might seem like they’re just smearing water around instead of wiping it off. Help prevent the smearing by giving your windshield wipers a wipe-down with some rubbing alcohol.
After a long road trip the grilles and bumpers of our cars become absolutely coated in bug carcasses. Easily remove them by giving your bumper or grill a quick wipe down with a dryer sheet.
The headlights of our car can become foggy and cloudy over time, preventing them from doing their job properly. Make sure you have a lit road ahead by scrubbing your headlights with a simple mixture of toothpaste and water.
When you’re giving your car a nice, deep clean, be sure to roll down the windows before you clean them. People often overlook all of the dirt and grime that sits at the top of the window.
Help rid your vents from dust, dirt, and grime by using a can of compressed air. The force of the air will blow out all of that yucky stuff. Be sure to have a vacuum handy, because you don’t want to just transfer the dust from your vents to the floor or upholstery.
If you need to wash your car but don’t have the proper soap or wax, just reach for your hair conditioner instead. Most conditioners contain lanolin which is a type of wax that will make your car shiny and clean.
When you’re in between deep cleans, you can give your car a quick dusting with the help of coffee filters. Their material attracts dust and will make it stick to them. Keep a few handy in your glove box.
If dryer sheets aren’t handy for you to clean/remove bugs from your bumper, reach for some cooking spray instead. Simply spray your bumper or grille with a light coat, then use a soft microfiber cloth to wipe it (and the bugs!) away.
This might seem like a weird one, but it really does work well! Place some pineapple skins/rinds into a plastic bag and place underneath your car seat. Over time, they will dry out but they’ll leave your car smelling like a tropical paradise.
48.) Get Into Nooks And Crannies With A Screwdriver
Place a soft cloth over the tip of a flathead screwdriver to get into all the nooks and crannies of your car, like the console or the stickshift. You’ll be surprised how much dirt, dust, and gunk you can find in these places!
As we mentioned earlier, olive oil is a great way to polish up your dashboard. But, Vaseline or petroleum jelly is a another great way to add some shine as well. After dusting, rub in a thin layer of petroleum jelly to give it a nice polish.
Keeping kids entertained in the car can be quite the feat. Make sure your kiddos have something to do in the car without making a mess by creating a fun drawing kit using an empty DVD case. Genius!
Remote control holders usually drape over the arms of a chair or a sofa to keep remotes organized and within arm’s reach. However, when you put one in the car, you can store just about anything!
Another way to keep your groceries upright while you’re driving home from the store is to put them in a laundry basket. Keep a basket in your trunk at all times and just toss in the bags so they don’t roll around and spill.
Attach a mesh or bungee net to the ceiling of your car and add some S hooks. Now, you have a place to hang your dry cleaning. You can also store hats, gloves, or other things within the net.
Loop a rubber band in your air vent to create a makeshift phone holder. It’s not the most luxurious looking phone holder in the world, but it works great!
55.) Keep A File Organizer In Your Glove Compartment
Often times, we throw our insurance, registration, service records, and other documents into the glove compartment haphazardly. Invest in a small file organizer (find one at the dollar store) and create labels to make sure everything is organized and can be found when needed.
Keeping your car clean, organized, and beautiful has never been so easy and inexpensive. Have more tips or tricks that we didn’t mention here? We’d love to hear them!
55 hacks to keep your car organized, beautiful, and clean
Ashley Fike
02.28.19
Like our homes, if we don’t clean up, our cars can get pretty nasty. You can take it to get detailed, but wouldn’t you rather keep that cash in your pocket? Well, you can if you follow these genius car-cleaning hacks and organization ideas.
Most of these brilliants methods require things that you already have in your home, so you don’t have to head out to the store and stock up on cleaning products. What even better is that most of these car cleaning/organizing hacks use natural cleaning solutions.
Here are 55 genius DIY car cleaning hacks that will help you get your car sparkling clean and keep it that way!
