Keeping Your Car Clean: 4 Tips to Reduce the Risk of Coronavirus

April 28, 2020

Coronavirus can spread quickly inside our cars because they’re small, contained spaces. Washing your hands will help you avoid transmitting the virus before and after:

Driving your car
Eating
Using the restroom
Coughing or sneezing
Leaving your house

But coronavirus can exist on some surfaces for days after contagious saliva droplets landed there. That’s why keeping your car clean is essential to slow the spread and stay healthy.

Here are four tips to reduce your risk of contracting or spreading coronavirus.

1. Limit your trips to essential errands.

While stay-at-home measures are in place, we can still make necessary trips to the grocery store, doctor’s appointments, and so on. Limit driving to essential errands to prevent germs from spreading in your vehicle. You’ll also reduce the risk of carrying the virus inside your home or spreading it to others.

2. Use the right tools in (and on) your car.

a man vacuuming his seat while cleaning his car’s interior

After vacuuming for visible debris, it’s time to tackle the invisible germs on your car’s rubber, plastic, aluminum, and leather surfaces. For a full list of EPA-approved disinfectants you can use to kill the virus, see this PDF from the American Chemistry Council. Or, you can bring your car in for a professional disinfectant service.

3. Wipe down anything you touch.

The CDC recommends cleaning high-touch surfaces often — and that includes things in our cars we handle on a daily basis. Tackle these surfaces with household cleaners or a comprehensive disinfectant service:

Car keys
Steering wheel
Gear shift
Turn signal switch
Windshield wiper switch
Door handles
Radio knobs
Storage bins
Seat belts
Dashboard

4. Do some extra cleaning if kids or seniors ride with you.

a girl and a boy riding in the backseat of a car

Seniors have a higher risk of contracting coronavirus, especially those with autoimmune and chronic respiratory diseases. And little ones aren’t as careful about hygiene or cleanliness, tracking in dirt and germs without even realizing it. So if you drive any children or elderly loved ones around, make sure you’re keeping your car clean with even more frequent wipe-downs.

By limiting your travel and cleaning your car often, you can reduce the spread of germs and keep your loved ones (and yourself) healthy.

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