Coronavirus Tips: 6 key frequently touched points you must sanitise in your car

Some of you may need to drive your cars for the odd necessary grocery run, or if you are someone who’s profession falls under the umbrella of essential service. Here are some extra tips to keep your commutes sanitised. Wash your hands, but also wash the things you touch with your hands.

Coronavirus Tips: 6 key frequently touched points you must sanitise in your car

 

With the coronavirus lockdown in place, it is likely that one of the prized possessions that you worked so hard for all your life is not getting enough attention. I’m not talking about your significant other, I’m talking about something even more near and dear to you, (or us petrol heads probably). They are our cars! We love them and take care of them on normal days, but right now they are sitting alone in the parking garage, basement or worse exposed to the elements in the open, and not moving.

But occasionally, some of us need to pull them out from hiding for the occasional grocery run. Or maybe you are driving your car every day because your work falls under “essential services”. But you need to sanitise your car to be able to fight this horrible COVID-19 virus. While you might give your car a regular rub-down on the obvious parts that you touch frequently and more which you use infrequently, that you also need to sanitise.

Here are a few touchpoints on your car that you definitely need to sanitise, and follow certain practices to keep your car sanitised and you virus-free as much as possible.

1. The most obvious parts of your car that you need to sanitise are your steering wheel and your gear lever. But, just cleaning the outer rim just won’t do. Make sure you clean the entire steering wheel including the centre hub of the steering, are you may be using the horn, or even coughing on to the steering wheel. In fact, while you’re there, just wipe down the instrument panel as well for good measure. Also, don’t miss the wiper and headlight stalks and paddle shifters if you have them. The gear lever as well is something you need to wipe down. From the top to bottom and along the sides.

2. Another important touchpoint to clean up are the doors. You, of course, need to touch the door to get in and out of your car. So just wipe down your door, especially the handles on the inside and outside. If you store your belongings in the door pockets, clean those as well.

3. While we may touch them once or maybe twice, to turn something on or off, one of the most overlooked parts of a car when it comes to sanitising is the switchgear on the dash. be it for your cars light switches, or your air-conditioning system. make sure to clean all the buttons on the dash as they are usually made from plastic, and it is believed that the virus can last on plastic materials far longer than organic materials.

4. Most modern cars come equipped with touchscreens. These are essentially fingerprint magnets that if left uncleaned start to resemble a crime scene. to use them, you have to touch the screen, and if you must touch, then you must clean. If you don’t have a touchscreen, then you probably have a regular stereo system. Wipe that down as well, as it is likely that you may have touched them to shuffle through music, or listening to the latest updates on the coronavirus on the radio FM.

5. Your seats are something you can not use. I mean where would you sit in your car if you didn’t have a seat? Wipe down the seats be it covered in fabric or leather with a simple cloth jus to be safe. Should you travel with a passenger firstly, make sure you sit they sit in the rear seat and diagonally opposite to the driver. The further away, could keep the virus away! Secondly, make sure to clean the doors inside and outside, for the rear passenger, their seat and also the back of the seat in front of them.

6. If you carry groceries or any kind of material in your car. make sure you carry them in the boot, rather than the passenger compartment of your car. Once you have removed them, make sure to screw the storage space in your car just to make sure its virus free.

To be able to sanitise your car’s interior, all you really need is a clean fresh cloth, and any solution with us 70% or more alcohol-based, your regular alcohol-based hand sanitiser will also work just fine. Also, remember to stay safe and stay indoors unless it is absolutely necessary to step outside.

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This article was first uploaded on April twenty-three, twenty twenty, at fourteen minutes past twelve in the night.
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