A clean and fresh-smelling car gives you a pleasant and comfortable driving experience. But as it faces food spills, leftovers, and dirt accumulation, it starts stinking. This cannot only make the passengers uncomfortable but if this odor is left unaddressed, it can affect your health as well.
Here are some car wash tips for odor removal that can help you maintain your car’s atmosphere fresh and odor-free.
4 Important Car Wash Tips for Odor Removal
1. Clean The Surfaces Regularly
The main cause of the odor is undeniably uncleanliness. Your car’s surfaces get accumulated with dirt, dust, food particles, grease, and other filth. When this dirt remains there for a long time, it infests germs and starts causing odor.
So ensure that you clean all the corners and surfaces of your cars, especially the high-touch points like the dashboard, gears, steering wheel, etc.
Moreover, you should also deep clean your car’s carpets and upholstery often, as dirt particles penetrate their fibers deeply which can lead to a musty smell. So vacuum all the surfaces and wipe them regularly to avoid the build-up of dirt.
Steam cleaning methods will work effectively to eliminate all the germs and dirt that cause irritating odors in your car.
Also, ensure you use mild soaps/detergents while shampooing your car surfaces. Using harsh cleaners for odor removal (like bleach, hydrogen peroxide, and ammonia-based cleaners) can harm surfaces.
2. Clear The Trash ASAP
Do you keep empty cans, used containers, snack wrappers, and other leftovers lingering inside your car? That’s the most common reason your car is stinking. Any waste, leftovers, or spills should be removed and cleaned as soon as possible. Not disposing of the trash inside your car can invite dirt and germs, making your car full of unpleasant odors.
So toss the waste into the trash as soon as possible to prevent stinking.
3. Try Some DIY Deodorizers
While regular cleaning, wiping, and vacuuming would immensely help keep odors away, you can try some hacks to deodorize your car. Here are some:
- Charcoal: Take activated charcoal briquettes in an open container. Put it inside your car for a night. This porous toxin absorbent will take away all the odor from your interiors.
- Coffee: Just like charcoal, you can keep a container of fresh coffee grounds overnight to help neutralize the bad smell in your car. The coffee aroma will give it a fresh atmosphere too.
- Baking soda: The ultimate saver it is. Before you vacuum your surfaces, spread some baking soda generously or you can also keep it in a container and let it absorb all the unpleasant car odor.
4. Clean or Replace your Car’s Cabin Air Filters
Many times, poor air conditioning can be a cause of unpleasant odor in your car.
Your car’s cabin air filters help prevent dirt, dust, and allergens from entering your car interiors. Over time, they also accumulate dirt and cause a smell in your car. Locate your car’s cabin air filters behind the glove box, under the dashboard or hood, and clean or replace them as needed. Refer to your car’s user manual for proper fixing.
Moreover, if your car’s vents are smelling, you can have an easy solution there. Turn on interior fans on low, open all the car windows, and spray an AC disinfectant spray into your AC intake vents located externally near the windshield wipers. You can also spray AC cleaner into the vents of your car.
Summary
These were some car wash tips for odor removal. By keeping your car clean and well-maintained, vacuuming it regularly, avoiding trash to accumulate, and keeping your car’s air filters and ducts clean and working, you can remove the unwanted odor from your car and help it stay clean and fresh.
However, if you feel like the odor is stubborn and does not fade even after proper cleaning and the above-mentioned tips, you should opt for professional automobile odor removal services.