By now, you should have learned that washing your hands regularly and cleaning your house with disinfectant is effective to protect yourself against the deadly coronavirus. But what about the inside of your car?

While most surfaces in your home are very durable and can withstand a variety of cleaning and disinfection solutions, the interior of your valuable vehicle is much more fragile. Nevertheless, it has to be cleaned frequently, since the coronavirus can
survive on surfaces up to five days or, according to many sources, nine days.

Not all household cleaners can clean the vehicle interior thoroughly without damaging the surfaces. In addition, there are tips you need to follow to get the job done effectively and safely without damaging the upholstery. Read on to learn more about what products you use and how to disinfect the interior of your car to protect yourself from this deadly outbreak.
Why you need to disinfect your car regularly

Even if the only people who have been in your car recently are the people you live with, there is a very high possibility that you have come into contact with infected surfaces and in turn transferred the virus to your car.

There is solid evidence that the coronavirus can survive on surfaces from four to nine days. They last the longest on ultra-smooth, non-porous materials such as glass and stainless steel.

Therefore, for example, you should wash your hands and then clean frequently touched surfaces in your car, including the steering wheel, door handles, gear lever, buttons or touch screens, wiper and indicator lights, passenger and armrests, grab handles and seat adjusters for the driver's door.

Since the interior of most cars is made of different materials, it is important to use the right products and techniques to properly disinfect your vehicle

Areas that requires extreme attention

Consumer Reports recommends that you focus on the disinfection of these most frequently touched hot spots: steering wheel, door handles inside and outside, gear lever in your car, all window and control knobs, wiper and indicator lights, door armrests, grab handles and seat adjusters.

Most people only clean their interior once a year, such a habit can lead to terrible consequences in the case of this super-spreadable virus.

Cleaning solutions to avoid

The general rule is not to use bleach or hydrogen peroxide on the inside of your car. While both corona viruses can kill surfaces, they damage your car's upholstery.

Another cleaning solution to avoid is the use of ammonia-based cleaners on car touchscreens, as these can damage the anti-glare and fingerprint coatings. Ammonia is contained in the "blue glass cleaners". The ammonia decomposes the vinyl on the dashboard and makes it sticky when exposed to heat and light.
What you can use to disinfect your vehicle interior

Microfiber fabric
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It is recommended to clean all surfaces with a microfiber cloth, regardless of the type of cleaning solutions you choose. Microfiber cloth is made of fabric made up of tiny little loops that effectively catch and sweep away dirt and dust particles before they can scratch sensitive or shiny plastic surfaces.
Conversely, if you use paper towels or a rough cloth, dirt and debris will scratch the surfaces, much like sandpaper.

Rub alcohol

With commercially available hand soap, bath soap, disinfectant spray and towels out of stock in many supermarkets and stores, you may have learned that the next thing people try to get their hands on is rubbing alcohol.

It is the cleaner most commonly used by manufacturers of most vehicle interiors today. A quick wipe is sufficient to clean most germs and fingerprints.This means that almost every interior surface of your car can be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol-based detergents that you are likely already using at home.

The good news is that most automotive leather and synthetic leather have urethane coatings for protection that can be safely cleaned with alcohol.

Although the use of alcohol to disinfect your vehicle interior during the outbreak is simple and inexpensive, it is not regularly recommended in the long run. Note that most leathers are dyed. Therefore, if you regularly clean the leather with alcohol and / or clean it too thoroughly over time, it can become susceptible to damage and discoloration and looks prematurely worn out.

Normal soap

Vigorous washing with soap and water can also kill a coronavirus. This is because coronaviruses are surrounded by a protective shell that facilitates infection of other cells, without which they cannot survive. Normal soaps can damage this envelope and effectively defuse it.

Soap and water are also safe for most car interiors, especially fabrics and older leather, which you don't have to bother to maintain. Just be careful not to scrub too hard, as with all other cleaning solutions. No matter what you use, a gentle touch is recommended.

If your car is covered with fabric, cleaning with too much water or too much soap will result in too much foam. Since you cannot completely disassemble the inner part and let it run under running water, the foam stays there forever and shapes annoying, ugly spots here and there.

If you soak through the fabric to the pillow underneath, you'll also have to deal with the persistent musty smell, or worse, mold can grow inside the pillow. Instead, with fabric upholstery, you should only stir the fabric lightly with a small amount of water and detergent and work slowly.

FINAL WORDS

It is not recommended to keep a large pump bottle of hand sanitizer in your car. The build-up of heat in a moving car can cause the alcohol in the disinfectant to "boil", causing the disinfectant bottle to expand. This can lead to leaks and a mess that you need to fix, not to mention a huge waste of disinfectant, a scarce and valuable resource right now. It is better to have a medium-sized bottle in your pocket than to leave it in the car.
Source:
https://www.eliancars.com/2020/03/coronavirus-best-ways-to-kill.html
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Use your heater on for 30 minutes b4 driving on daily