If you’re a car owner, you know just how fast things can get filthy. It can go from sparkling to dusty and grimy in no time. This means that you will need to stay on top of things daily to help maintain that cleanliness.
To keep your truck clean, you need to have a plan and stick to it. We have compiled a list of steps that you can take to help you along your journey to keep your vehicle at its best so that you don’t ever have to run into this problem again. Here are six cleaning hacks for your truck’s interior with a few extra tricks to help supplement the cleaning process.
Staying on Top of Stains
You may or may not have a leather interior, but even with leather alternatives like neoprene truck seat covers, you can still have stains. This is especially true with dark inks, dyes, paint, and stains. If your leather cracks or has a cut in it, anything that finds its way inside those openings will also stain your interior.
If you don’t have leather and instead have microfiber or some other material, you run an even greater risk of having stains within your vehicle. One way of alleviating this problem is simply to have a stain remover. You don’t have to spend all your money at the store buying the stuff, though.
Who knows how many chemicals are in those things. One easy method is to make your own at home with these natural ingredients. Just use two cups of water, one cup of vinegar, three tablespoons of dish soap—and voila! You’ve now made your stain remover that will work surprisingly well. Just spray it on the stains you wish to remove, let it sit for no less than 15 minutes, and then wipe it clean and, you’ll be surprised at what you can clean.
Daily Dander Removal
No matter how clean you try to keep yourself, dander is something that we are all plagued with as we have hair that sheds from both our bodies and our pets. If you have pets that like to ride along with you frequently in your vehicle, you’ll need to be extra particular about how often and how deeply you clean your truck.
This will depend on the type of interior you have, but whether it gets stuck to the interior, it will still collect hair regardless. So, this means you’ll need to go behind anyone you pick up, including pets and even yourself.
One great way to remove most hair and dander is if you invest in rubber-dipped gloves. Because these are so grippy, as you rub your vehicle’s interior with them on, they will grab almost all the hair and dander right up. You can do this as many times as necessary, but it usually gets the majority in one pass on the same spot. This is an easy way to keep your vehicle clean if you have pets that like to shed a lot.
Deep-Cleaning Is a Must
Everyone has the same problem with their cars and trucks, no matter how clean you try to keep them. They will eventually collect dust and dirt in the most challenging spots—namely the crevices and in-between spaces. This calls for deep cleaning to happen, which should be something that you should do semi-frequently or regularly, depending on just how spotless you like to keep things.
A great way to get to those hard-to-reach places is to use paint stirrers that you can get for free at your local hardware store. Just wrap them tightly around the ends with microfiber to help you get to those places you usually could not get to.
This is somewhat of a makeshift duster, but it’s an effective one that will cost you little to nothing, and you can use it repeatedly as long as you take care of it. These areas can get real embarrassing after you’ve spent a reasonable amount of time detailing your vehicle.
Keep Fresheners on Hand
No matter how clean you think you’ve kept your vehicle, nothing makes it feel half as clean as having the smell of cleanliness linger as long as possible. Eventually, all the cleaning products will wear off, so one way around this is by having air fresheners present. These things can be costly, so you can make some yourself cheaper.
Just use one cup of baking soda and a few drops of your favorite essential oil and shake them up in a jar or bag to infuse the powder. Let it sit for 24 hours, and then vacuum well. You’ll find that your ride will smell fresh for an extremely long time afterward.
Dust Frequently
One thing that will reoccur faster than you can blink will be the dust. The more frequently you run the air conditioner or let the vehicle sit up, the more dust that will collect. So, it’s inevitable that you will run into this problem daily.
Some people use oils and treatments for their dash and console to keep it from building up. While this might seem effective, it slows down the process slightly, but it doesn’t fix the problem indefinitely. The only thing to do is get into a practice of cleaning as much as you can, whenever you can.
Vacuum, Vacuum, Vacuum!
Once you’ve dusted and removed most of the hard-to-reach debris, you can focus on the open areas. You’ll need to get something with some strength that won’t quit on you—like a shop vacuum, for instance. These are used to being put under stress and pressure daily and have powerful suction capabilities.
They are also relatively inexpensive and can tuck away inside your trunk easily. With something this powerful, you can go a few days without vacuuming or longer, depending on how clean you like to keep things.
These were just six cleaning hacks for the interior of your truck, but there are a lot more out there that you can make a part of your routine. As long as you stick to the basics, you’ll be able to manage your vehicle with ease.
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