I don’t think about it very much…until someone else rides in our van with us. THAT is when I realize that there are muffin crumbs, little rocks, a few papers from the boys’ Bible classes, a fruit leather wrapperand a little lego head on my van floor. And that’s on a good day.
I WISH I were better at managing the messiness inside our vehicles. On the other hand, I have so many other things to do that cleaning the inside (or outside for that matter) of our van is really a low priority for me. Therefore, I don’t think about it very much until someone hops in for a ride. Suddenly my van interior gets a whole lot filthier in my eyes.
Aah, and the other day I got into Matt’s truck because we had traded vehicles for some reason. Once I adjusted the seat so that I could reach the pedals, I looked up and was shocked to see that a bunch of birds seemed to have recently had a big poop fest all over his windshield. Yowza!
Anyhoo…I know that others are much more concerned than we are about the cleanliness inside (and outside) of their vehicles. While ours aren’t trash cans…neither are they what anyone would consider clean. I NEED to send our boys out there with our very powerful vacuum…and yet I never seem to remember. I guess as long as we can see out of our windshields, we really don’t care that much about taking time to clean our vehicles. (Which means, of course, that we did remove the evidence of the bird splatter competition.)
My question for you today is….
Are you good at keeping the insides of your vehicles clean? Do you have them detailed? Or are you like us and have vehicles that allow you to write notes to each other in the dust on the dashboard?
Okay…it’s really not that bad.
ehem
Maria says
From the way you described yours, mine still looks worse, lol. But oh well, I have 2 3yr old boys and a 10 month old girl and life happens, I have more important things to do than keep my van spotless
Tracy says
Great timing. :) I noticed the same thing about our van a few days ago. The contents are slightly different (matchbox cars, apple core, bread crumbs from sandwiches on our road trip, etc.), but our van situation sounds very similar. I even inserted “empty and clean van” on my cleaning schedule for every Thursday, but good intentions is as far as it’s taken me. Glad I’m not the only one!
ShellySinWI says
We have six children (one college-age daughter and 5 boys ages 8 and under) and we manage to keep our van/car pretty clean. People are always shocked when we give them a ride. I think they expect people with lots of kids to have a car full of junk!
We always take stuff out whenever we get home… many hands make light work. We also have trash containers handy. Garbage goes in the trash container and the rest comes back into the house. The stuff we leave in the car (emergency supplies, jumper cables, blanket, etc.) are in a crate in the back of the van.
Sheila says
My addiction to cleaning is helped by the free vacuums at a local gas station and I get those crumbs out each time I fill up.
Erin says
My van gets really bad too. We usually end up with a mix of kids clothes and shoes, food crumbs, and my hubby’s Aztec gear from performances. We just emptied it the other day. Still need to get a vacuum to it.
Laura @ Homemaking Joyfully says
I can’t stand for my van to be cluttered. My kids are required to bring in anything that doesn’t permanently stay in the van each time they get out. BUT the food particles, sand, rocks, etc. don’t get cleaned out very often. So, while my van is neat and tidy, the floors and under the carseats are NOT. I did vacuum it out 2 weeks ago because I just could not stand it any more. But that only happens every few months – definitely not often enough.
Amber says
I have 3 boys 7, 4, and 18 mos old. We (including myself) eat in the car all the time. I could never go anywhere if we didn’t (I eat about every 2-3 hours- as do my children). SO needless to say food is spilled all over. Then you add the papers, pencils, crayons, toys, wrappers… I make everyone take ‘their’ stuff in, but sometimes they fall asleep, things happen and the mess piles up.
MY PLAN: I have a standing ‘date’ with my car on the first weekend of each month. I wipe it down, vacuum thoroughly, change out extra clothes etc and in general tidy up. It works for me. The outside of my car? I let the rain take care of that…
Courtney says
Oh, mine is always bad. I really have no idea how my kids manage to produce so many crumbs! My dad gets my car detailed every year for my birthday – and I always swear that this time, we’re going to keep the car looking nice and neat – but a week later, it is just as grungy again. Sigh…
Laura E says
Let’s just say I once gave a card to a friend which said “thanks for being my friend in spite of all the crap I have to clean out of the front seat every time you ride in my car.” :-P
Danielle says
LOL— sounds like me when I was single.
We keep our SVU and cars clean… but I do need to go out and clean it out from our trip to the beach! Last week! We keep our SVU free from food–unless on a road trip and ONLY then we keep grocery bags for such use to dispose of crusts, cores, baggies, straws etc.
Brianah says
Our two rather small cars are usually pretty messy. One way I have solved this problem, in my car at least, is by putting two reusable grocery bags over the headrests. They hang over the headrests of the front two seats (so they are acutally hanging down the backs of the seats). I used two that were too small or impractical for shopping. One is for trash and the other is for car toys for my son. It keeps my car pretty clean, works WONDERFULLY on car trips, and once the trash bag is full I just dump it into a bag on the way to the trash cans.
This reminds me that I need to try something similar in my husbands car…his is a real mess on the inside!
elizabeth says
wow this is a great idea! Love it!
Tina says
I make it part of my boys’ weekly chores. They’re the ones making 99% of the mess anyway, so I figure they can be responsible for keeping it clean. They fight over who gets to use the shop vac. :)
Tahlia says
Haha! There are eleven kids in our family, and we only clean the van before we leave on vacation (once a year), which is kind of pointless ’cause we’ll just get it messy on the way up.
We also find it funny that when we send the van in for inspection/repairs, the mechanics put a mat on the floor ‘so that we won’t mess up your car floor’ …when their shoes are probably cleaner than the van floor!
Hezzie says
Our kids are 5 and 7 and my husband refuses to let them eat in the car, so food mess is next-to-nothing. Papers and small toys are usually the problem. It’s easy to pick up the chunks of paper and books, our trouble begins with the sand and dirt and (literally) dust the seem to coat the inside of the car. I don’t vacuum nearly enough.
And how DO you get the fingerprints of the inside of the back window?! I can never seem to get back there with the paper towel and windex!
Danielle says
that’s a rule in our cars/SVU. Do NOT put your hands on the windows, or back window. Try a Mr Clean Magic Eraser! (no odor, just wet w/water) They are the BEST thing, and work!
Coachmom says
I have the same problem. I am guilty as charged. My husbands car is also so neat as he hardly ever rides the kids and does not allow them to eat in his car. Mine is the taxi service and collects all kinds of things. Every so often I let the dogs in the car and they clean up the crumbs. But its the crumbs, pencils, paper that hide under the seat or in the cracks that seem to evade me. AS much as I try, it is not a priority unless I do plan on carrying others and then it is a massive clean-up. SIGH! I do have to try and do better..thanks for letting me know I am not the only one in this world.. I had a good laugh at myself reading this.
Hunie says
My vehicle is a mess and it is always a mess….Lately, I have been keeping a trash bag in there just so I can throw my trash out every week….such a mess.
jerilyn says
It’s on my list of things to do today… but chances are I won’t get there!
We don’t get them detailed– too much money. Every once and a while I’ll vacuum it out. I just try to keep it free of trash and stuff.
I want to say that if we didn’t leave in a 2nd story apartment and I didn’t always have my hands full with my children, then we would have a clean car… but I know that even if we had a garage attached to the house, I still wouldn’t carry in all that was in the car!
Emily says
How funny you posted this, as “Clean the Van” was on my To-do list for today! This is one area where I really struggle. We have 3 kids, ages 7 and under, and our van is usually a huge mess! The biggest issue for us is our kids bringing stuff (toys, rocks, church papers) and then leaving them… I always feel like we are in a hurry- either its lunch time, naptime, bedtime, or whatever- and I just want everyone to get in the house quickly- but I really need to do better at just taking a few minutes to make sure everything is cleared out EACH time so it doesn’t get so out of control! I am thinking I might get each kid a small bag to carry everytime we go somewhere so their stuff will be contained better… and maybe a mid-week thorough pick up (after grocery shopping Wed) might help too.
Wendy says
A couple of weeks ago I brought some of my son’s friends bowling for his birthday. Even though I had my boys clean out the Suburban before we went, one of his friends found “some purple stuff” in the back and proceeded to taste it! I was so embarrassed!
Kadee says
I have boys ages 3, 5, and 7. Our family of 5 could probably live off the crumbs in the van for a day or two, which I don’t understand because the kids rarely eat in the car. I guess they are just very messy when they do! The windows by my 3 yr old are covered in fingerprints. Legos, cars, rocks, socks, and books can be found under the seats. We usually do clean it out about once a month, but it takes less than a day to look trashed again!
Charlotte Moore says
That is a real issue with me. I can’t stand a dirty car inside or out. They just drive better clean and full of gas. I have no children at home, but when we did and with grandkids I was the same. I took a teacher’s kid home from school one day as his mom had just had a baby. He looked around in my car and said, “your car isn’t trashed like most peoples I ride in.” I was proud of that.
Kris Mays says
NOPE. In fact, it is embarrasing. Right now their are two bike helments, a scooter, a jackets, water bottles and some trash onteh floor of our van. Come to think of it, the kids were supposed to clean that out yesterday….hmmm.
OH! And I almost forgot, there are 5 cases of canning jars out there, too. I stocked up yesterday and they never got unloaded.
Better move those before soccer this morning!
Kris
Linda says
It’s low priority for me too. I try to pick up what I can when we get out of the car, but it still has stuff in it that it shouldn’t. My almost 5 yr old son is what we call ‘a walking mess’. So, needless to say, his side of the back seat is a mess most of the time. I do use the waiting in the pick up line at the school time to pick up trash and vacuum sometimes, but detailing……HA! Maybe one day! I feel like it’s a waste of money when it looks the same a few days later. Kind of like how I feel about mopping the kitchen floor……
Linda
Christi says
I had a neat car B.C. (before children). Now I can’t seem to keep it up and it bugs me to death. I did do a major overhaul on it last night, but I hadn’t done that since late June!! We don’t eat in the car very often, but there always seem to be a thousand crumbs, leaf particles, sand, whatever in the carpet. My girls also just drop and leave things all the time. I try to make sure everything is taken out of the car each time we get out, but unless I micro-manage them it doesn’t always get done.
Jessica Nunemaker says
Having a clean car just isn’t a priority.
We don’t really have to use our car unless we are taking a little Indiana trip but I’ve learned to live with the ever-present smell of Cheerios. ;)
Angel B says
My tip is to keep empty trash bags in the can then when I am waiting in car line I fill it up. I also keep an empty diaper bag to put in stuff that goes back in the house. While in car line if there is a garbage there I leave the trash there otherwize I bring in both bags when I get home. I usually vaccuume once a month at the car wash.
Beth McMillan says
We’ve had our van for 3 years and we talked about getting it detailed, rugs shampooed every year,but we hadn’t until now. We have 3 children 15,11, and 7 and are in the van many hours during the week. We paid $125 to get it detailed inside and cleaned/waxed on the outside last week and it’s the best money I spent!! It makes me happy to ride in a clean vehicle. They say that you are either a woman who loves to cook or clean. I like to cook and cleaning my house is enough for me. It was a treat to have someone else clean my dirty van!
Linda says
I have the major stuff usually picked up but right now I have my sons shopping cart cloth thing, two pairs of my husbands pants that need to be dropped off at the alterations place, our clear tub first aid kit, and a box of tissue. The rest comes in when we get out. I would like to have it vacuumed out more often but since I am the one that does it…it doesn’t happened as much, but it still isn’t really bad. I love a clean vehicle inside…not so much about the outside…Just ran through a muddy pot hole the other day…it will get washed off soon! We have a trash thing that attaches to the back of the seat…my husband or I empty it when it get full…
Carrie Beth says
I love that you shared this! I teach at a half day school for homeschoolers (sounds strange, I know!) and we eat our bfast and lunch in the car on the way there and home…needless to say that even though I clean out our meal leftovers each day, things get messy inside. We have a 9 year old van and are saving for a new car and honestly, there are days when I dread a new one simply because I do not have to worry about our old one staying pristine :)! I sometimes say that I have the ministry of imperfection…and even though that is humbling, sometimes that is just what someone else needs- thanks for sharing :).
Christine says
Hubby is a clean car fanatic! Our 10-year old son vacuums the cars out each week as one of his regular chores. We had him cleaning the windows as well, but they seemed to look worse when he was done. So, husband takes it for a $5 wash whenever we start to lean up against the car and find our clothes dirty, and son cleans it out regularly.
Karen says
There are more important things in life, but it is an excellent opportunity for children to learn cleaning skills. If they don’t get it all, at least it is better than it was! Sometimes I hire one of mine to do some jobs like that for me!
Tara says
Every Saturday my husband cleans the inside and outside of my car. At first it drove me crazy because I thought it would be better to be inside the house spending time with me. Then I realized his love language is acts of service, and he is doing this because he loves me. I even have girlfriends that comment on how wonderful my vehicle looks thanks to my hubby. (BTW I have 3 kids under 4 riding it in all the time.)
Elly says
Well, I like a clean car, and I have a trash can tucked neatly between the front bucket seats and the next row bucket seats. We have a rule that it gets emptied in the big trash can in the garage when it gets full. There is a no eating rule in the car, and there is a car cleaning station attached to the wall of the garage.
As I assessed my van today I see the trash can is full, there are food wrappers in the trash, and there is plenty of gravel and dirt on the carpet as we live in the country.
So much for all those rules!!!!
It gets cleaned out and vac, about 4 times a year when I get that free moment and have a “screaming mom” attack when the trash can is running over.
Kim says
This is so true of our van as well! As a matter of fact one day last week, I finally took the van to one of those automated car washes at the gas stations (at the bidding and begging of all 5 of our kids – #6 would have too, if he weren’t but 6mos old! LOL!!!). They loved it but the funny part was, it had been raining for days before and was still sprinkling that day, but I digress! LOL! Before that day, it had been at least 3 months since my poor van had been washed and there were signs all over my back windshield saying “please wash me” thanks to a few children, who shall remain nameless eh, hem! LOL Oh but the inside still has french fries and Sunday school papers, and all sorts of interesting things that could be used as a science project, I’m sure. We’ll get to the inside another day, when all the papers and clutter start to take over again. Maybe one day I’ll have a nice, shiny, clean van …all in the same day! LOL!
Thanks so much for this article and making me feel not so bad, for having a cluttered and a little dirty (but not filthy) ride.
Tracy Moore says
We have 4 boys and are very active…we have a messy van too! I keep hoping after fall baseball season and tennis I’ll have time to clean it. I’ll never forget the time when my 2nd was under 4 and we had just returned from an out of state funeral. Okay, well it was a week later and we were finally cleaning the van out. We’d eaten at a fast food joint on the way out of town when the above mentioned son found the remains of his hamburger wrapped up in one of the little pockets behind the seat. He proceeded to begin to eat the burger. Thankfully he was spotted by his older brother who told on him. He cried when we took it away. Unbelievably, he did not get sick!!! Makes you wonder what is really in those burgers…
Yvonna says
Yeah! I’m not the only one. I think our SUV has 4 folding chairs,3 blankets,a pair of kids shorts,3 kleenx boxes,jumper cables,straps for hauling stuff or something that we haven’t done since the day we had to buy them, in 2008 I think.There was one of boys coats out there but cool enough today he put it on.We do have a Wal-Mart sack full of sacks for toys,trash, misc. trash.I also like hanging them from headrest especially if going anywhere more than a 30-45 minute drive(boys like to put them on, but to get them out is a chore).As for the windows, if I can see out of them that means they are not that dirty yet and as for the finger prints, I think they have better prints than the cards we made in case of emergencies.Our normal is rocks,cars,misc. coats,jackets & clothes,trash,books,pens,pencils,paper,kids song book…. Today I made boys 8 & 9 bag up trash.I was surprised that there was just one reg. sized wal-mart sack,But then again hubby and I cleaned out because it have to go into shop.Would have vacuumed,but its not going anywhere.If it does it can take the dirt & birds 3-D shots to SUV too(wish they had better aim I could wash the windshield)!I guess cleaning it out doesn’t happen to be top priority like:trying to make sure boys don’t climb trees(to high),do bike tricks that they won’t loose their teeth or hurt other anatomy.Not sneak all 6 cats into their bedroom under their blankets during the day,so they can be in for night.Hugs,kisses,snuggling & reading time.I feel so lucky they still love being mommy’s little boys. :D
Celena says
We like our cars clean too. While I do let my 19 month old eat in the car, it’s only foods that don’t make a huge mess. I used to clean my car out about twice a month (armor all, vacuum, windows, etc) but after I got married he wanted to take over that task. So (even though I enjoy it) I let him. He still does it, and now that I’m so much busier with other things I’m even more thankful he does.
Ariana says
When I was young I used to look down upon folks who kept messy cars and said I would always have a clean car. And then I had kids… :)
Jackie Wiles says
We were very, very blessed to have our van given to us as a gift five years ago. If you were to look at it today you would think it was still brand new. My husband has taught this “messie middle child mom” to be a wise steward of such a generous gift. We have a no food/drink (other then water) policy and with three children we have stuck to it. (for the most part!) (: It’s funny how our generation thinks we need to be on the run constantly and eat on the go. My mom brought that to my attention once…do we really think we can’t go 25 mins without eating? (: Our van has to last us until the wheels fall off so I’m doing my best to take care of it. The funny thing is it really doesn’t take but a few minutes to suck it out and spray the grime off! I just have to add it to the list of things to do! (:
carla says
Funny timing….I volunteered to take a friends daughter to a soccer game Saturday and as soon as the words came out of my mouth my thought was “Oh great….I guess we have to hurry and clean the van out!”. Our is like yours sounds….not terribly nasty, but used to haul 4 kids around to church, soccer, baseball, and other events. We play and eat in it and everytime we leave my daughter feels the need to take her life with her. But, I like you am okay with the messiness (as long as we aren’t taking others with us!)lol!
Cathie says
My car is embarrassingly messy. When we go to soccer games, or to church, I make sure my son closes the door quickly. We deliver newspapers, and my husband is a salesman. Everytime I get out of the car I take something in the house with me, but no matter how hard I try, I can not train my husband to do the same. My son has Legos, videos, DSi games, etc., and there are always sleeves of newspaper bags all over the place. I also tried to keep everything contained in a cart, but that only works as long as I’m driving. It’s maddening. I admit, I’m not overly concerned with the outside of the car, though.
Julia says
This cracked me up! It was like I was reading something I would say…exactly what I would say. I often after riding around in the filth think to myself, “I will get the kids to come out and clean this after…” Needless to say after (fill in the blank) it is so far out of my mind it is as though it never even crossed my mind! My only inspiration (and this will sound terrible) is when I know I will be seeing my sis-in-law. She is one of those with the perfectly clean house, perfectly clean car, perfect kind of life. (Note she does hire a housekeeper…that keeps my jealousy as bay). For some reason the idea of her seeing my car in shambles just doesn’t sit well with me and so only then do I find myself with a vacuum in hand and a trash bag full of trash and an armful of toys that need to be returned to the house…which usually end up in the floor awaiting my next inspiration–the day the sis-in-law comes to the house!
Abbigail Gutierrez says
My van is like this too. I have far to much going on in my home that it overrides my van.
Cathy says
I’m slightly obsessed with having a clean and tidy house. However, this obsession does not extend to my car. I’m so embarrassed by it most of the time. Sometimes it’s just clutter from toddler toys, but we do eat in the car a lot especially when we travel (about once a month) so that makes things worse. I really need to clean it out this week since hubs is giving a friend a ride over the weekend!
Lanna says
My car has crumbs in it (yeah, I let them eat certain snacks in the car – when my timing’s off, it happens), random diaper bag and snack paraphernalia, a tissue box (always! comes in so handy!), and my 7yo practices his writing/artistic ability on the back end of the van. I call it part of homeschooling. ;)
I don’t clean out the van for friends – they’ve seen my house and know my situation, but for the transmission guy? Hubby whips out the ShopVac quicker than you can blink.