Get Your Car Interior Clean, Keep it Organized

One question I keep hearing from readers is how can you get your car interior clean and keep it organized without spending a lot of money. It's a great question, too, because detail cleaning can be expensive and few people have the spare hour or half it takes to do the job themselves.

After all, let's face it: unless you are very fortunate, you spend far too much of your time in your car, truck, or SUV on your way to or from work, clients, school, or waiting for kids to finish a game or practice. The result, unless you are also very careful, can be a car interior that looks less than spiffy.

The problem isn't always short term either. A failure to maintain a good car interior is apt to cost you in resale value down the road. Once you begin to let the auto interior fall into disarray, the more likely the situation will turn permanent. At the same time, you may feel embarrassed to have clients, co-workers, friends, or family see even the occasional fast food wrapper or a pile of assorted matter laid out in the back seat.

But, embarrassed or not, our cars are becoming secondary storage. A recent study showed that the average American driver sometimes carries in excess of twenty extra pounds - and some far more - of everything from spare clothing or dry cleaning to toys, CDs and DVDs, work gear, and junk they simply don't know where else to place. Extra weight in a car always translates into reduced gas mileage. The more you lug around in the passenger compartment or trunk, the more fuel you waste. Who wants that?

However, you may not be able to part with everything you currently store in your vehicle. For example, there are some items you feel obligated to carry around because you may need them when you are away from your home or office. Other things are just more convenient to stash in the trunk or back seat even though the more you store there, the harder it becomes to clean around the chaos.

Here are some tips for getting your car interior both clean and better organized. You can mix-and-match suggestions according to your particular situation and your budget.