How to Decontaminate Your Car During COVID-19

How often do you clean your car? The coronavirus pandemic has made many people more aware of the importance of good hygiene. It has brought good basic practices such as hand washing and cleaning commonly used devices to the forefront of their minds. Cars, however, often get forgotten.

Cleaning Upholstery and Commonly Touched Surfaces

It's common for people to be quite diligent about cleaning their carpets, seats, and other upholstery. Vacuuming footwells, making sure that your car is free of rubbish, and cleaning the car seats is a good start. However, when it comes to COVID-19, many other things need to be taken into account. Researchers have found that coronaviruses (the family to which COVID-19 belongs) can live on wood for up to 4 days and plastics for up to three days.

Think about the surfaces in your car that you handle on a regular basis:

• The gear stick
• Steering wheel
• Indicators
• Dashboard controls
• Window openers and door handles

At the start of July, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered people to wear masks in public, but that doesn't mean that you can be complacent when you go shopping in Houston. You may make an effort to reduce the risk of spreading infection, but you can't control what others do. If you touch something contaminated in a public place, then get into your car, you could be carrying the infection with you. That's why it's so important to regularly and carefully clean every part of your vehicle that you touch. Alcohol-based disinfectants are approved by the CDC and EPA as cleaning products to prevent the spread of many viruses.

Creating a Deep Cleaning Routine

Before you can formulate a deep-cleaning routine, you should consider what your car's interior is made up of and the cleaning materials that you should use. Leather, cloth, and imitation leather upholstery need different treatments. The same is true for plastic, wood, and metal parts of the interior. Your car's manufacturer may recommend certain cleaning products or advise against others. For example, some leather upholstery is covered in a protective coating to stop the leather from becoming discolored. Isopropyl alcohol cleaning products may damage that coating, so you should use a soft microfiber cloth and a mild soap and water solution to wipe down leather areas then a second cloth to wipe the leather dry.

It's safe to use alcohol cleaning solutions on most imitation leather, as well as on hard surfaces such as the dash, console, and steering wheel.

Clean your car regularly:

• Wipe the gear stick, door handles and the steering wheel daily
• Wipe the seatbelt with a gentle cleaning agent regularly too (do not soak the seatbelt as this may damage it)
• Once a week clean the dash, floor mats, and other frequently touched areas

Most cleaning jobs can be done at home, but if you're feeling overwhelmed, a local Houston valet car cleaning service can get your car back into pristine condition, making it easier for you to clean it in the future.

Used car dealerships like Shabana Motors located at 9811 SW Freeway in Houston, offers in-house financing and will also buy your car and will warranty your car for 2 years/24K miles, when passing Shabana Motors 5-star inspection process.