BETTER LIVING: 26 Ways to Organize Your Car

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Candita Clayton, GoLocalProv Lifestyle Expert

Most of us do a lot of driving: it's how we get where we need to be - and where our kids need to be, and where our pets need to be... But despite the amount of time we spend in our cars, they’re one of the easiest areas to neglect when it comes to cleaning and organizing.  Some of us could feed a family on the ‘leftovers’ under our driver’s seat. Then there’s the clutter from empty water bottles, soda cans, coffee cups, and everything else we use while driving. Not only is this clutter distracting, it makes it harder to find what we need when we need it - and harder to be sure that what we need is actually there to be found.

The first step to readying your ride is to make sure that you have everything you need, just in case. Here’s a list of stuff you should never be without.

 

Glove Compartment
    •    Vehicle registration and insurance cards,
    •    Small pad and pen
    •    Disposable camera (to document evidence in case of an accident)
    •    List of phone numbers and emergency contacts.
    •    Also good to have: napkins (store them in a clean plastic sandwich bag), extra straws, wet wipes for spills (Mrs. Meyers’ disposable cleaning wipes are non-toxic and smell great).


Trunk
    •    Jumper cables
    •    Tire change kit (if your car didn’t come with one, check your local auto supply store)
    •    Tool kit
    •    Spare tire or ‘doughnut’ (make sure it’s inflated)
    •    Fix-a-flat foam spray (again, check out your local auto supply store)
    •    Small manual or automatic tire pump with a pressure gauge
    •    A bright flashlight
    •    Water
    •    Motor oil
    •    Windshield wiper fluid
    •    Funnel
    •    Rags


A few more notes...
    •    If you have keyed lug nuts on your tires – a precautionary measure found on many late model cars – make sure that you have your matching keyed lug socket in a safe, easy-to-reach place. You won’t be able to change a flat without it.

    •    If you frequently drive through remote areas or on back roads where street lights are not 
present, you may want to keep reflectors, road flares, and a reflective vest.

    •    During winter months, a cold weather kit with a blanket, a hat, gloves, a scarf, and a change of clothes is always a good idea. Hand-warming packets like those from HotHands are great pocket liners, and can be placed inside children’s clothes in extreme weather conditions. You should also have a collapsible shovel, a windshield brush and scraper, and sand and/or ice melt crystals in case you get stuck (sand is best for the environment).


Now that you have all the essentials, you’ll be filling up with the other stuff.  When you know where everything you need is, you can reach for it without taking your eyes from the road. Car organizers are great for keeping clutter contained, and keeping necessary items in place. Whether or not you choose to purchase an organizer, these hints will help you stay on your organizing track.

    •    Create a trash receptacle: Purchase a car trash can, or simply hang a plastic grocery bag from your stick shift. Either way, make sure that all garbage finds its way into your trash receptacle. Empty your receptacle regularly.

    •    Organize your CDs: a visor-mounted CD organizer is handy, and prevents you from digging 
through your center console while cruising on the highway.

    •    Contain kid clutter: Backseat organizers are the best way to make sure your kids aren’t crawling all over the car looking for their toys or travel cups, but a simple plastic bin on the floor can do as well. Make sure to remove food wrappers and travel cups every day, so kids don’t rediscover them two days later (yuck!)

    •    Designate a place for loose change: Although it’s fun to find ten dollars worth of quarters under your driver’s seat during your seasonal vacuuming session, that doesn’t help you at the drive-thru. If your car doesn’t have enough cubbies, a plastic cup in one of your cup-holders will do the trick.

    •    Clean regularly: It seems self-evident, but many people who are fastidious about the state of their homes neglect their cars. Vacuum floors and seats and wipe down your dashboard and doors at least four times a year. Clean the inside of your windshield at least once a month, so visibility is not impaired.

    •    Practice product consciousness: Since your car is closed up far tighter than your house, the chemicals you use in it or on it will linger longer, and in greater concentration (in fact, I’m sure that part of the light-headedness you experience when test-driving your dream car is due to toxic PVC out-gassing from the dash and upholstery).  Use non-toxic cleaning products on windows, dash, and upholstery. Avoid car air fresheners, even the ones from Yankee Candle and the like: they’re full of chemical fragrances that can aggravate respiratory conditions, and some contain chemicals which are carcinogenic or endocrine-disruptive - in short, they’re no good for you. Stick with petroleum-free fragrance sprays made with natural essential oils. Or, hang an herbal pomander from your rear view mirror.

Your car doesn’t have to be new-car spotless: in fact, very few of us have the time and patience necessary to keep it that way. But an organized car is a safer car, because it allows you to spend more of your time driving.

 

Candita Clayton is the founder of Your Life Organized and author of Clean Your Home Healthy. Visit her online, here.

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