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How to Disinfect Your Car Properly

A young, Caucasian woman sanitizing her car with gloves

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world as you know it. Silent transmission means that asymptotic people can transmit the disease without knowing it, explaining how the virus has spread so rapidly. This has caused much of the world to shut down. Even public transport has shut down in numerous places, causing you to rely on your vehicle more than ever. Since COVID-19 can stay on surfaces for hours or even days, you need to disinfect your car before and after using it. Find out how to keep your car disinfected.

Vacuum and Wipe Your Vehicle

Removing debris is an essential first step before sanitizing your vehicle. Disinfectants aren’t useful if there is debris in the way, so put on some gloves and use a microfiber cloth to wipe off surface areas. Then, vacuum your vehicle to remove the debris. Pay special attention to the corners where it can gather. 

Sanitize the Vehicle’s Interior 

Since COVID-19 hangs around after making contact with surfaces, you need to sanitize the vehicle’s interior. This might not be part of your regular cleaning protocol, but it’s critical during a pandemic. Mix dish soap with water and wipe down your vehicle’s interior. The water can be hot, warm, or cold. As long as there is soap in it, it will kill the coronavirus. 

When you’re cleaning your vehicle, make sure that water doesn’t pool up in the interior. Also, while you need to use friction to remove the virus, don’t scrub too hard. Even if you use a non-corrosive solution, cleaning too hard can damage your vehicle’s interior. 

hands with gloves disinfecting a car door with spray

Finally, if you’re cleaning a cloth interior, don’t use too much soap and water. You don’t want lots of bubbles to appear. If that happens, it will be hard for you to get the soap out of the cloth.

Avoid Bleach and Hydrogen Peroxide

You might want to disinfect your car with bleach or hydrogen peroxide since both are effective at killing COVID-19. Unfortunately, they can also ruin your vehicle’s interior. Soap and water are just as effective, so don’t make the mistake of using these harmful chemicals. 

Care for Your Leather Upholstery

If you have leather upholstery, you need to care for it after disinfecting your vehicle. Once it’s sanitized, use a leather cleaner and conditioner. This will ensure that your interior will look like new for years to come. 

Wash Your Hands

Once you disinfect your car, you need to wash your hands. If you don’t do that, all of your hard work will have been for nothing. You will end up transferring germs to your vehicle as soon as you slide behind the wheel. Once you wash your hands vigorously with soap and water, you can take off to your destination. 

Keep Your Vehicle Germ-Free

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused you to make some changes in your life. That includes disinfecting your car before you use it. As much as you want to jump in your vehicle and take off, it’s important to spend time cleaning it. Then, you won’t have to worry about the virus hanging out in your vehicle, waiting to infect you and your loved ones. 

Are you getting back on the road? Don’t forget about cheap car insurance! At Freeway, drivers have reported up to $839 in savings*. Start your free car insurance quote online, over the phone, or visit us today!

*Based on a Q1 2020 study of Freeway Insurance customers who reported saving when they switched.

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