The coronavirus pandemic is calling for people to sanitize everything they use in their daily lives, including their cars. The CDC claims that disinfecting commonly touched surfaces is an important step in warding off the virus, as the virus can live up to 4 days on surfaces.
Since we spend so much time in our cars, it’s only appropriate that we make sure they are sanitary as well. If not properly cleaned, your car can harbor bacteria that are carrying the virus.
How Do I Clean My Car to Keep it Coronavirus-Free?
- The CDC recommends cleaning first, and sanitizing second.
- Use soap and water to clean commonly touched areas, such as the steering wheel, radio, gear shift, seat belts, window and lock buttons, door handles, and any other highly touched areas you can think of.
- Use sanitizer, or a 70% alcohol solution, to sanitize the commonly touched areas.
- Do not use bleach, hydrogen peroxide, or ammonia-based products. They can seriously damage the vinyl and other plastic material used to construct your vehicle.
- Vacuum the car’s seats and disinfect them – auto supply stores sell disinfecting wipes for your cars specific seat material.
- Wear gloves as you clean your vehicle! If you are touching dirty surfaces and then cleaning them, you will just transfer the germs to new areas or right back to the already cleaned area.
- If you have children’s car seats in your cars, make sure to clean and sanitize those as well, as they can harbor a lot of germs.
It is extremely important that we keep our environments sanitary while we work to ward off the coronavirus. For more information, check out the CDC’s cleaning recommendations to find out what else should be cleaned. Keep washing your hands and stay safe, everyone!
Georgia Gintowt, Author
