Is your mom car a mess? Tips for mom car cleaning, organization, and must-haves. How to keep your mom car from getting out of control!
Our car does it all and is where memories are made. However, those little memory makers are messy!!
We’ve got you covered with easy mom car cleaning, brilliant car organization ideas, and some mom car must-haves.
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I’m pretty sure my car drives my husband crazy!
The backseat is always full of whatever the kids leave in there. Snack wrappers are commonplace. Even I have a mess up in the front console of whatever the kids hand me, receipts, and my emergency stash of mints for the whole family.
I never gave much thought to my car before kids. It was always clean then. I didn’t need much more than some extra napkins in the glove compartment and a comb in the center console.
After kids, the car gets little attention and a lot more use! Now that thing is packed to the brim with “essentials” and cleaned less than ever. Why bother when the kids are just going to make a mess of it in no time anyway, right?
Well, I have a solution to that! Along with some great tips for keeping your Mom Car in tip top shape. All of our must-haves for car rides (long and short), ways to organize all the madness, and even how to keep your mom car clean easily through it all!
The Importance of the Mom Car
Even if we never gave it much thought, our mom car is one of the places where we spend a lot of time and memories are made.
It’s those first days when we keep our eyes on the baby seat in the back more than the road. Those first big trips where we feel like we finally have it all together. The first time our little one changes to a forward facing seat and their smiles our so big while our eyes are a little wet.
It’s the first day of tiny tutus and karate uniforms. Discussing all of life’s important questions. Family trips and summer getaways.
Our mom car is where it all happens.
Also read: My Mom Life and our Mom Life Interview Series
My Mom Car
Let me tell you about my mom car. It’s a mess.
I don’t go far. I work from home, so I typically stay in town. My car is used for grocery shopping and errands. However, my car is also the go-to for all the kids activities.
This time of the year we’re heading off to swim lessons each week. We have some school activities as well, but the biggest problem is the mess left from the busy summer. We were in the car much more often, but the worst was the two weeks at the Children’s Farm. The kiddos get lathered in sunscreen and bug spray – which gets all over the car – and they track in about a pound of dirt each day.
Keeping it cleaned seems like an uphill battle, so I just don’t. But I have a secret weapon now! I’ll let you in on that little secret along with our mom car must haves and how to keep it all organized.
Also Read: Cleaning Tips for Moms: 13 moms share their best tips
Mom Car Cleaning
Even if you think your mom car is relatively clean, just take a wipe to it and you will be a surprised as I was!
Just the other day, Little Lady and I noticed how scuffed up the back wheel wells of my car were. Sure, I pack a lot of groceries in there and my husband occasionally throws in tools or something. But, I never thought about it being that dirty back there – at least compared to the back seat where the kids have tracked in dirt or dropped snacks.
Was I wrong! I handed my daughter an Armor All cleaning wipe and we were shocked at the dirt!
Also, can I just say now how fantastic it is that kids get excited when you hand them a wipe and they actually want to help! Bonus!
Get this Mom Car cleaning kit for a steal on Amazon with code 15KRISTINEXP
Armor All wipes
These are a mom’s secret weapon. We don’t have time to detail our car and we can’t keep up with those messy monsters we love. Instead, we need something quick and easy to give us a break.
Armor All has the perfect set for our used and abused mom cars. First, for all little spills and just general dirt there are the cleaning wipes. Next, for the little finger prints and writing all over our windows there are the glass wipes. Last, there are the protectant wipes to help keep our mom car clean a little longer regardless of what the kids throw at it.
Best of all, all three are super affordable on Amazon and even more so with a 15% off coupon code – 15KRISTINEXP – so get some now!
Mom Car Organization
Some little things go a long way to helping with organization of your mom car. Here are our favorites.
Seat back organizers. We have organizers on the backs of the front seats and they’re very helpful. You can find them with a variety of pockets to fit your needs. Many have holders for ipads so the kids can watch movies. We use ours’ for books, sunscreen, little toys, and anything we find on the floor goes in the seat organizer.
Along the same lines, I should mention how nice a backseat car organizer would be between car seats. That is definitely the spot with the most clutter in our car!
Pouches. If there is something that is best kept in the car, put it in a nice pouch or back to keep it together. This way, you can tuck it away and it still looks neat and stays together. When the kids were babies, I always had a small pouch with an extra diaper and wipes. Travel cubes work great and come in a variety of sizes and these zipper pouches also come in many sizes and will help keep everything together.
Foldable box. These boxes are the best! They fold down for easy storage, but leaving them open and in the back of your vehicle can help with organization so much! Contain your grocery bags or anything that will roll around in the back. They are perfect for when you buy something that you don’t want to tip, you have a bunch of smaller things that you want to carry in the house at once, or to fill up after shopping at a big box store. I have one like this and I love the solid sides, but there are a lot of options for softer trunk organizers too.
Also Read: Kids Toy Storage Solutions
Mom Car Must Haves
Now that we’re all organized and cleaned, what should we keep in our mom car? These are a few things you’ll find in my mom car at any given moment.
Supplies for kids activities
Our mom car is the place where we get our kiddos to and from their various activities. When just getting out the door can be a struggle, it can help to keep the car stocked. We like to keep the things we’ll need right in the car. In the summer for Farm School, we keep sunscreen and bug spray right in the car.
Grocery Bags
As an avid Aldi shopper, this is something always in my car. I have reusable bags and a storage box right in the back of the car always ready to go. They also come in handy for leftovers if you like to run errands on date night like we do. I always have a nice insulated bag (or two) and a couple softer bags.
Baby wipes
Is there a single mom must haves post where I don’t mention wipes? I know I mentioned them in our Disney bag, trick-or-treat must-haves, and probably everywhere else. Wipes for sticky hands and faces is a must. We already covered wipes for your car. Wipes are a mom’s best friends!
Snacks
Always snacks. Hungry kids are cranky kids and a mom car must have a stash of snacks. I already mentioned my bag of mints. These are great for a breath emergency or just to hold the kiddos over until you can make it home. Things like granola bars, fruit snacks, pretzels, raisins, etc are all pretty easy to keep in the car.
Pens and Paper
Is it for the kids or us? Doesn’t matter. A pen and paper always come in handy in the car. If we need to write a quick note, they’re there. However, I keep them to keep my artistic Little Lady entertained when needed. We keep a notepad and one of those multi-colored pens handy at all times.
Books
Of course, any little toys or activities that will keep your kiddos entertained is great to have in the car. Some of the best are books because they take up little space and are easy to tuck into little areas of the car. They don’t have all the little pieces and are the least messy of the toy and activity selections.
Cleaning Wipes!
Ok, ok, these have been mentioned. They are a mom car must-have for sure. Easy to use when you’re short on time. Something about a wipe appeals to kids and they want to help. Easy to store away and keep in your newly organized mom car. This is the perfect secret weapon for mom car cleaning! Don’t forget to snack 15% off the whole set with code 15KRISTINEXP.
Get your mom car together!
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Love this post, and can relate to it so much! I also have the typical Mom car, the mini van that gets destroyed by my little ones. Always looking to get the best auto service and care for it, so I appreciate your post!
It’s crazy how quickly it can become a disaster area! We spend so much time in the car without that much time for cleaning, so I suppose it makes sense!
Nice! I use those empty wipes containers as trash cans for my car too. So much better than having snack wrappers etch lying around or expecting kids to bring them in each time.
You’re so smart! That is the perfect size container for that. Brilliant idea!
I agree, when we were kids the backseat is always filled with the mess we left there, though our mom make it a habit of cleaning it… and it was alot of fun, you know 😉
The car is where it all happens, it’s bound to get messy. Thank goodness these wipes make it so easy!
My mom sprayed Lysol all over the interior of my dad’s car. On some of the black plastic on the dashboard it left a whitish residue. I tried cleaning it off with water, but it didn’t do anything.
Yikes! That’s why these wipes are so great!