LaFonda is my Honda Element. When I first got her, one of my students exclaimed, “Ms. Reed, she’s 100% your soulmate!” (Thanks, Napoleon Dynamite.) Thus, LaFonda the Honda was born.
LaFonda has seen more than 175,000 miles, half a dozen dogs and cats, 6 moves, and countless DIY projects. She’s a lived in car and she gets dirty. Her last thorough detailing was in the ‘before times’, so she was overdue. Sending her to be detailed is no longer an option since there are slim-to-none chances that the cleaners used won’t have PEG (polyethylene glycol) in them. The off-gassing alone could be dangerous for me, not to mention any residue left on the surfaces. I was raised by a DIY car guy, and I know my way around more auto care and maintenance tasks than you might think to look at me. I’ve cleaned my own cars for years, so it was time to dust off that skill and show LaFonda some TLC.
After gathering the requisite scrubbing sponges, microfiber cloths, buckets and Dr. Bronner’s Sal Suds (you didn’t think I could go a whole post and NOT show some Bronner’s love, did you?), I got to work! Sal Suds did a great job cutting the dirt and grime on all the hard surfaces, including the floors. I am hell on car carpets; how the carpets of my vehicles get so dirty has boggled my dad’s mind for years… or it did until I bought LaFonda, who has a vinyl floor. I can’t say it looks like new, but it’s certainly clean!
The upholstery was next. Not knowing how well it was rinsed the last time it was cleaned, if it was rinsed at all, led me to really take my time with the Little Green and clean everything well. There haven’t been many animals on this upholstery in years as we’ve kept the car seats covered, so I wasn’t anticipating a lot of dirt to come up. I was wrong. It was gross. (Consider that the next time you think about paying someone to ‘detail’ your car… just sayin’…)
All it took was one drop of Sal Suds. Literally ONE drop in the cleaner reservoir with hot water. I took my time with the upholstery cleaner, spraying everything liberally. Sal Suds got the job done without any sticky residue or pooled but not rinsed dirt that the ‘pros’ had left behind. Being gray, my upholstery didn’t show it, but the hubs’ car has beige upholstery and looked worse afterwards. Based on the nasty water that came back out, I would suspect it is cleaner now than it was when we paid to clean it last. (Ew.)
As I was cleaning up, I noticed LaFonda’s headlights were pretty foggy. In googling how to remedy this, I found several formulas that would clean it that either had PEG or were ‘proprietary’, a word that strikes fear into allergy patients everywhere. I also found several DIY options, all of which that used toothpaste or blue Dawn. Spoiler alert: I can’t use 99% of toothpastes available in normal grocery stores. And while it’s safe for waterfowl after an oil spill, blue Dawn is not safe for me.
Thinking it couldn’t make anything worse, I grabbed the Sal Suds scrub that I had mixed up using the recipe from Lisa Bronner. I sprayed down the headlights, grabbed a sponge and scooped some scrub onto the headlight and buffed. Better!
Hubs was intrigued and grabbed one of the handy drill brushes he has in the garage and we tried that, too. MUCH better!
No, they don’t look like new headlight lenses, but they are clearer and brighter and I didn’t die. I’m calling this one a win!
Donita Westman 