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Andrew Stewart

More than a third of Brits never clean car boot

More than a third of Brits have confessed to never cleaning their car boot, despite experts advising to clean car interiors once a month, research shows.

In a recent survey conducted by boot liner manufacturer Hatchbag, 27% of respondents admitted to cleaning their car boot just twice a year, while another 7% said they only clean their vehicle’s boot yearly.

According toMotorway.co.uk, a car’s interior should be cleaned monthly. Although 17.8% of people claimed to clean their car boot once a month, 36% said they never do.

Claudia Finamore, commercial manager at Hatchbag, said: “Cleaning inside your car, including the boot, monthly will ensure you keep on top of any mess. If you use your boot frequently, you may need to clean it more often.”

In the study, nearly one in 10 respondents said they clean their car boot once a week.

Claudia added: “Empty your car boot before cleaning it and then hoover up any dirt, crumbs and dust.”

In a separate poll from Hatchbag, one in eight respondents said the boot is the area of their car that gets the dirtiest. Muddy shoes, mud from pushchair wheels and dog fur were commonly cited as the top causes for creating the most mess.

“For any dry mud marks, use a brush to loosen the soil before vacuuming,” Claudia continued. “A rubber brush or gloves can also help remove dog fur before hoovering. Use an anti-bacterial spray to remove stains from other pet mess.”

In the poll, 80.6% of respondents admitted they do not clean their car interiors as much as they would like to, with more than half of this percentage blaming it on a lack of time.

Claudia explained: “To minimise wear-and-tear and make future cleaning easier, fit a wipe-clean boot liner to the walls and floor of the boot. Before installing it, prep the non-Velcro friendly surface of the boot (plastics trims) with Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover using a lint cloth to make sure any silicon traces are removed and the Velcro tabs are adhering correctly.”

Other preventative measures include wiping down any items, such as sports equipment, before storing them in the boot and regularly decluttering the boot.

Without routinely tidying the car boot, it is easy for dirt, litter and storage to accumulate until it requires an intensive and time-consuming clean.

Is Your DIY Project Affecting The Value Of Your Vehicle?

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When it comes to tackling household renovations—such as redecorating or carrying out simple building projects—the DIY approach is often the most cost-effective solution. The advancement of online tutorials enables anyone to try their hand at trades previously left to the professionals, and in many cases, it is possible to achieve an effective result.

What the manuals don’t tell you, however, is the hidden costs associated with ‘doing it yourself’. Not all projects go to plan, resulting in wasted materials and less-than-desirable finishes. Also, the surrounding areas can become damaged if the correct tools and equipment aren’t used and lack of experience can sometimes result in mess and spillages, particularly when transporting materials to and from the DIY supplier.

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Protecting your vehicle from DIY damage

Transporting materials home from the DIY store can be a particular bugbear for DIYers, particularly if they are having to use the family car as opposed to a trade-specific van. The very nature of building materials means that there is a risk of damaging the vehicle’s interior and tailgate during transportation.

Whether you are a professional tradesperson or someone who likes to do DIY projects in their spare time, your vehicle will inevitably be damaged in some way due to bulky materials, dirty tools and oily machinery. As a result, you must protect your car from damage. Here Hadyn Leon from construction company Stone7 shares expert tips and advice for ensuring that your vehicle remains damage-free when transporting materials…

1. When transporting building materials make sure that you cover as much of the car’s interior as possible.

2. Old sheets and towels provide some protection but they tend to slip around and don’t stop liquids from seeping through. Bin bags can help with this but can easily rip. It is well worth investing in a boot liner that is fitted to the specifications of your boot so it will stay in one place.

3. Loading and unloading the car is a prime time for creating scratches and scrapes, especially if you are working in reduced light at the beginning or end of the day. Protect the bumper of your vehicle with a padded tarpaulin or choose a boot liner with an integral flap that can be folded out over the bumper.

4. Poor weather conditions can also result in bumper damage, especially if your hands are wet and cold and you lose grip of bulky items. Again, the more padding you can create over the bumper area the better.

5. When transporting timber remember to protect the backs of the passenger seats and headrests, especially when slotting posts in through the length of the back of the vehicle. Splintered wood can cause irreparable damage to upholstery so keep a stash of old towels, flat cardboard and blankets to hand to create a buffer around awkwardly shaped items.

6. Consider the weight of the items that you are transporting if you are using a vehicle designed for domestic use, it’s not worth compromising the suspension!


7. It’s not always convenient but where possible it is worth ‘double bagging’ bags or sand or cement—even if you just loosely wrap a bin bag around them. Loose sand is almost impossible to get out of carpets and can causes scratches if it rubs against delicate items.

8. If you do have a spillage of any type, try to tackle it straight away. The longer you leave it the harder it will be to remove and you may risk it transferring onto other materials.

9. Don’t underestimate how dirty your clothes will be! There’s no point protecting the boot of your car and the ruining the driver’s seat upholstery with oil or paint-covered clothes. Again, old (clean) towels and sheets can be a godsend, or invest in some disposable seat covers, typically used by mechanics.

10. If in doubt pay a little bit extra to get things delivered, you could well find that it’s far less than the cost of repairing or cleaning your vehicle!

Why your car interior becomes damaged and how to prevent it

car gloves

No matter how well you look after your car, it’s inevitable that the interior will start to show signs of wear and tear through day-to-day use, not least if your passengers include small children or pets.

Simple measures—such as removing muddy footwear, avoiding messy snacks, and taking litter with you when you leave the car—will help prevent mess from accumulating. Regularly vacuuming the upholstery and footwells and wiping down surfaces will also keep the interior in prime condition.

While it’s easy to keep on top of the passenger areas of the car, it can be a lot harder to keep the out-of-sight areas—such as the boot—clean and damage-free.

The very nature of the boot means you might use it to stow bulky, dirty items such as prams, bikes, luggage, sports gear or camping equipment. All of these can transfer mud, oil and other stains to the interior, and sharp edges can damage the carpeting or inner tailgate.

And while the boot is also a safe and practical area of the car for transporting the family dog, again there’s the risk of stains and potential damage from chewing or scratching.

The main causes of interior damage

To find out more about how car interiors suffer damage, we ran an independent survey asking the public: “What causes the most damage to your car interior?” Here’s what we found out…

Spillages—from either groceries or car maintenance items such as motor oil—attracted a combined 32% of the votes, highlighting that simple, day-to-day accidents can cause considerable damage to a car’s interior.

Children’s equipment and pets also proved to be common causes of damage, collecting 25% and 22% of the votes respectively.

Tools and sporting equipment were the main source of damage for 13% of people.

Holiday luggage was cited as a cause of damage for a further 8% of those surveyed.

What you can do to prevent it

This is one area where prevention is most definitely better than cure. Protecting your boot before you fill it with items that are likely to spill or scuff will undoubtedly reduce the damage caused.

You can do this by putting rugs and blankets down. However, they may slip and slide in transit, or moved or chewed by pets. They are also unlikely to contain any liquid spillages.

The best way to fully protect your boot is to install a made-to-measure, wipe-clean bootliner that fits securely to the walls and floor of your boot, covering all surfaces.

car wash

What to do if the damage is already done

If the boot is already soiled or damaged, you may be able to restore it to its former glory with a bit of TLC.

Obviously it’s important that you don’t create further damage by using the wrong treatment for the stain. With this in mind, we turned to the professionals in the car-cleaning world for some expert advice. Russ Chadd from CarcleanseUK.com shares his expertise in removing common stains from a car interior:

What do you find causes the most damage to the interior of a car boot?

Liquid spillages such as milk, paint and fuel are probably in the top-five items that cause serious damage. Also, any heavy objects such as bikes, tool boxes etc. will eventually damage the carpet.

What methods would you use to clean the following spillages from a car boot?

Oil—Any oil-based spillage usually ends up damaging fabrics and plastics one way or another. It’s near impossible to remove every single trace of oil that has been spilt into a carpet and therefore we advise to replace boot carpets rather than try and clean them.

Mud—Dry mud can be easily removed from fabrics and carpets using a brush to loosen the soil and a cylinder vacuum cleaner to collect it.

Food spillages—Light food spillages can be removed from carpets and upholstery with a cloth or towel. However, if the spillage is heavy, dairy-based or likely to cause an odour, I would definitely recommend seeking professional attention.

Pet fur—Remove pet fur from carpets and upholstery using a rubber brush specifically designed for this purpose—simply brush the surface and then vacuum. If you don't have a rubber brush, rubber gloves will also work well.

Pet mess—Remove as much of the spillage (if solid) as soon as possible and keep the windows open. Apply an anti-bacterial spray to the areas and rinse using a damp towel.

If the pet has urinated, you will need to blot up the spillage and treat the area to prevent odour and bacteria. In this case, the best option would be to bring in the professionals.

Do you have any tips for helping to protect the car boot from damage?

A good-quality, purpose-made bootliner will no doubt shield the carpet from wear and tear. I can definitely notice a difference to the condition of the car boot when boot protectors have been used.

How would you suggest repairing a ripped boot lining?

This will depend on what it’s made from. If it’s moulded plastic, an epoxy resin or flexible filler may work well. If it’s thin plastic, the cheapest way to fix a tear would be using a good-quality adhesive tape.

Wirral Angling Centre Exclusive Discount!

We are now offering a discount to all customers of the Wirral Angling Centre, www.wirralanglingcentre.co.uk.You just need to ask in store for details on how to claim your discount, so when you go online to purchase your Hatchbag you can benefit from this exclusive offer! With 37 years of experience and the longest established tackle shop in the North West of England,  the Wirral Angling Centre can cater for all your fishing related needs and more!

With a Hatchbag boot liner you will have no more reservations about taking any mucky fishing gear, the dog or anything else for that matter in your spotless boot. Keep your car upholstery safe from wear and tear for years to come with your very own Hatchbag!

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To make sure you claim your very own discounted Hatchbag to make to most of this exclusive offer. Happy fishing!

WIRRAL ANGLING CENTRE, 

207 Church Road, Tranmere, Wirral, CH42 0LD,

Tel: 0151 644 7554

Email: [email protected]