Keep Your Car Clean without Soap or Water, Says Edmunds.com
Keep Your Car Clean without Soap or Water, Says Edmunds.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — December 7, 2011 — Winter weather can often leave your vehicle grubby and unkempt, but frequent car washes can also get expensive and time-consuming. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive, has all the dirt on a few easy steps you can take to clean your car without a drop of soap and water in "Clean Your Car Without Washing It."
To keep pace with the grime and litter that come with daily car use, Edmunds.com Senior Consumer Advice Editor Philip Reed suggests the following steps as "triage" for your dirty car:
- Clean horizontal surfaces with a spray detailer. You don't have to clean the whole car, just the obvious surfaces that catch dew or light rain and leave water marks, such as the hood, trunk and rear bumper.
- Clean the windshield. Keep a bottle of glass cleaner and a roll of paper towels in your trunk to remove any hazy residue from your windshield. Visibility is a huge safety factor, and a clean windshield also just makes you feel better about your car
- Take out the trash. It's a car, not a garbage bin. Pull up next to a trash can somewhere and throw away papers, food or other junk that has accumulated.
- Shake out the floor mats. When time is tight and you don't have a vacuum, you can simply grab your floor mats and shake off all the gravel, loose dirt and sand.
- Clean the wheels and tires. Dirty wheels on a clean car are like old shoes with a new suit. Use a cotton rag to wipe off the flat center section of your rims and work the rag into the spokes or crevices. Then use a spray product on the rubber to get a quick shine.
- Clean anything you touch or look at. Keep car cleaning wipes in the glove compartment for quick interior touch-ups on the gauges, dashboard and center console.
"When a car wash isn't an option, even little things can make a world of difference," says Reed. "You'd be surprised how much a quick wipe-down of the hood or a shake of your floor mats can keep the car looking good."
For more details on a quick car clean without the full wash, please visit http://www.edmunds.com/how-to/clean-your-car-without-washing-it.html.
If you haven't already prepared your car for the cold weather, Edmunds.com offers several tips to winterize your vehicle at http://www.edmunds.com/how-to/winterize-your-vehicle.html.
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Edmunds publishes Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site and hosts the most established automotive community online. Its mobile site, accessible from any smartphone at www.edmunds.com, makes car pricing and other research tools available for car shoppers at dealerships and otherwise on the go. InsideLine.com is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. Its mobile site, accessible from any smartphone at www.insideline.com, features the wireless Web's highest quality car photos and videos. AutoObserver.com provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit. Follow Edmunds.com on Twitter@edmunds and fan Edmunds.com on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/edmunds.
