2-Minute Car Care Hack: Dish soap

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If you’re the sort of person who spends hours researching and contemplating the stuff you’ll use to clean and coat your car or truck, then this story isn’t for you.

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If, however, you want to enjoy a clean and freshly-detailed car interior lickety-split with a next-to-nothing price-tag, here’s a tip I’ve been using for years with great success.

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2-Minute Car Care Hack: Dish soap Back to video

Whether you’re selling your car, lending your truck to a friend, or you’re just tired of being surrounded by dried ketchup, coffee stains, and dog slobber at the wheel, there are times when you want a clean interior without spending a lot of time or money to get it.

Here’s my favourite way to do it:

Grab a small pail or a large bowl, add 3 drops of liquid dish soap, and fill it with the hottest water you can stand. Next, grab a rag (microfiber is best, but a clean dish rag is fine), and head to your car.

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You’ll arrive carrying the tools to clean just about anything and everything inside that isn’t cloth or carpet, really quickly and effectively — and with virtually no price-tag. 

The thing about hot, slightly-soapy water is that it literally melts through just about any stain, smudge, filth, dried-on condiments, dust, grime, pet hair, and even various forms of scuzz. 

Dunk your rag, wring it out to nearly-dry, and get to wiping. Rotate the rag, wipe, dunk, wring, repeat. One gallon of soapy water and one rag should do your whole interior, several times over.

This solution works great on virtually any plastic or vinyl interior surface, and it’s fantastic for glass. I do the glass first, since  it’s usually the cleanest. Wring the rag out vigorously before doing the glass; you’ll want it to be nearly dry to avoid streaks.

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Best of all, cleaning your car interior with a highly-diluted amount of harmless dish soap involves no overspray, no harsh smells, no toxic chemicals, and no dangerous substances.  

The kids can get their hands right in and help, too. Don’t underestimate how well this soap-and-water method works the next time you’re thinking about paying 7 bucks for a tub of dash-wipes, either.

Look — is soapy water the right thing to clean the dashboard of your new C8 Corvette, or your pricey Lexus with?  Perhaps not. But for folks on the go who just want a quick tidy, as easily as possible, it’s the best solution (literally) that I’ve ever come up with.