Works For Me: Car Cleaning

Does the floor of anyone else's car look an explosion at a french fry factory?  Mine is scary.

So here's my little WFMW tip for the day:  I keep a stash of empty grocery sacks in my car, so that when I'm in the car waiting for a child at the dentist, or karate, or soccer, etc., I can use the time to quickly gather up the trash and dump it in the nearest trash bin.  I also keep a bottle of fabric freshener (this stuff is my favorite) in the car, so I can hose down gently spray my otherwise rancid aromatic vehicle.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: 

At the request of many of you, next week (November 15) we will be having a "themed" Works-For-Me Wednesday...the Christmas Edition!  Please be thinking ahead about some Christmas-related tips you can share.  Time savers?  Gift ideas?  Recipes?  Anything that makes the holidays easier would be great.

Want to share your helpful tip with Bloggityville?  Leave a link below.  First-timers, please read through the guidelines here before posting.

*REMEMBER:  Please keep your parenthetical description SHORT--no more than three words!  If not, it could mess up the way Mr. Linky displays it below and make it hard for us all to read.  Thanks!

Comments

[Overwhelmed!]

Is it true? Did I really get the #1 spot on this week's WFMW? Wow! That's never happened to me before. :)

I really need to use your tips because my car is always looking like a bomb exploded inside of it!

Thanks for sharing.

[the other Sarah]

My car is horrible right now. I have a stash of grocery bags in the backseat waiting to get dropped off for recycling....perhaps I will keep a few of them and put them to good use!

[Tammy L]

Having a clean car is a real challenge for me! I need to keep a stash of grocery sacks in mine :D Thanks for the tip! :)

[Kathryn, The DYM]

I'm a big fan of the grocery sacks in the car but I think we're out righ tnow. Good reminder.

[Barbara H.]

Good idea. I've been meaning for days now to take a bag out to gather up trash in the car, but forget once I get into the house.

[Tammy L]

Oh, I just noticed you added the note about long descriptions beside names... now I feel bad! Feel free to edit mine or whatever... I will make it shorter in the future! I'm sorry! :)

[Mienek]

Good idea. I must start storing a stash in the car!

[Robyn Tippins]

Thanks for doing this. These tips were fab!

[Kelley]

We do this too! My almost 4 year old has finally gotten into the habit of doing car clean-up while I get her baby sister out of her carseat.

[Homeschool Mama]

So simple, yet, it might work! Thanks for the idea. I like to yell and threaten the kids when I want them to bring in their leftover food from 3 days ago (not that it works-and I don't climb in the back of the suburban often!). I bet your idea would work better. :o)

[Norma]

I keep bags in the car too. Forget to empty them. I also have taken to keeping a small inexpensive piece of luggage with wheels and handle to drag books back to the library.

[LammyAnn]

Great idea bout the Christmas theme next time! :)
I'll put on my thinking cap.
Hugs,

[Julie Q]

You ought to have a whole day of tips just dedicated to 1,000 uses for plastic grocery bags.

[Goslyn]

Great tip. I'll have to try the All refresher - I'm not a great big fan of Febreeze - the scents are icky to me.

I need the "get the packages and stuff (not trash) out of the car" helper. I'm good about the trash, it's the rest of the stuff that clutters up the place.

[katherine @raisingfive]

Hey Shannon - I have a terrible time with my car. I just need to DO THIS!

Thanks again for hostessing. I haven't played in a while but what do you know, here I am!

[Pieces]

Great idea. I try to do that whenever I get gas. I love the fabric freshener idea too.

[KimC]

Huh? It's Wednesday? I guess more coffee this morning would Work For Me...

[Jaime]

We started keeping a few in the pocket behind the front seats. Best thing I ever did--not only does it help with cleanup, but when we're going to the doctor's or whatever and I need to carry in a few more toys for Ava, there's a sack right there.

Thanks for hostessing.

[Carrie]

i do the same with the plastic bags in the car. now if i could just get the kids to actually put trash in them.....

[stacitee]

Great idea. My car is a mess too!

[Lucy]

I just tried to join in and hope I got it right. Our car could soooo badly use a hosing down inside let alone a trash bag!

[stacey]

I keep some on hand in our van, too! It's also handy when morning sickness comes on : ) Great tip!!

[Shelby]

Hi Shannon!
Oops, I forgot to add that my tip is on a cheap Christmas present idea, is there a way to go back and add that? Just wondering...
Anyway, because of the nature of the source of the presents it really couldn't wait until next week...they may be gone by then!

[GiBee]

I just have two words for you about next week's WFMW:

Jesse Tree.

That's all I'm gonna say.

[Jules @ Everyday Mommy]

I told hubby that I'd love to have a car detailing service clean up my car as a Christmas gift.

[The Lazy Organizer]

Great idea! I tie them up into little bundles and keep them in the diaper bag, my purse, the kid's backpacks, etc. They are handy little critters aren't they!

[Kathleen Marie]

Great idea Shannon and yes, sometimes I think things just explode in my car. We had a sour milk smell for awhile. Seems one of the grandbaby's bottle leak. That was bad!

Thanks bunches and next weeks Christmas ideas is fabulous!

[Mrs. C]

I keep waiting for the car companies to create a self-cleaning automobile. I don't see it happening any time soon. :-)

[Mama Duck]

Ah, I always TRY to remember to do this, I'm always dumping everything out each time I'm at the gas station or by a dumpster. AGH!

[Becca]

My car is perpetually filthy. The worst is underneath the carseats. Yuck!!

[Jenn]

A great tip. I have tried to clean the car while waiting around for various apointments, but I never thought of keeping bags just for that purpose! This is such a fun site! This is my first real venture into Bloggland and I look forward to participating more!