As the world continues to grapple with the fallout from COVID-19, car owners and people relying on vehicles for their livelihood will be wondering how to keep their vehicles safely sanitized.
Uber and taxi drivers need to be able to convince their customers that they’ve done their utmost to clean in between customers. Healthcare professionals driving home will also have concerns about keeping their vehicles clean and free of the coronavirus.
Disinfecting a car should be done with care. It’s important to wear proper rubber gloves and take other measures to ensure that you stay safe when on the job. With that in mind, there are some key measures car owners and detailers can take to keep their cars thoroughly sanitized.
Make Sure to Wipe Down Surfaces with a Good Cleaner
While soap and water is still king for hand washing to beat COVID-19, what can pros with auto detailing training do to help sanitize cars? As it turns out, alcohol is usually a better bet when disinfecting surfaces. However, the concentration you use will matter here. Generally speaking, an isopropyl alcohol spray with a concentration of 70% or higher is recommended by the CDC for proper disinfection. Health Canada has also released a list (which it continually updates) of cleaning solutions it deems effective at disinfecting surfaces.
Of course, when it comes to using high concentrations of isopropyl alcohol or other cleaners, a patch test is a good idea. Trying a cleaner out on a small section first before cleaning large swaths can help prevent unfortunate damage or discolouration to sensitive materials. Detailers should also beware of using a high alcohol concentration on leather interiors, as this can potentially dry them out.
Grads of Auto Detailing School Will Need to Be Attentive to High-Touch Surfaces
It doesn’t take long to consider how many car parts we touch regularly in one short drive. From exterior and interior door handles to the steering wheel, rear view mirror, seat adjusters, radio controls, AC panels, and more, our germy fingers get around fast inside of a vehicle!
When you’re learning how to do a professional cleaning of a car in auto detailing school, you’ll be trained to wipe down all of these interior surfaces as a matter of good practice. In normal circumstances, this practice is about overall polishing to remove scuff marks, dusts and generalized grimes. When detailing for a COVID clean, this step will take on a little more added meaning, as high touch surfaces are most likely to be contaminated.
With research showing COVID-19 capable of surviving for up to three days on plastics and other materials, it becomes more important than ever to consider not just the most commonly touched surfaces, but all of the surfaces that may have been touched in the last few days.
Remind Customers Not to Let the Trash Pile Up
Germs accumulate quickly inside a car, especially when the temperatures rise either from a hot day, or from a car’s own heating system. Keeping garbage around for days on end creates a hotbed for harbouring viruses and other bugs.
When detailing a car, get rid of any trash immediately, and tell your customers to get in the habit of changing it daily as well. Pay particular attention for any evidence of crumpled up used masks or rubber gloves. Because of the particularly germ-ridden nature of such items, they should be immediately disposed of, followed by a thorough disinfecting rub down of the surface they were lying on.
Interested in learning more about what it takes to pursue an auto detailing career?
Contact Automotive Training Centres!
