While we’re out enjoying nature, our vehicles often suffer from the elements – midday sun, salt and sand, mud – you get the idea! Going to a car wash regularly for a professional or automated cleaning can be costly and inconvenient. So why not create your own at-home car care center where you can keep your vehicles spotless? We have your four-step plan to guide you.

1. Find a place.

If you have a garage (and enough room in it), it’s probably the best spot to set up your car care center. After all, it’s most convenient to where you store your vehicles and to your driveway, where you’ll likely clean them. But other options to consider are a utility room, laundry room or shed.

Take advantage of floor space to store car-cleaning supplies in the laundry room or mudroom.
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2. Add storage.

Now that you’ve decided on the location of your car wash center, you’ll need to prep it. Think about everything you require to detail your car – from lightweight sponges to hefty bottles of soap to a hose. Also, take into account the type of area (garage, shed, etc.) and amount of space you have to work with. Another factor that will steer your storage is if you have young children. A locked cabinet could prevent them from getting into potentially toxic cleaners.

A garage or large utility area can accommodate a shelving system and utilizing hooks will keep your hose nicely wound and any long-handled brushes off the floor. A shed or smaller area might be served better by freestanding cabinets.

Hang Max Load shelving in the garage to hold your bottles of soap, wax, windshield cleaner and other heavy containers, along with sponges and rags.

3. Choose ventilated organization.

Cleaning a car can get messy. Allow those wet sponges and damp rags to dry so they don’t mold or mildew by incorporating wire containers or racks into your storage plan. You could simply slip a large packet pal onto your existing shelving for your moist sponges or install a rack on the back of a door in your car care center for more ample storage.

A rack on the back of a door saves space while corralling small scrub brushes, sponges and other cleaning necessities.

4. Include a portable caddy.

Especially if your car care center is not located in the garage, you should have a small container that you can easily carry your supplies to and from where you will be cleaning your vehicle. This could be a fabric drawer for spray bottles and the like or a wire basket that can handle wet items.

A wire basket can act as storage and a caddy for your car care supplies like towels and sponges.

Once you’ve established your own car care center, your vehicles will be the envy of the neighborhood!