3 Useful Tips to Keep Your Car in Shape during COVID-19 Lockdown

Coronavirus is in full swing at the moment and while everyone is busy with washing hands and cleaning homes, it may be easy to forget your car.

Remember that after the lockdown, you will need your car and so, you should keep it clean. Here are tips on taking care of your car so as to keep it clean and active.

1. Maintenance

Maintenance of your car is very important. It will prolong the life of some of its most expensive parts and will make it ready to go whenever you want.

Sadly, several car owners neglect this important aspect.

If you’ll be working from home and travelling less, you need to give your car a little help to keep it in good shape.

Short tours across the town aren’t very good for modern engines, particularly those with diesel particulate filters (DPF) or catalytic converters.

These require a significantly good run every so often to start a clean-out process. Go through your manual on conditions needed to activate this process and keep on top of that.

You can also keep your fuel system clean by putting some additives in it.

2. Cleaning

Since coronavirus is new, it’s not yet known firmly how long it’s alive on surfaces. According to some studies, it could be active for 3 days, depending on the surface (72 hours for stainless steel or plastic).

Other materials like polypropylene (used profoundly in the plastic components, such as carpet fibres, of cars) could find the virus reach half-life at 16 hours.

Cars are built from a variety of materials whether they are reliable import car from USA to Australia or locally made cars. Therefore, how long the virus will hang out on the different surfaces will vary.

Image Courtesy: importdirectcarsales.com.au

3. Car Cleaning Methods

To clean your car, you’ll need either a mild soap detergent or some alcohol of over 70% strength. Even a white vinegar solution can work safely on the plastic and vinyl parts of the car.

Also, you’ll have to take care of the many electrics in the car and avoid making your cleaning cloth dripping wet. If water goes inside the electrics, it can cause an electric short.

Also, avoid using excessive amount of water to clean your car seats because overly wet seats will develop unpleasant odour.

Whether your car is locally made or importing cars to Australia by Import Direct Car Sales, you can also get guidance in your owner’s manual about cleaning the interior and which products you can use.

Take All Loose Items Out from the Interior

Before starting cleaning, remove any loose items, and debris and rubbish. Place the items in a safe place where they can’t pass on contaminants to other surfaces and objects.

This will enable you to see areas with filth accumulated and you can prevent clogging up of your vacuum.

Vacuum

Use a vacuum or a stiff brush and pull out any dust, fuzz and loose particles. Start from the top and work downwards. Make sure to work on all the hidden crevices and even seats’ and other seams.

Wipe

After vacuuming, it’s time to wipe. Do it with a cleaning solution of your choice or the one advised by your carmaker and wipe all the interior surfaces to lift even stubborn dirt.

If you maintain your car this way, you’ll thank yourself after the lockdown when you’ll take your car out for a ride.