We spend a lot of time in our automobiles, so during this time, it’s important to properly clean your vehicle’s interior. Maybe you drive for Uber or Lyft, or drive the carpool. Either way, you want to protect yourself and your passengers from accidental transmission.
You want to make sure your vehicle is properly disinfected, but not cause any lasting damage to your interior surfaces. Focus on highly touched areas such as steering wheels, switchgear, shifters, and infotainment interfaces. Don’t forget to disinfect the door handles and the gas cap as well.
One of the first things experts recommend is soap. Good old soap. By soap, we mean classic liquid hand soap or dish soap. Just make sure the product you choose isn’t labeled as free of detergents. Basic Armor All Wipes, for example, use a mild detergent.
For those who have leather interiors, you can use makeup removal wipes, which typically contain moisturizers that are good for organic trim materials. Both alcohol and detergent-based cleaners can dry out the leather.
If you do use a drying cleaning solution, you can counteract the drying by applying a leather moisturizer afterward. Leather conditioners also tend to contain surfactants, which are chemicals that help cleaners do what they do.
No matter what soap product you use to clean with, make sure that you wipe off the surfaces afterward. No matter how gentle the cleanser you do not want to leave it sitting on your car’s interior.
What you want to avoid is any kind of bleach solution on your vehicle, including spray disinfectants or wipes. Always check that they do not contain bleach.
Avoid all solvents such as alcohol, acetone, and kerosene. These chemicals won’t damage your interior right away, but they also won’t affect viruses, which makes them ineffective.
Vinyl surfaces and plastic dashes are the easiest areas to wipe down. In contrast, leather and cloth absorb water and other liquids, which makes them harder to disinfect. Vinyl and plastic surfaces do not absorb, so they provide a much safer and more effective cleaning option.