Tidy up your car in 5 steps
Tidying up has been elevated to a form of art, but is your very own car immune to the trend? Whether you have embraced the trend or set yourself a new resolution, decluttering is always a good idea. As we tend to remember to keep a clean home, cars definitely get trickier as we are more often than not on the go when using them. If your vehicle has become a hoarding place of choice or if there is simply some room for improvement, here are a few tips to make it a clean and peaceful space again.
- Empty it out.
This is the fun part: go to your car, and take out every single object that was ever added inside. Everything must go, don’t forget the pockets or the corners of the trunk! Chances are that you will be impressed by how much a small space can contain.
- Purge
This is where you need to use your strict judgement. Discard everything that is litter, damaged or useless. For every object you hesitate to discard, ask yourself ‘’Do I really need this to be in the car?’’ To help you, only allow yourself to keep the things you use regularly -- your hair straightener has to go, so does your headphones and your tennis racket, but your phone charger may stay. The only exceptions are your emergency gear, that you should have in all time when on the road. Once you are set on the essentials, be careful to not add on.
- Clean
Time to soak it up! Take advantage of the car being emptied out to make it shine again. Vacuum seats from top to bottom (and underneath!), polish the mirrors, wash the rugs; don’t skimp on the job. To keep the clean feeling, get an air freshener that will keep the vehicle fresh. If placing a little tree on the rearview mirror does not inspire you, there are options that are less visible or formats that you can leave underneath the seats, for example.
- Organize
Once you have determined what gets its place back in your car, you have to assign place for each thing. For instance, you can keep your important registration and information documents in a file organizer that will stay in the glove compartment, or get baskets or drawer organizers to keep your belonging tidy. Keep bags on hand that will be useful for errands as well as for collecting garbage. Most importantly, after usage, put every object where it belongs.
- Set rules and stick to them
Be realistic and go with things that suit your lifestyle. No eating in the car can work, so does bringing all your stuff back in everytime you come home, going paperless or simply clean-up every time your fuel up.
All set ? You can high-five yourself ! However, the hardest part has yet to come: you need to be able to keep your interior as clean and uncluttered as it is now. According to studies, it takes about 21 days for new habits to form. Challenge yourself, for you can do it: it’s worth the satisfaction and the peace of mind. Enjoy your tidy car now !
