If you’re a dedicated car owner, you probably clean your car at least once or twice a month, especially when you live in an area, such as the city, where dirt, dust, and grime can accumulate a lot over a short period. While it’s only common sense to clean your car’s exterior or interior, you neglect some parts. Here are some parts that need just as much love and attention as what you religiously clean.
Dashboard
Your dashboard can accumulate a lot of dust and dirt in between all those small spaces and knobs. Depending on how often you use your car, your dashboard could be one of the dustiest things inside it. Going at it with a wet or moist rag can usually cover all that dust and potential allergens. An old toothbrush could also reach some of those trickier areas where the dirt is concentrated.
Vents
Car vents are another part of your car’s interior that might need more cleaning than you initially give it. Vents accumulate a lot of dust and allergens and could go from annoying to potentially dangerous. A wet rag or even some furniture polish could take care of all that accumulated dust for you.
Undercarriage
It makes sense why you don’t usually clean your car’s undercarriage. After all, unless you have some way to lift it, you can’t normally access your undercarriage by yourself. Maintaining your undercarriage is important to your car, and a lot of grime can build up there since it’s the part of your car that’s closest to the ground.
While you can have it checked out by a car repair or cleaning professional, you can also try cleaning your undercarriage yourself with a pressure washer or any common hose. Granted, it’s going to need a lot of work and more than a bit of dirt, but if you’re committed to keeping your entire car clean, your undercarriage shouldn’t be an exception.
Engine bay
While you and most people only see your car’s hood and exterior most of the time, keeping what’s underneath the hood clean is just as important. A lot of grease and dirt can build up in the area around your engine, and if it becomes too much, it might affect your car’s performance.
To clean your engine bay, cover up any parts that shouldn’t get wet, such as the fuse box, and go at it with a hose or a brush and some engine cleaner. While you’re there, you can also check your engine’s condition and if you need replacement parts. Maintaining your vehicle is also about making sure that all of its parts are in tip-top shape.
Wheels and wheel wells
A lot of mud and water can get stuck in your wheels and your wheel wells. While cleaning your tires can be as easy as just replacing them, maybe you’d rather not spend money on new wheels when your current ones are still working well. Getting to all those thin crevices on your wheels can be a hassle, but you don’t want any of that dried mud or dirt to accumulate or get anything stuck in it. Your wheel wells also need a thorough cleaning to ensure that the wheels run as smoothly as possible.
Wiper blades
Believe it or not, your wiper blades can be one of the dirtiest parts of your entire car. After all, it wipes up a ton of rainwater, dirt, dust, and occasionally dead bugs in it. It can also create unseemly streaks across your windshield when not cleaned properly. A good scrubbing with soap and water will usually do the trick.
Exhaust
Your exhaust can also get incredibly dirty, with soot, rust, and mud building up over time. It might be on the harder parts of your car to clean, along with your undercarriage, but as you might have learned by now, it’s not good to neglect cleaning it for too long.
It pays to be completely thorough when it comes to the cleanliness of your car. Not only do you make sure it looks new and fresh, but the regular cleaning and maintenance of your car can help ensure that it keeps running as smoothly as it does for a long time yet. If you haven’t cleaned your car in a while, it might be good to start thinking about those little places you don’t or can’t reach.
