How to Disinfect your Car Without Destroying its Interior
It may be a while before we’re detailing our favorite rides in anticipation of a packed cars and coffee gathering, but even folks hunkering down at home under government ordinances need to make grocery runs. Whether you’re headed to Costco in your Ford Expedition or to the pharmacy in your Explorer, you’ll want to keep your ride clean. That’s good practice in general, but before you attack leather seats with Lysol wipes or start bleaching your dash to annihilate any trace of coronavirus, take 15 minutes and watch this video.
Professional detailer and experienced chemist Larry Kosilla of Ammo NYC removes much of the scare of sanitation with his calm, thorough explanation of how and why to disinfect your car. Even if you’re not looking to invest in fancy foaming cleaners, Kosilla’s advice is still highly relevant. Did you know that “clean,” “sanitize,” and“ disinfect” are distinctly different processes, each designed to satisfy a different standard? Cleaning a surface physically removes dirt and germs, but doesn’t chemically kill any of those germs. Sanitizing and disinfecting a surface may or may not remove dirt and grime, and each denotes a different intensity. When you sanitize your hands (for instance), you aren’t killing all of the germs, you’re simply knocking down their numbers to a safe, lower level as determined by public health standards.
There’s a reason we disinfect things with bleach, and don’t wash our hands with it; disinfecting is a take-no-germs-as-prisoners method. A realistic approach for your car’s interior, then, is to clean and then sanitize.
