Timing Is Everything
When it comes to washing your car, timing is everything. Because of this, it's imperative you strategically select the best time to wash your car. While it's common sense to not wash your car when it's raining or about to rain, too much sun can also impact your car wash. The best time to wash your car is either later in the evening or early in the morning. If you must wash your car in the middle of the day, just choose an area that is out of the sun in a shaded spot.
Avoid Washing Your Car When...
Don't wash your vehicle in the middle of the day because the sun's gaze is far too powerful. Choosing to do so will almost certainly result in the direct sunlight creating unsightly water spots, which can make you question whether you washed it at all.
Cleaning the Power of Touch
Virtually every new vehicle comes loaded with state-of-the-art technology. And this tech suite is usually controlled by a dazzling touchscreen display. While gorgeous, these touchscreens are prone to collect fingerprints and dust. It's important to understand that your touchscreens do require a different cleaning process and solution than what you would use on glass. To clean your touchscreen, dampen a soft, microfiber cloth with alcohol. Then gently wipe your touch screen clean.
Don't Touch Your Touchscreen with...
While it may seem intuitive to clean your touchscreen with a window cleaner, you should never do this. Make sure you avoid cleaning your touchscreen with any type of window cleaner or ammonia-based glass cleaner. These chemicals can damage your touchscreens anti-fingerprint coating and anti-glare coating.
Cleaning Your Interior
Everyone loves the shiny appeal of a sparkling dashboard! However, achieving this clean shine is often easier said than done. Most vinyl and leather surfaces are treated with a protective coating that requires gentle cleaning. Before you use a finishing product to achieve the luster, clean your surfaces with a soft cloth and a small amount of saddle soap or dish soap and water. Once you've done this, follow up with a leather conditioner to prevent your leather from drying out.
Avoid Using This to Clean Your Interior Surfaces
Above all, you should avoid using products that have hydrogen peroxide or bleach.
Windshield Cleaning Hacks
Your windshield and other glass surfaces in your vehicle will get dirty. In addition to small fingers smudging grease and dirt on the glass, your windshield and windows are exposed to air pollution as well as interior vapors that can impede visibility and leave residues. However, cleaning your windows is easy. Use a soft cloth or a chamois and a glass cleaner that contains alcohol. To avoid streaks, use two cloths. Simply apply the product with one cloth and clean the glass with the other.
Watch Out...Don't Do This When Cleaning Your Windows
Because the window cleaning material can be hazardous to your interior, remember to spray the cloth — not the glass.
Cleaning Cloth Seats
If you have small children, cloth interior can be your worst enemy. Even if you don't have kids, spills, crumbs, dirt, and debris can quickly begin to smell if you don't clean your upholstery regularly. To avoid foul smells, simply vacuum your carpets with the proper attachment. Specifically, a vacuuming tool with short bristles can agitate dirt and debris out of cloth; while a crevice tool can access those hard-to-reach places where food tends to naturally gravitate to. For a deep clean, consider using a steam cleaner, which will remove stains from upholstery and carpets. And a little bit of soap and water on a soft cloth can be effective at removing surface stains from your seats and upholstery.
Avoid Doing This to Cloth Seats
When cleaning your seats, it's imperative to be careful with water or liquids. Simply put, don't soak your seats. Damp seats and upholstery can serve as a petri dish to mold. Then, your foul smell will be amplified, and you'll open the door to an entirely new set of issues.
Bonus: Prevention Is Key
Similar to your vehicle's mechanical components, it's all about prevention. For example, having regularly scheduled preventative maintenance can save you thousands of dollars in repair costs. And this same sentiment carries true when it comes to car cleaning hacks: an ounce of prevention is worth pounds of cure. While using a grocery store bag to collect in-vehicle trash is one common solution, it's rarely the catch-all we want, especially when it comes to your cupholders.
No one likes cleaning the gunk and stuff that will undeniably end up at the bottom of the cupholder. You can, however, avoid this gunk entirely with a little bit of preventative maintenance. Simply place aluminum or silicone muffin cups at the bottom of each cupholder. While designed for delicious muffins, muffin cups fit perfectly into your cupholder and will collect all of the gunk before it accumulates in the cupholder. And once it gets dirty, sticky, or gunky, simply swap them out for clean ones without ever scrubbing.
Don't Do This...Just No!.
While we are all about recycling and environmental conservation, you should probably avoid using the cupcake holders for cupcakes. Just no.
When it comes to keeping your vehicle in the best possible condition, the team at Gerry Lane Buick GMC are your best friends!
Contact us today for all of your automotive needs. And remember...no reusing cupcake holders!
