Keeping The Car Clean With Little Kids

Where kids go, mess tends to follow. This is something all parents realize sooner rather than later. When you take the little ones in the car, therefore, this can cause a lot of trouble. Unlike the home, a vehicle is an incredibly small space. This means that even a small amount of junk or dirt can leave it looking a mess. It can also make your family and anyone else who travel in your car quite uncomfortable. With that in mind, here are five ways to keep your car clean, even with kids.

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1. Keep A Trash Container

Rather than leaving trash to float about your car, you should give it somewhere to go. Some people choose to use a grocery bag, others a cereal box, and some buy trash bins specifically for their vehicles. You could give each of your kids their own trash container or use one for the whole car. Either way, you should empty it at the gas station every time you fill up the tank. 

2. Leave Food At Home

Kids are easily motivated and distracted by food. This is why many parents use food to treat their kids and cheer them up. The only problem with this is that food can be messy. Your little one could drop their food on the seat and stain it or make the car smell. For this reason, you should consider banning food from the car and only allow water, as this makes very little mess.

3. Protect Seats And Floors

If you can’t or won’t ban food from the car, then consider investing in protections instead. Seat covers and floor mats will both help to prevent stains, as well as any other damage. They can also both be removed, which means that it’s much easier to clean them than the floors and seats themselves. You could also put shades on the windows to keep fingers off the glass. 

4. Limit What’s Allowed In

When you start letting your little ones bring things into the car, it’s very difficult getting them to stop. Because of this, you should set rules on what is allowed in your vehicle. You might let one blanket and a few books in, for example, but say no to pillows and toys. Whatever you allow into your car, make sure that your little ones take it back out again when you get home. 

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5. Create A Cleaning Schedule

Unless you have a plan, you will put car cleaning off until its a huge task, and you just don’t want to do it. This is why you should create a schedule for your cleaning tasks. Some jobs, like wiping down the dashboard and removing toys, can be done daily, while others, like vacuuming, can be done weekly. Splitting up the job like this makes it a lot less daunting. 

Children are messy creatures, but that doesn’t mean that your car should turn into a tip. With the advice above, you should be able to keep your vehicle relatively clean.