Should The Car Be Cleaned Before a Long Trip or After?

Always before a long trip I like to give the car a good clean and wash, but then while on the trip I wonder why I bothered because it ends up being filled with rubbish from chip packets, lolly wrappers, sand from who knows where and clothes scatted throughout. And always there is an apple core, and I don't remember seeing anyone eat an apple.

This time instead of cleaning the car before the trip I decided to leave it in its messy state (which wasn't really that messy for once), and wait until we had returned home. This saved me cleaning the car twice! Thank goodness for the long weekend, I didn't have to tackle it the next day but had a rest day and then on the public holiday sent my little soldiers off to work. (My kids)!

Firstly I got them to completely remove every toy, book, clothing and other usable object and put them in their correct place, not just thrown in the back door where I would have to then pick it up and put it away. No! They had to put it in the toy box, bookshelf or laundry, wherever it's living space was. Once this task was complete I handed them a garbage bag and like little vacuums they picked up every piece of rubbish that was left on the floor. There is something about kids and picking up rubbish off the floor of a car, they seem to be able to reach into tight places and spaces that I just can't get to. They are perfect for the job!

I have a 14 seater van so they are very easy to clean with their vinyl floors. So after every piece of rubbish has been removed I give the oldest one the task of sweeping it out. And the next in line gets the job of mopping the floor, he seems to like mopping so this comes in very handy (wink, wink). I am surprised how clean the van looks when they have completed this task. I allow them to have a break, like a good boss should and then I remove the car from the shed and put it in place to be washed on the grass.

By this time I can hear some moaning and groaning coming from the crowd but I must not back down, stay strong, I reassure them how much fun it is to wash the car and they can wet each other with the hose. So I fill the bucket with soapy water and ready the hose. I hear a few arguments over who is going to do what so I make sure I have enough rags for each one and a couple of window squeegee's to share. 

Because the van is so high and to save the hassle of getting up and down a ladder to reach the very top I came up with a brilliant idea of using a hair mop to reach the top and it makes the job so much easier and cleans it beautifully. So I get the oldest one on to the mop. You could use any type of mop but I find the long hair mop does a fine job and it is not very expensive either. 

So one squirts the car with the hose, which also has a fertiliser sprayer bottle attached filled with soap so when squirting the water soap is dispensed at the same time. It also has a dial on it which regulates how much soap is dispensed. One mops the car starting from the top and working their way down and two have squeegee's for the windows and the little worker bees have their cloths to wash the lower parts of the van. It is like a production line.

Once the job is done they are all very proud of their hard work and the clean car, and this always deserves a treat!