How to Keep Your Car From Becoming a Trash Can on Wheels

If your car has Honey Nut Cheerio-shaped life preservers floating on top of a sea of goldfish crackers, it's time to do something. Between commuting to work, soccer practice, and errands, you and your family spend an incredible amount of time in your car. Before you know it, your car looks like a frat house. Here are a few Hall Honda Virginia Beach tips to help you keep your car from turning into a trash can on wheels.

It sucks ... literally

Get yourself a small vacuum cleaner. Keep it charged and put it in your trunk. You can suck up those crumbs daily without having to drag your big vac out. They're inexpensive and a great way to stay on top of the crumblies.

The trash collector

Keep a trash bag (or ten) handy. You're more likely to pack out your trash if you don't have to make an extra trip inside for supplies. Stash some in the glove box or create a clean-up kit and stuff it under a seat.

Wipes rule

Keep some cleaning wipes on hand. There are wipes for just about any spill you can imagine and a few you'd rather not. Stash a few in the glove box or in your emergency clean-up kit. Remember, the sooner you can clean up the spill the better.

Watch your back

Get some seat back protectors. You can buy very inexpensive plastic seat protectors that will keep the back of your seat from becoming your little one's greatest work yet.

Rules of the road

Set rules. Or at least try. Tell your kids they can take one item per trip and if you take in, you take it out. You can even create special “car toys” that stay in the car in a duffel under the seat.

Junk in your trunk

Take out all the extra clutter, and put what you still need, but don't have to access hourly in the trunk. Eliminating the extra clutter in the car will make cleaning ten times easier. A few collapsible containers in the trunk can give you flexible storage solutions and help you stay organized for any occasion.

Everything in its place

Get a seat-back organizer or caddy. Organizers for juice boxes and books can help keep things from finding their way onto the floor and under your seat.

Guard against spills

Little hands make big messes. Get yourself some spill-proof cups and snack boxes like Snack-Traps. You can't eliminate the rogue animal cracker, but you can limit the mess with these handy little contraptions.

Minty fresh

Keep some toothpaste in your glove box or emergency clean-up kit. Believe it or not, non-gel toothpaste is a great cleaner for lipstick, ink and ketchup.

Repeat performance

The most important part of keeping your car clean is staying on top of it. Like any kind of cleaning, the more often you do it, the better it is. Try to clean your car at the end of each day, or at the very least at the end of the week.