More Budget Friendly Car Hacks

Oct 26, 2022

Save a few dollars on cleaning and detailing with these budget friendly cleaning tips and tricks for your vehicle!

Protect your windshield from wet leaves, frost, ice and snow with a plastic tablecloth! A dollar store or budget buy plastic table cloth can save you a lot of time in the morning. No more rushing around and then walking outside to see a frosted up window or caked on wet leaves filling you with dread. Place the plastic tablecloth over the windshield the night before, and any time where you’ll have it parked at length. You’ll be able to easily slide the plastic cloth off and save the time scraping and brushing by simply shaking it off. Fold it up, place it in your trunk, and you’ll be on your merry way in no time.

Use a cereal keeper container as a lidded trash can for travel! Forget about those hanging fabric garbage cans, or putting a bin/box on the floor that rolls around as you drive. Grab a budget friendly cereal container with a lid at your local dollar store, and line it with a plastic grocery bag. Place it in the backseat of the car and use it to store your trash while you’re on the go. Makes cleaning easier with nothing sticky left on your floor mats or carpets or tipping over on turns.
Remove dead bugs and insect splats with dryer sheets! No need to gather complicated cleansers or soaps or scrubbies to get those stuck-on nasties off your windshield or bumper. Any brand of dryer sheet will do the trick nicely! Rinse your car with clean water, then grab the damp dryer sheet and simply wipe them away. Rinse with water again and you’re good to go!

Remove rust with a bottle of Coca Cola and a bit of foil! This soda’s notoriously acidic properties may not be so great on your insides, but they’ll do wonders for your vehicle’s outsides. If you’ve got rust spots on your bumper or other metallic accents on the body, consider a bottle of Coke and a piece of foil for an easy budget friendly hack. Pour the soda on the rust spot, and gently scrub it with some aluminum foil folded over 3 to 4 times into layers. You’ll notice the rust will begin to flake off! Once it does, you can switch off to a gentle dish sponge. When the rust is removed, grab some gentle soap and clean water and rinse off the sticky pop and remaining debris.

Protect your cup holders from sticky mess and melted drinks with cupcake liners. Your local grocery store or dollar store probably sells multipacks of these convenient cupcake and muffin tin liners for a low price! Place a silicone cupcake liner into the bottom of each of your cup holders, and when they get sticky or dirty you can swap them out and pop them out for clean ones, and put the dirty ones in with the dishes. Easy peasy! It’s also great for easily accessing change for tolls or vending machines or air-pumps in a jiffy.

Use hand sanitizer as a budget-friendly de-icer for locks and doors! A small can of deicer is a great thing to keep in your bag, backpack, briefcase, or emergency kit, but if you’ve not got one this everyday household item will get it done! Squirt the hand sanitizer into your lock, push the key in and out and turn it gently. Within a few moments, the ice should be melted and you should be able to turn and open the lock! Just use caution, this shouldn’t be a repetitive hack as the sticky cleansers can jam your locks over time and require them to be cleaned, but in an emergency or occasional pinch, it will work wonders. You can also create your own deicer in a pinch with a spray bottle, ⅓ water, and 2/3 70% isopropyl alcohol – shake to mix well and spray into the lock or door and in a few moments it should be free of ice!