Advice to Moms Who Resolve to Keep a Cleaner Car in the New Year

by Madelyn Miller, the TravelLady      

When my kids were little, it seemed like we lived in the car. Between carpools, trips to lessons, going to parks and amusement parks and driving through fast food restaurants enroute. My car looked like a mobile home. And sometimes I wondered if there were enough dropped French Fries that you could eat off the floor.

No one likes to admit their car looks like a landfill, but that's often the case, especially when you are frequently transporting kids. As mothers spend more time in their cars than ever before, the quest to keep a clean car becomes even more challenging.   Mother Proof has some practical advice for moms who resolve to keep a cleaner car in the New Year. 

REMOVE THE CAR CLUTTER

 Use the wait time in the carpool lane to pick up trash in the front seats. Or splurge on cool, mesh pencil bags to keep small items organized. Keep your garage door opener, toll-pass transponder and change in one, while another can hold Band-Aids, lip balm, sunscreen and lotion. Use small sample sizes in the car.  You shouldn't need a drugstore-sized cache of supplies.

REMEMBER THESE RULES

Rule No. 1: Don't put a lot of stuff in your car in the first place. This sounds simple, but that's only because it is. My ex-husband insisted that no one could leave anything in his car. No exceptions. It worked. His car always looked neat as a pin. (But then he never drove carpools)  

Items that go in your car should be necessities. Ask yourself if your kid really needs to bring along his 1,000-piece puzzle, juice box, gummy fruits, pull toys and swim floatie on a trip to the grocery store.

Snacks and beverages have to be taken in the car for any number of reasons, and even toys can be a necessity, just be sure to think it through. Try to select water instead of juice, and easily vacuumed snacks instead of sticky, gooey ones. Keep toys small, but not so small they get lost under the seats. You don't want your car looking like a yard sale in waiting.

Rule No. 2 (if you simply must bend Rule No. 1): Keep a small basket or organizer in your cargo area to house items like first-aid kits, sunscreen, wipes and diapers, plus anything else you like to keep in there. Look for a trunk organizer with Velcro, hooks or mounts so you can avoid having it slide all over the place. If your car came with a cargo net, use it! The neat thing about nets is they hold anything, regardless of size or shape. They're a great way to ease yourself into organizing - just be careful where you keep your stash. While ones that hang on the back of a seat look practical and helpful, what could be more destructively tempting to a 4-year-old than a nice, tidy organizer full of toys, tissues, pencils and paper within kicking distance?

Rule No. 3: Don't buy CD holders, sunglass clips or anything else that attaches to the sun visor. They almost never work as promised, and usually wind up looking junky and messy. In addition, they render the visor useless. If you can't find proper space for a few CDs and their cases, it's time to tidy the rest of the car (jump back to Rule No. 1).

I bought a sunglass clip and used it for my glasses one warm day. The glasses fell onto the seat while I was in a mall. The Texas heat made them soft and pliable--so when I sat on them they ended up in a new shape. My nose wasn't crooked, my glasses were.

Rule No. 4: Hit the car wash regularly. One of the best things to happen to your new found car-cleanliness habit is the neighborhood drive-through car wash. For around $3, you get a handy super-sized wet-wipe, a drive through the wash and unlimited use of the vacuum. Kids love the car wash, and they love to help vacuum up their areas in the back. They also like to put the vacuum on their leg and watch it try to suck up their pants. If you want to spend more for a better wash, you can do that, too. Most drive-through car washes have a really fancy wash that includes undercarriage cleaning and entertainingly colored foamy soap.   

A quick go-through of your car, even if it involves nothing more than removing trash, will make you feel so much better. And there is a lot less space to clean in a car than in your home.

Madelyn Miller is a travel and automotive writer. Read her stories on www.travellady.com, www.carladynews.com, www.cocktailatlas.com, www.teaAtlas.com, www.coffeeatlas.com. She is a member of the Texas Automotive Writers Association