How to clean your vehicle to help protect against COVID-19

Cleaning your car interior to help disinfect from coronavirus

There is no doubt that we are living through a unique and unprecedented health crisis with the coronavirus COVID-19 spreading rapidly throughout the country and the world. Many places, the San Francisco area included, are locking down with people being advised to stay at home to help prevent this from spreading further. Still, essential services are available, and you may need to cautiously venture out to get groceries or supplies, and you will need to make sure your vehicle is protected as well, since COVID-19 can last for hours or even a few days on certain surfaces. Read ahead for some tips for cleaning your car interior to help disinfect from coronavirus.

Please see our revised operating hours during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Cleaners and disinfectants to use and to NOT use in your automobile 

We want to relay information from the real experts on this, and the best place where you can find a list of disinfectants and how to use them for this virus is from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and you can find it here. With that said, that is just a list that can be used on many surfaces, but not all of those can be used in your car. 

Bleach, ammonia, and hydrogen peroxide should NOT be used in your vehicle’s interior for this. Instead, turn to alcohol solutions containing at least 70% alcohol, which can be applied to just about any surface. Soap and water and the scrubbing process with soap and water can also kill COVID-19, so you can carefully use a soap and water solution as well. Just be careful with the electronics and infotainment when you clean with alcohol or with soap and water.  

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For those with leather seats, you will need to take extra care that vigorous cleaning won’t wear the leather down or ruin any dye jobs in the leather, so be sure to also treat your leather seats with a good leather cleaner after it has been disinfected. Also, whenever you clean, be sure to keep your hands protected from chemicals or alcohol that can dry up your skin and leave you vulnerable to other issues for that reason. 

How is Toyota helping during the COVID-19 crisis?

Resources for the COVID-19 pandemic 

For more information on the coronavirus pandemic, turn to the links listed below. Please stay safe and follow the advice of health and medical experts, and let’s get through this crisis by working together from far apart. 

California Department of Public Health 

California Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

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