How messy is your car (if you have kids)?

[bookbard]

I feel that cleaning my car could be a full-time ongoing job for someone. 

[Guest]

... FEMA hasn't been called.

 

Yet.

[lispy]

Embarrassingly so.

[wendyroo]

Not.

 

I mean, there is a packed diaper bag intentionally left in there, and you could probably find a cheese stick wrapper or two if you scrounged under the seats, but other than that it is tidy.  In the winter and spring it is still tidy, but it isn't nearly as clean due to the slush and mud tracked in.

 

Wendy

[DesertBlossom]

Every week or two it's one of the kid's jobs to go empty it out amd there's usually a bag of garbage and a basket of odds and ends that need to be broight inside. It doesn't get vacuumed that often though. My kids leave everything in there. Which sometimes means we get to a location and find out someone doesn't have shoes on because they thought they were in the car, but it had been cleaned out. Fun times.

[katilac]

When I had small kids, I used to say it was no worry if our car broke down on a lonely highway - we could live for days on dropped Cheerios and French fries. 

[crazyforlatin]

In the trunk I have everything for outside play: roller skates, skateboard, ripstik, soccer ball, jump rope, basketball, scooter, flippers. The mechanic looked stunned when he had to look back there. Also I have 2 portable car battery chargers and first aid kit. In the back seat, a couple of bags hanging from hooks attached to the seat that holds everything related to being on the swim team. We also eat in the car on our way to anywhere, but I do have a small vacuum cleaner in the front; doesn't work that well but enough to suck up all the crumbs.

[theelfqueen]

Messier than my husband's but tidier than almost all of my friends lol

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[Tap]

My car is not allowed to be messy.  Period.  I am super fussy about my car.  It is my little piece of heaven in an otherwise crazy life.  I hand wash it weekly when I can and it has never been more than a month between baths. IF the dealership washes my car when I get an oil change, they have instructions to chamois it when they are done, or don't wash it at all.    I often spend 2 hours detailing my car. LOL  Detailing my car, is my stress relief, so I do it very, very frequently. LOL 

 

I noticed today that it has a few scraps of paper and a straw wrapper on the floor.  An empty box and return that needs to go to Nordstrom in the back.  It will be clean by noon tomorrow. LOL 

 

 

I drive a 2015 Subaru Outback; red with dark tinted windows, and a black leather interior.Nothing fancy, just a work horse of a car in the PNW. I average 2000 miles per month in my car. We eat and drink in her regularly.  My car isn't babied, but I make sure we leave her clean when we exit. I Love the black interior because it shows every little bit of anything left behind.  It is my second Outback with black. The black encourages me to keep it super clean and it looks soooo pretty when she is all shiny and pristine! 

Edited July 2, 2017 by Tap

[BusyMom5]

We have a strict no food rule in our car. All seats are full of kids, and walkways have to stay clear. Normally my stuff does stay in there, purse, sunglasses, notebook lists, ect. It isn't ckean in a vacuumed out and dusted way, but nit any clutter.

[Guinevere]

Not very.

 

We clean it out once a week or so, but it just gets out of control so quickly.

[Frances]

My son is grown and gone, but we have only one small car and a dog. Between dog hair and the car being used to haul stuff for our home renovation and yard projects, it rarely looks good. But I like it that way. It always stressed me out growing up that our cars had to be impeccably maintained, and I never wanted to live like that. It's one of many reasons why

I will never buy a new car. Just like a house, for me, a car is for living. And being able to comfortably take our dog with us is at the very top of my list of requirements for any car. Although I will admit to enjoying the few days each year that it looks good after being thoroughly cleaned inside and out.

Edited July 2, 2017 by Frances

[Petrichor]

Right now? It's been a bit over a month since I've cleaned it - didn't clean it during Ramadan. It was hot, I was fasting, and didn't want to deal with that. 

 

Usually I clean it out once or twice a month. I vacuum about once a month and before or after long car trips. The area where DS's carseat is is usually pretty messy. He has a cloth garbage bag that hangs from the seat in front of him, but he pulls it down frequently and the area under his feet is, in general, a mess.

 

I keep a bag on the floor under the baby's car seat, to contain all of her toys/gear/extra diapers and clothing.

 

I try to keep only winter/emergency gear in the trunk. There is a blanket because someone is always cold in the car. Also a snow brush/scraper and emergency shovel and a first aid kit. I try to keep some snacks back there too.

 

The front seats are usually clean. Right now, not so much. There's a bit of clutter in the passenger seat footwell. I'm waiting for a cool day to go clean it all out.

[MaeFlowers]

I'm pretty picky about my car but it has been too muddy lately to keep up with it. Luckily, I have those heavy duty mats that protect the carpet and I can wash with a hose.

 

Kids are hard on a car but my Dh is worse. In his defense, he does work out of his car. At least he doesn't deliver pizza.

Edited July 2, 2017 by MaeFlowers

[Carrie12345]

It ebbs and flows.

I know there's a Cheetos bag under the 6yo's seat right now and I have bits of garbage in my center console. I try to ignore the 3rd row, where the teens sit. I'd guess there are a million half-empty water bottles.

 

During the winter, the floor is *covered* in bits of dirt and gravel from the driveway.  We don't track as much in in the non-snowy months, but I also vacuum it out more frequently in the warm weather.

 

During softball/baseball season, my trunk is a joke.

 

But my husband is as bad, if not worse, than the kids.  The other day, he took my car to the mechanic for tires and inspection.  I had to clean out the front seats when he got back.  :huh: HIS car should be condemned, if that was a thing. Which it should be.

[Carrie12345]

My car is not allowed to be messy.  Period.  I am super fussy about my car.  It is my little piece of heaven in an otherwise crazy life.  I hand wash it weekly when I can and it has never been more than a month between baths. IF the dealership washes my car when I get an oil change, they have instructions to chamois it when they are done, or don't wash it at all.    I often spend 2 hours detailing my car. LOL  Detailing my car, is my stress relief, so I do it very, very frequently. LOL 

 

I noticed today that it has a few scraps of paper and a straw wrapper on the floor.  An empty box and return that needs to go to Nordstrom in the back.  It will be clean by noon tomorrow. LOL 

 

 

I drive a 2015 Subaru Outback; red with dark tinted windows, and a black leather interior.Nothing fancy, just a work horse of a car in the PNW. I average 2000 miles per month in my car. We eat and drink in her regularly.  My car isn't babied, but I make sure we leave her clean when we exit. I Love the black interior because it shows every little bit of anything left behind.  It is my second Outback with black. The black encourages me to keep it super clean and it looks soooo pretty when she is all shiny and pristine! 

 

I love my black interior, too!  It really does feel cleaner when it's cleaned than my previous grey interior did.

My exterior is white, and I like the contrast.  I was very consistent with bathing ( :D ) until stubborn scuffs, tar, and bug build up dulled the effect of a basic sudsing.  She's scheduled to get extra attention for that today!

[Ausmumof3]

I'm donating mine to the volunteer fire brigade when we're done with it!

[meganrussell]

Clean. My carpets could be shampooed, but I keep it vacuumed out and wiped down about once weekly. I get trash, books, shoes, etc out everytime we go somewhere. There are pool floaties in the back and a case of water, but that's intentionally left in there.

[Guest]

I'm picky about that, so it's pretty tidy. When my kids were younger, it was a regularly-occurring job for chore lists. I do keep belongings in there that might be needed: first aid, mechanical bag. During sports seasons, I've usually had chairs and a blanket. And when my kids were small, I kept a duffle of necessities in there: a sweatshirt, a towel, diapers, bugspray, sunscreen, a hat, some granola bars and a water bottle. But none of these things were messy and they were all contained.

[Rachel]

It's clean. I vacuum it about every two weeks and we don't allow food in there. The kids will leave junk in the back seat, but they are supposed to take it out whenever we get home. I am definitely the exception among my friends.

 

Our food rule came about when I was throughly vacuuming my husband's new to him at the time truck. I removed all the plastic covers to vacuum underneath and discovered French fries from the previous driver and hundreds of dead maggots. If an adult caused that I couldn't imagine the damage kids would do, so now no food is allowed.

[ktgrok]

Usually trashed. Right now, not horrid just because I kind of cleaned it out the other day looking for my wallet. But there are a few empty plastic cups in there (from me, not the kids...I won't lie), some random clothes, a deflated giant pool toy, dog hair, random paper, probably at least one apple juice box, straw wrappers, napkins, etc etc. 

 

A friend once said her family could live for a week off the random food bits in her suburban (mom of 5). I'm not there right now, but have been before. 

 

But again, my car was messy before I had kids. I can't blame them. I was that kid with the messy desk in elementary, the locker that things fell out of in high school, and the one with the messy car full of random stuff. I often wonder what my life would have been like if I'd ever tried medicating for ADHD. 

[bettyandbob]

Growing up, my parents enforced a pristine car policy.

 

With my dc, when they were small the car did get messy. I would clean it out when it was horrible or before a long road trip.

 

Now my dc are not small now. My car is a terrific mess. I have had three or four jobs at a time for a few years. In one some of my roles I wear uniforms. I have extra uniforms in the car. In some of my roles I am training others or leading certification classes. The back storage is a pile of equipment for that. I often find myself driving from one job to another or one job to kid responsibility (pick up, extra curricular, event). So I eat in the car. I keep a small trash bag and wipes for my hands in the front seat. I try to keep trash (and expense) down by packing my own lunch, but there are still wrappers involved. Anyway, I can claim all the mess.

[MEmama]

Clean.

 

I do keep a bag of grocery bags and first aid supplies at all times, and during racing season I have a box of cycling necessities (tools and so on). In winter I keep a box of cold weather gear--extra mitts, hats, wool socks, hand warmers, a fleece sleeping bag. But all those are contained, never floating loose.

 

Our only really offender is the accumulation of water bottles, but we keep it under control. We do eat in the car, but crumbs aren't an issue with a teen.

[ErinE]

It's not pristine, but better than most primary caregivers I've seen. I clean out the front every time I use it and the back if I have the time. Every time I fill up, missed bits of trash are thrown away and kid stuff is gathered together to be taken in when we get home.

 

I hate food in the car, but I'm in toddler season right now so snack foods sometimes get dropped on the floor boards. A certain person leaves fast food bags in my car (but never in their own) a practice I loathe. The smell of old food after a day or so of decomposition makes me gag. I don't vacuum as often as I'd like to, but I bought a small vacuum and intend to use it weekly.

 

I just throughly wiped out my interior and was disgusted by the condition of the used water. The surfaces were extremely dirty, hidden by the car's gray interior. So wiping down the inside regularly has gone on my to-do list.

 

I try not to judge, but I don't understand mounds of trash in the car. It takes me only a few minutes to walk around and gather all the odds and ends while my car fills up. I once moved someone's car that had the front passenger side filled with trash, floorboards and seat, and the back row floorboards with trash nearly up to the kids' feet dangling from the car seats. After that experience, I made it a habit to at least throw away stuff regularly.

[bluemongoose]

Clean but not on the outside. We live in the country...dirt road. The interior has a stroller, first aid, four dance bags, extra changes of clothes etc etc. But no food or wrappers. We have had a mouse find it's way in and enjoy the food crumbs before... NEVER again! No food allowed!

[SparklyUnicorn]

Needs a vacuum and a few items could go, but at the moment it's not terrible.

 

 

Edited July 2, 2017 by SparklyUnicorn

[Dmmetler]

Right now, pretty awful. We're just ending tadpole season, so mud gets tracked in, and the car is stocked with buckets, nets, sampling gear, snake hooks, and critter keepers. Plus DD uses the car as a closet. When we cleaned it out before the last trip, she had three pairs of shoes in there. And about 12 pairs of socks. Don't ask me how.

[Desert Strawberry]

pretty tidy.

I hit the car wash regularly.

We rarely eat in the car.

I have a trash bag in the back that we use regularly. 

I require the children to empty the van after every trip. 

Sometimes it can get dirty, especially before we found a car wash that we like. 

The outside is always dusty because we live in open desert with no garage. I get annoyed because it looks terrible literally minutes after we leave the car wash. I wash it to keep the hand prints under control. It makes me sad, too, because my van is a pretty , sparkly red, but you can't tell under the dust. 

We do keep a package of diapers, a trash bag, and a few other items in the back seat area. But they are tucked neatly under Luna's seat. Pool floaties, swim bag, stroller, juice boxes, etc, are relegated to the trunk area. 

[Junie]

It depends on who you ask.

 

My kids would say that it's clean.

 

My uncle who was a professional car detailer would not.

[regentrude]

Mine was not messy, even when the kids were little. Mainly because we did not eat in the car. And because we take everything out when we get home, except for the items that I want to live in the car permanently.

 

The floor was not clean; we hike a lot, and my kids rode horses, so there was always some barn hay on the floor mats, or some dried mud. 

Edited July 2, 2017 by regentrude

[Farrar]

Not bad compared to some of my friends. Like, I've seen some crazy messy kid cars.

 

But bad enough that when childless (or people with adult children) get in my car, they look a bit dismayed.

 

Like someone else said, it ebbs and flows. Sometimes it's pretty decent, the mess creeps, we clean, it creeps back, and so on.

[Guest]

It's not. I have lots of gum wrappers in a drawer in the console, but that's on me. I keep a lot of stuff in there in the winter jic we break down, but the kids have to bring anything they put in the car inside when we get home.

 

It's nbd once the kids are over like 6. Before that my car was trashed 100% of. The time.

[Wheres Toto]

Both our cars are pretty bad.  We eat in the car regularly, have water bottles from activities (this seems to bug dh the most - the large quantity of half used water bottles), drink cups, mud, sand, books, papers, toys, pillows.  And that's just in the passenger part.   

, 

Our "new" car has dents and scratches already (a given living around here), has three bags to drop off for donation somewhere in the trunk, but I think that's it since we moved most of the "daily" needs to the larger vehicle.  Usually I drive the smaller car (Honda Accord) but summer time I need to drive the Suburban.

 

The Suburban is 15 years old and it shows.  The mat is the back has bare patches, dh uses it fishing, we go camping, it's a wreck.  Right now the back holds the kids sparring bags for TKD, two kayak paddles, three blow up tubes, a couple fishing rods, a bait bucket, a tackle box, 4 folding chairs, a beach umbrella, a sign for our upcoming 4-H Fair that I have to put up at the lake where we meet, life jackets, and a few other random odds and ends that didn't get taken out after camping.  I did take out the big baggie of "clay" that dd brought back from North Carolina.  

[Carrie12345]

Guys, this thread prompted me to clean out my van's center console. Not only did I discover that the inserts for both compartments and the cup holders are removable for proper washing...

I discovered a whole other storage space!!! I had no idea there was a handle for a slide out compartment from the back seat!

 

I've had this van for 2.5 years.

[KarenC]

Not nearly as bad as when they were younger.  In a few weeks, we will be down to one dc and I expect the car to be even cleaner.

[ktgrok]

My issue is that we do eat in the car a lot. Or get a drink or snack while running lots of errands. I go into the car holding the baby, my diaper bag, maybe a dog leash, and my keys. My hands are full. We get a drink at starbucks or whatever. We get home. My hands are still full from all the stuff I had when I got in the car, but now I have an empty starbucks cup. I end up leaving the cup because I don't have another hand to carry it. Kids are carrying their own empty cup usually, so that's better than it used to be but if they have multiple things to carry something often gets left. My husband doesn't get why it's so much harder for me to keep a car clean than him, but he hardly ever runs errands, and almost never has the kids in his car. He NEVER has to carry a baby into the house...if the baby is with him I am too. So yeah, if it was just me it would be a heck of a lot easier. 

 

I do usually empty things out when I pump gas. 

[BarbecueMom]

Neat but full of crumbs. We eat in there a lot, because we do not eat at restaurants or fast food anymore. My son's baseball fields does not allow outside food and drink (no exceptions, not even allergies), so we bring (healthier) food for the kids and eat in the van before heading to the field. It's easier to bring food to anything we go to >30 minutes away, versus risk having suddenly hungry, cranky kids and no way to feed them. I brought sandwiches, pretzels, and applesauce with us to eat on the way home from peach picking today. It was peaceful, lol.

 

I also let my kids put stickers on the rear side windows. Kind of like a scrapbook of all the free activities and Doctor appointments they've been to. I'm driving it until it dies, so not worried about peeling them off for resale.

[solascriptura]

I have 4, but it's pretty clean. My dh is a neat freak. I also never let any cheese crackers in the car. Our last minivan smelled of constant sour cheese smell because of the goldfish crackers they ate as toddlers.

[Elizabeth86]

Neat but full of crumbs. We eat in there a lot, because we do not eat at restaurants or fast food anymore. My son's baseball fields does not allow outside food and drink (no exceptions, not even allergies), so we bring (healthier) food for the kids and eat in the van before heading to the field. It's easier to bring food to anything we go to >30 minutes away, versus risk having suddenly hungry, cranky kids and no way to feed them. I brought sandwiches, pretzels, and applesauce with us to eat on the way home from peach picking today. It was peaceful, lol.

 

I also let my kids put stickers on the rear side windows. Kind of like a scrapbook of all the free activities and Doctor appointments they've been to. I'm driving it until it dies, so not worried about peeling them off for resale.

Aww I love the sticker idea. My second son takes forever on the potty and he takes the stickers we used as a potty training reward and has stuck them all over the bathroom sink cabinets.

[Hobbes]

Tidy but not terribly clean. One daughter had "clean can" on her weekly job list and she takes it garbage and anything that doesn't belong. She does quite well. I do take thing in during the week as well.

 

Crumbs and bits of dirt, though? Yes. We don't vacuum much.

[EmseB]

I think there might be a hobo living in my van, but haven't shuffled enough papers to confirm.

[MommyLiberty5013]

We do not leave anything in the van - stuff, trash, papers, etc.. We also have the custom fit Weathertech floor mats. 3-4 times per year, I take the van in and get the mats washed and the inside of the car vacuumed with the surfaces wiped down. It is not a detail job so it costs about $25 including tip. We live on a gravel road and dust is a no way to win battle, so we do not do any detailing to the insides of the doors, tracks, or any other places. Aside from the on-going dust issue on the insides of the doors and the dirty floor mats, the car is pretty clean.

Edited July 2, 2017 by MommyLiberty5013

[Garga]

The boys are older now, so it's not bad.  But back in the day, I had to start a once a week tidy of the car.  It wasn't vacuumed or anything, but at least the big stuff was gathered up and taken out (wrappers, etc.) 

 

Every 6 months or so, I'd go (without the kids) to one of those vacuums at the carwash and vacuum everything out.

Edited July 2, 2017 by Garga

[trulycrabby]

I have a teen and a Great Pyrenees Who Must Go With Us Everywhere OMG!!!! Car Ride!!!!! so Dyson, a good back seat cover, window cleaner, and weekly detailing are what I do to cope. :)

[73349]

My car is clean and neat.

 

Thank you for not asking about my house. :leaving:

[LMV]

Our cars are generally clean. Everything (except emergency supplies and a spare diaper bag which live in the cargo holds) comes out of the car when we get home. We vacuum as needed in between having the cars periodically detailed.

[KAM]

I've been picky lately about making everyone get every last thing out of the car (except for a few things we purposely leave there) every time we get home. I spend a ton of time in the car and it makes me much less stressed if it isn't full of stuff. It helps that our car is a little smaller than we need - there just isn't space to let a lot of stuff collect. But I wouldn't define it as clean, at least not as clean as I'd like. I try to vacuum it every week but that only goes so far with two girls who ride horses - it is always full of sand. And I only wipe it down once a month or so because for some reason I just get overwhelmed at the thought of doing it. 

[Tap]

We do not leave anything in the van - stuff, trash, papers, etc.. We also have the custom fit Weathertech floor mats. 3-4 times per year, I take the van in and get the mats washed and the inside of the car vacuumed with the surfaces wiped down. It is not a detail job so it costs about $25 including tip. We live on a gravel road and dust is a no way to win battle, so we do not do any detailing to the insides of the doors, tracks, or any other places. Aside from the on-going dust issue on the insides of the doors and the dirty floor mats, the car is pretty clean.

I have rubber mats too. Subaru brand, but similar to weather tech.

 

The easiest way to clean them for me.....I have a smallish kitchen broom in my garage.  I use a bit of soapy water in a bucket, dip in the broom and use it to sweep/wash them and rinse with a hose. I shake the bulk of the water off.  It doesn't take even 5 minutes of work and they are clean as can be. I dry them outside the car and toss back in in 10 minutes or so.   It is a great chore for a young kid.  Super easy and unless they forget to clean one, you can't really screw it up. LOL 

Edited July 3, 2017 by Tap

[lauraw4321]

I joke that it's our survival plan for the zombie apocalypse. We can live out of it a long time. So long we we aren't too picky about what we eat. :-)

[abacus2]

Ours is tidy at the moment. I successfully kept it clean for a period of about 2 months earlier this year, but I slacked off on making sure every. single. thing. is cleared out of the car every day. When the kids were younger, it was always a disaster. We would clean it out about every 6 months, typically clearing 3 garbage 30 gal bags full of mostly Sunday School papers.