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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Why am I like this? Disgusting car

215 replies

StupidFaces · 28/04/2023 07:26

I’ve always been quite a scruffy person when it comes to housework etc but in the past few years I have learnt to keep my house relatively clean and tidy.

My car however is totally disgusting. Empty water bottles everywhere, crisp packets, yogurt pots, chip wrappers, odd shoes, used tissues, random paperwork … there is nowhere to sit other than the drivers seat. It stinks.

A few weeks ago I had to give someone a lift unexpectedly and I was embarrassed - there was even a used nappy on the floor in the back. She opened the passenger door and gasped. I told her to just Chuck everything into the back but I was mortified. I gave it a proper good clean after that, got rid of all the rubbish, vacuumed it, put an air freshener up … a week later it was back to normal.

I don’t even know how it gets so bad. Am I just a lazy sod? I don’t even seem to see it until someone else needs to get into it (or DH uses it and complains about the state of it)

OP posts:
Sissynova · 28/04/2023 07:51

Yes of course it’s just laziness. Who changes a nappy and just leaves it on the floor for a week?
Why are you eating yoghurts in your car and just throwing the rubbish on the floor?

Dilemma19 · 28/04/2023 07:51

There's no excuse for this really. That's disgusting. Keep a roll of small garbage bags in your car. Every time you get in, open one and every time you leave make sure you take the bag out with you as you seem to be filling the car on a daily basis. Keep a car vacuum in there too. A friend recently offered me a lift somewhere, I was hesitant but she insisted. Her car is similar. She had plates and mugs in there too. Her home is equally bad. I prefer to meet her outside her home or have her over instead. Her dc are always a bit u tidy too. Clean uniforms, but very untidily put on and bed hair, food around the mouth. I can't understand it though. She and her dh are such lovely people, and wealthy enough to be able to afford a cleaner. She is forever changing cleaners too. I don't get it.

TheNoodlesIncident · 28/04/2023 07:52

Wow, I thought our car was bad with the bits of mud and grass on the floors. It does need vacuuming out regularly for that. But it doesn't have litter or crud like used tissues in it because that kind of thing gets taken out when we get to our destination/home. I can't imagine walking away from the car when it's fouled with crap like that. The used nappy is the worst, why didn't you at least put it in a nappy bag and remove it at granddaughter handover?

You need to get into a routine of a) not eating in the car and b) clearing out the car of your mess when you get home. I don't believe you're fastidious at home at all, your car is like a little of your home, isn't it?

SpeckledlyHen · 28/04/2023 07:53

My car can get a bit scruffy as I have a fog and a horse. If the weather is bad I’ve often put a Haynet in the boot and driven it to field rather than in a barrow.

What works for me is getting it cleaned at a hand car wash. There’s no way they can clean it with rubbish and crap in it so i makes me tidy it first. Also as everyone else has said take a bag with you and empty all rubbish when you get out of car for the day.

I must admit though I’m struggling to understand how you are eating yoghurts in the car..

SpeckledlyHen · 28/04/2023 07:53

Dog

coffeecupsandwaxmelts · 28/04/2023 07:57

The odd crisp wrapper or empty water bottle is one thing, but a used nappy sitting there for a week must really stink 🤢

How could you not smell that?

Kanaloa · 28/04/2023 07:58

You know if the car smells it will make you and your clothes and your grandchild smell too? Sitting in a car that ‘stinks’ will rub off on you.

Stop eating in the car. Make a new rule that you use it only for travel. If you are starving hungry and can’t cope until you go home, stop somewhere and eat outside.

Eylis · 28/04/2023 07:59

I worked at a car wash for my first job so trust when I say you're not alone and people are far worse than you.

I used to find old bottles of piss lost under car seats for months. mouldy takeaways and once even some mice just casually running around the car.

RichardHeed · 28/04/2023 08:01

A week old nappy, even a wee one, trapped in a car must have fucking stank!!! I’m struggling to believe this is real, or you have no sense of smell.

Anyway, get a small collapsing bin for the car like this

Guokoo Black Compact Mini Collapsible Car Bin https://amzn.eu/d/dOiXWFi

Pop a liner in it and put it in the footwell of the passenger seat. All rubbish goes in there or if you start throwing rubbish around again, every time you get home make an effort to put the rubbish in the bin before you get out the car. Empty when full. It really does need to be a concerted effort though, breaking habits and forming new ones is the only way to get round this.

RandomGeocache · 28/04/2023 08:08

I know someone like this and yes I judge and yes it's disgusting.

All I ever eat in the car is mints or similar small unwrapped sweets. I do sometimes have a drink in a bottle or reusable cup thing and always take it with me when I get home. There is just zero excuse for letting your car get so messy that it resembles a skip.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr · 28/04/2023 08:09

SpeckledlyHen · 28/04/2023 07:53

Dog

Bit harsh !

As476 · 28/04/2023 08:09

Just an FYI OP, an MOT tester can refuse to test your car if it is a shit tip. I’m not saying it needs to be immaculate, because whose car is, but if the floor and seats are covered in things, and have a week old nappy in there, they may well refuse to test.

Deathbyfluffy · 28/04/2023 08:11

As476 · 28/04/2023 08:09

Just an FYI OP, an MOT tester can refuse to test your car if it is a shit tip. I’m not saying it needs to be immaculate, because whose car is, but if the floor and seats are covered in things, and have a week old nappy in there, they may well refuse to test.

I was literally about to type this - a family member is an MOT tester and shows us some of the cars he's refused to test.
The OP's car certainly sounds like it's up there with them!

A rubbish bag in the car is a good start - I travel all over the UK for work and still manage to keep it tidy inside.

BessieSurtees · 28/04/2023 08:15

Stop showering OP, you will smell of yogurt, chips and used nappies regardless.

Spend the showering time emptying your car and giving it a clean.

Why do you eat in the car so much? Why can’t you use a bin bag?

Pay for a valet, basic ones can be cheap enough.

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 08:15

Lol at the horror on here.

mine is often similar OP. It’s because I’m in and out of it. I have got better because DH uses it as well but I still have water bottles/empty crisp packets and so on everywhere!

Sunshineandrainbow · 28/04/2023 08:15

I can be like this.
I try and take some rubbish out every time I get out the car. Tends to be bins outside shops.
I am just a lazy sod though and have to force myself to do it

Doyouthinktheyknow · 28/04/2023 08:16

That’s really grim! I would be so embarrassed and would not be able to have anyone else near it. They will assume your house is the same🤣

Our car did used to get a bit mucky when the dses were little but we did clean it out.

Now I don’t allow food in the car as it’s just me and dh, a brand new car and it’s small anyway so eating in it would be really uncomfortable.

Mist admit to being intrigued about yoghurt pots….how do you even do that on the car, where do the spoons go??

SpeckledlyHen · 28/04/2023 08:18

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr · 28/04/2023 08:09

Bit harsh !

Show quote history

😂 sorry, I was correcting my post.. not calling the Op a dog….

RandomGeocache · 28/04/2023 08:21

And as for the tinkly laugh "But I dont know how to use the vacuum at the garage!" - just pathetic.

greyhairnomore · 28/04/2023 08:22

It's really not rocket science to use the machines at the garage. Mine takes cards payments.
Yes you are a lazy sod.

Gtsr443 · 28/04/2023 08:22

The outrage and disgust at your mucky car on this thread is hilarious.

Mine's a skip on wheels. Solidarity sister. 😁

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 08:26

Gtsr443 · 28/04/2023 08:22

The outrage and disgust at your mucky car on this thread is hilarious.

Mine's a skip on wheels. Solidarity sister. 😁

Everyone is so keen to show they would never stoop to such levels of repulsion that the disgusted answers are becoming increasingly dramatic.

LovelyDaaling · 28/04/2023 08:26

Keep a roll of bin bags in the car so you you have somewhere to put the rubbish and it's easy to take with you when you get out.

Beginningless · 28/04/2023 08:26

We are like this too, although we do have kids to partly blame. I think some of it is not having good systems like people have suggested - bringing rubbish in every day is a good one which I manage for a while after it’s been cleaned.

I think for us though is that we just don’t care about cars. It’s literally just a means of travel and not a place we are proud of or attached to, like our home. So my motivation to keep it clean is low. I know people will judge me for it (evidently by reading these posts!!) but even that doesn’t motivate me that much because the idea of caring about someone else’s car is even more ridiculous to me than caring about my own! We buy old second hand cars though, I could imagine if I’d spent lots of money on it then maybe it would matter more to me.

SoftCoeur · 28/04/2023 08:28

Blossomontree · 28/04/2023 08:15

Lol at the horror on here.

mine is often similar OP. It’s because I’m in and out of it. I have got better because DH uses it as well but I still have water bottles/empty crisp packets and so on everywhere!

Yes, this!

My initial thought on reading the op was "Get a bag for rubbish, it's not rocket science."

But my word, the horrified judgment and moral castigation 🫣😂

Some replies actually sound angry. I haven't got a car, but if I did, I might be a bit like this and would need a bin and a routine.