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Monthly Clean Home Challenge: Clean Out Cars

Welcome back to the Monthly Clean Home Challenge daily task!  I am on a quest to maintain a clean and organized home in less time and the goal is simple; four daily tasks, four weekly tasks and one additional quick task each week day. 

In no particular order, here are the individual tasks I am tackling each day this month:

1. Make cleaning supplies
2. Cycle clean appliances
3. Clean out cars
4. Clean out microwave
5. Wipe down cabinets/appliances
6. Wipe down trim/doors
7. Clean out one drawer
8. Clean out fridge
9. Clean out freezer
10. Vacuum under furniture
11. Vacuum mattresses
12. Clean oven
13. Clean out one closet
14. Wash out garbage can/recycle bin
15. Wash windows
16. Scrub grout
17. Clean out one cabinet
18. File paper piles
19. Purge bathroom toiletries
20. Clean out pantry

Today I am chatting about the extra task:  Clean Out Cars

I have been waiting for this day for so long!  It is the first day of Spring today, and I received the gift of a 40 degree day and sunshine!  That made it perfect for my daily task; cleaning out the car!

I actually really enjoy cleaning out the car.  I know, call me crazy, but I love to open all the doors, turn on some tunes and bring back that new car smell.  OK, I haven't mastered that last step yet...


For this task I filled a spray bottle with distilled water and vinegar, but this time I reduced the vinegar to about 25% vinegar/75% water.  A car is a smaller space than a home, and the vinegar smell seems to linger a little longer in the confined quarters.  The water/vinegar would be paired with a glass polishing cloth {just like I did for the windows in our home}, along with a microfiber cloth for the remainder of the interior.

In our vehicle we keep a small auto-vac and some dusters {not shown above}.  Today I also broke out the leather care, which I typically only use on the seats a few times per year.  Also not shown is an empty laundry basket.

Step 1 was to take the laundry basket and do a sweep of the car to collect anything that no longer needed to be in there.  I found some notes, receipts, Legos, catalogs, hats and mittens, etc... Everything was tossed into the laundry basket to be brought back into the house.


I also purged the center consoles.  The one in the back seat holds activities for the boys and baby wipes; the one in the front holds our dusters, a notepad & pen, Kleenex, chapstick, a container with toll change and our car wash coupons.


Step 2 was to do a quick dusting.  We keep the dusters right within the car so that we can quickly run them over the dashboard as needed.


Step 3 was to make the windows shine.  I followed the same steps as I did for our home's interior windows, spray and polish.


I then sprayed down everything else that was not leather.  The doors, the dash, center console, etc....  {I was sure to spray right into the microfiber cloth when working near anything electronic}


The microfiber cloth brought everything back to a quick luster.  I also used it within the cup holders and odd compartments throughout the vehicle.


Step 4 was to do a quick vacuuming.


A short while ago we purchased an auto-vac as something compact to keep inside of the car for quick cleanups in-between major car cleaning sessions.  Now that we have had it, I don't know how we lived without it.  With three boys, the car is always full of dust, dirt and crumbs.  Always.  The auto-vac plugs into the charging ports within the car, meaning no need to pull out extension cords and shop-vacs each time we want to quickly clean up crumbs from a travel snack.  I have a feeling I will also appreciate it after those sandy day trips to the beach.  The vacuum came with attachments, which fit nicely in-between the seats.  Here is a little before, during and after for you.


If you were to want to deep vacuum the entire vehicle, this is probably not the most efficient choice to do so.  But for quick car cleanings, it receives a thumbs up from this mama!

During this step I also quickly shook out all of the floor mats.

The final step {step 5} was to go over the seats with the leather care paired with a clean microfiber rag.  I love how it smells and how they look new and conditioned.


And after today, we have a nice, clean and clutter free vehicle again!  Woohoo!



By the time this car was done, I hit my time quota for the day and was starting to feel cold {yes, I am a HUGE freeze baby}, so I called it good!  The other car will get some love the next time we get another warm, sunshiny day.