Spring Clean Your Ford With These Easy Tips!

Spring cleaning is an important annual ritual, without which your home would never get the deep clean it so badly deserves. But why stop with your house. Your car needs just as much TLC, and yet most Ford owners only break out the vacuum sporadically, if at all.

In this post, let’s go over some of the basics for Spring Cleaning your Ford car. Be warned: this isn’t just about driving your car through a car wash. Be ready to roll up your sleeves, put on your least favourite pair of jeans and set aside an evening this spring to get it done. Whether you’ve owned your Ford for years, or you’re planning to get a new Mustang GT this summer it’s good practice to keep things clean – let’s take a look.

Interior

Start With the Trash

Before you can tackle the finer bits of dust and dirt, gather all the big pieces of garbage that have accumulated on the car floor. Don’t worry, everyone has them: those old debit receipts, napkins, coins, etc., that magically wind up on the floor. Tackle those first.

Dust & Vacuum, Starting From the Top

Working with both a duster and a vacuum at the same time, start from the top of the car and move down, making sure to suck up any dust that’s formed in the AC vents, crevices, dashboard, cup holders and elsewhere.

Clean the Carpet and Upholstery

For the upholstery, be mindful of the material; if you have leather, it’s best to go with a leather-specific cleaner, whereas if it’s synthetic or fabric, you get away with an all-purpose cleaner. Remove the mats, cleaning them with either soapy water or even shampoo, and then tackle the floor underneath.

Exterior

Start Late in the Day

Washing your car with cold, lukewarm or even warm water during the hottest part of the day, when your car’s exterior has been heating in the sun, will be quite the shock for it. It could even crack the paint. To avoid that, either start your exterior clean late in the day, when the weather is cooler, or find a shaded or enclosed spot.

Work Top Down With a Commercial Car Soap

As with the interior, it’s best to start at the top and work your way down, that way the sudsy water running down doesn’t affect an already clean spot. Use terrycloth or some other non-abrasive material and, for best results, go with a commercial car soap, which are readily available at just about every hardware store.

Wax On

You don’t have to do it quite like Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid, but a little wax or sealer at the end of the cleaning process can really make the paint pop, and protect your car against the elements. Here is a list of some of the best commercial car waxes readily available – you can’t go wrong with any of these products.

What comes out the other side of this spring clean will be a totally new Ford, one that you’ll be proud to drive around. All it takes is a day, and you’ll be ready to drive into the summer!