Disinfecting your car is of prime importance to prevent the proliferation of microbes in the nooks and crannies of the car. Especially in the UAE, where the hot temperature makes people keep their car windows shut and air conditioners running. In such conditions, the enclosed car environment can serve as a suitable ground for the microbes to grow, as fresh air and sunlight cannot pass through.
Therefore, disinfecting your car will reduce the risk of infection, lower its spread, and help keep you and your family safe and sound. In this guide, we will discuss the 6 most effective ways to disinfect a car.
How to Disinfect a Car
Although even after car disinfection, there is not a 100% guarantee that you will not contract diseases, just as there is also no guarantee of zero accidents when driving. The first and foremost step of disinfection is washing your hands. It is advised to wash your hand before and after using the car.
The effective ways to sanitise your car can reduce the chances of contracting diseases and also maintain cleanliness.
1. Remove the Dust and Mould
The enclosed environment of a car has more chances of developing mould and encourages bacterial growth. The dust residing on your dashboard can be removed with the help of a brush with soft bristles. You must use a brush with soft bristles to protect the car’s interior from getting scratched.
Moreover, people are often seen using a blob of slime to clear the dust off tricky places. A vacuum cleaner can also be used to dust off a car’s interior. Nevertheless, one must never leave food particles in the car as they are an easy target for moulds to grow.
2. Clean the Cabin Air Filter
The cabin air filter filters the air circulating inside a car. In case these different types of air filters choke, they can result in the passage of contaminated air in the vehicle. Symptoms of a bad cabin air filter include poor airflow, unusual car odour, and increased fan noise.
If you keep using the same dust-choked filters it can easily cause you respiratory problems and air-borne diseases. Therefore, you should consider changing this filter every half-yearly. However, if you frequently use your car for off-roading in the UAE, you might have to change your cabin air filters earlier than six months.
3. Using Safe Car Cleaners
Nowadays, you can easily get disinfectants specifically meant for cleaning your car both interiorly and exteriorly. Such disinfectants for cars are available in the form of sprays, wipes, or even gels.
However, you must ensure that the disinfectant used is of good quality and does not damage the leather. The chances of contracting diseases from a clean and disinfected surface are much less than from a contaminated one.
4. Clean the Upholstery
To completely sanitise your car, you must clean up the entire upholstery. First, you will have to remove the loose dust by using a vacuum cleaner and then use soapy water or a more effective cleaner such as an alcohol-based solution to clean the car.
Make sure that the cushions in your car are not damp after cleaning, as moulds can easily grow in damp places.
5. Use a Sanitiser Spray
After cleansing your car thoroughly, you will need to disinfect your car by spraying it with sanitiser. Such sanitiser sprays can kill the maximum number of germs and bacteria. Doing so can kill any microbial residues prone to cause infections and protect you from contracting them.
6. Expose Your Car’s Interior to Sunlight
Sunlight is regarded as a natural disinfectant, due to UV rays, available entirely free of cost. Exposing your car’s interior to sunlight after cleaning it, can strengthen the disinfection effect.
However, it is not recommended to consider sunlight as a sole disinfectant agent since it cannot reach many car parts such as below the steering wheel, under the seat, and area under the glovebox. Moreover, it may not be as effective as sanitiser.
The Most Effective Treatment to Disinfect Car
Since a car serves as a common means of commute and has high exposure to almost all sorts of surroundings, it should be disinfected to reduce the chances of infection.
The most effective treatment to disinfect a car is to clean it by using alcohol. Although alcohol vapours dissipate quickly, they must not be inhaled. To avoid inhaling or reducing the risk of these vapours, one must keep the windows open while disinfecting the car by using alcohol. For effective car disinfection, you can use isopropyl alcohol in a concentration of 70% or higher, or ethanol in a concentration of 60% or higher.
While other car cleaning products like bleach, ammonia, or hydrogen peroxide, can also be used for car disinfection, they are harsher to the car’s interior than alcohol.
Another important thing to remember while cleaning your car is to ensure cleaning with a microfiber towel or an old t-shirt only. Because paper towels, tissues or other paper items can leave scratches on the car’s surface.
Common Car Touchpoints that Must be Sanitised
Any part of your car that is usually touched should be sanitised. Since each person has a different driving style one must always go for complete car disinfection. However, we have compiled below a list that indicates the common car touchpoints by a driver.
- Key/remote
- Door handles
- Ignition switch
- Trunk release handle
- Side mirror controls
- Rearview mirror
- Seat adjustment controls
- Turn signal stalk
- Wiper stalk
- Steering wheel
- Belt buckle
- Touchscreen
- Centre console controls
- Dashboard controls
- Overhead controls
- Grad handles
- Glove box
- Vents
- Armrest, etc.
This concludes our guide on how to sanitise your car and the most effective treatment for doing so. However, with the never-ending threat of diseases like Coronavirus (COVID-19), the safest way to rule out disease contraction is to wash your hands thoroughly, disinfect your car, and keep yourself and your surroundings clean and sanitised.
Nevertheless, if you are searching for a modern car with high-tech features then you should consider any of these used cars for sale in the UAE.
Stay tuned to the UAE’s top auto blog for more information on the automotive industry.
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