how do you keep the inside of your car clean(ish)?

[Alameda]

I want to be more like Normal People but even changing into cleanish boots is not enough, my 'new' car (actually very old but clearly belonged to someone who didn't have dogs or horses) is already getting muddy inside and out :(

Also yourself, please tell me you almost always have dirty fingernails and bits of straw and loads of hairs all over you too?

HAHAHA! My car had beige upholstery when I got it!! Between Corky and his paws and dd and I with our shit encrusted muck boots, the 6 bales of hay I can fit in at any one time, the chain harrows, the fence posts, the reduced split bags of shavings and the empty takeaway food containers, you can't even SEE the upholstery any more! My mum refuses to travel in my car any more!

this is why god invented the land rover defender isn't it :(

it was a real shock to see such a brand new looking interior on a car that was twice the age of mine (mine was utterly fucked of course)

but some people manage it, it must be possible?

Well decent seat covers and a boot liner might help. I've often thought about gaffer taping plastic over the carpets, but I think that might actually make a sticky mess! Stapling mite work! If all else fails, a professional valet works wonders!

I don't think horses and clean cars go. I have decided I need to trade in my newish golf for an ancient 4wd to match the mud. I just have to persuade DH that is a good idea now!

I am certainly guilty of the grubby fingernails, and I leave a trail of hay/shavings wherever I go. I am also paranoid that I constantly stink of horse.

If you find out how to keep things clean let me know

I do try and hoover it out once a week to try and placate DH but it's not really doing any good.

My fingernails are clean but completely wrecked on my right hand, split, uneven. really horrible

I bought a car with pale grey carpets and pale grey leather seats.It is covered in mud and full of hair nets,riding gloves,bobbles,socks.No straw yet though.DH makes lots of disapproving comments.

I've managed to avoid the hay as I put bales in an old duvet cover. Change into shoes for driving and put manky boots in a carrier bag. Wet coat goes on the floor to keep my seat and seatbelt clean(ish). My car isn't all that bad actually! It helps that the floors are covered in rubber mats to disguise the fact that the carpets are all soaked due to multiple leaks still, it gives the car character.
I have to keep the car reasonably clean as there is only one parking space in our road where I can reach from my kitchen window with the aid of two extension leads in order to use the hoover. The chances of this space being free on a dry day when I have time to do car hoovering are very very low .

Load liner in the boot really helps. Wash boots off before getting in the car, or put them in the trug in the back. If we didn't have leather seats in the landy I'd have waterproof covers on the seats - my dad has them in his van, and though its a rusty old transit now, those seats are bloomin immaculate.

I have the solution, after years of smelly, hairy, bitty cars.

Get two! One 'posher' one for the school run, picking up friends etc. and the 'dogmobile' (similar to Batmobile).

Otherhalf took it to work the other day and someone had to move it - they refused to get in it!!! oops. (I must admit it does pong a bit)

Sorry, not really practical solution.

Hmmm, I'm in an industry where we are expected to keep our cars quite pristine. Having a newish car helps, and having dark upholstery helps as well. Here are some of things I do to keep it relatively clean at most times:

• Keep the majority of your gear on the property - having to transport stuff back and forth chews up a little petrol each trip and brings dirt into the car.
• Don't have a hatchback type of car - a sedan where you can put all the really dirty stuff in the trunk will keep the dirt and smells at bay.
• Have a trug or some other container in the trunk for muddy/pooey shoes.
• Always brush the dirt and hay off yourself before you get in the car - amazing how much cleaner the car stays even when you do this.
• After a weekend of competing, I would always wash and vacuum the car as the dirt is easier to get off when its fresh.
• Don't keep smelly stuff (like saddle pads) in the car for too long. Take them out and put them somewhere else so the odours don't absorb into the upholstery.
• Wax the car once a year yourself, by hand. Its amazing how even an older car will look so much better with a treatment once a year.

Hope this helps.

Leather seats - hay doesn't stick to them and mud wipes off. Rubber mats are also much better than carpet, you can just shake the hay/dust/crap off. I have my stables coat and boots in the boot, and change them religiously when leaving the stables. In actual fact my kids make 10x more mess in my car than anything horse related, so if you have any tips to keep them under control, please pass them on.

Oh and re the nails, I had hideous stumps for years until I discovered gel overlays. I have French on which is quite a natural look and then structure gel over the top for strength. They are indestructible, have broken one nail in 18 months. They aren't cheap but I go 4 weeks between rebalances which are £25

Oh yes nails.I have surprisingly long,natural nails,very odd,especially as I'm a gardener by trade and don't wear gloves.The DDs instructor was amazed by them,but I did point out that they are longer on my left hand than the right.

I have a rubber mat in the boot, piles of newspaper on the floor and change from wellies to joddie boots for driving. I have a stinky (and boy do I mean stinky) old coat to muck out in that hides at the back of the boot cupboard and either wear mackintosh trousers to cover my jeans, although that gets a bit sweaty, or a pair of mucking out jeans which get removed before I go further than the utility room. I wear a woolly hat for mucking out and grooming to try and stop my hair getting smelly, but you then end up with hat hair so its a no win situation....

My hands are struggling now, I've been wearing gloves both woolly and surgical but still I have engrained grime in my fingers and my nails are now shot to pieces having been quite good up until about a month ago. Plaiting the other day was v hard without my thumbnails! I've got an exfoliating gardeners soap which is quite good, plus I plaster on hand cream at every opportunity, I've got tubes of it everywhere - I can recommend L'Occitane stuff, which is expensive but very good. I have asked for a jumbo tube for Christmas.

yay lots of ideas I can put into use, thank you!

oh my car is a state, I have to transport hay on the back seat and theres smelly boots and all sorts. I wonder how it would look in London.... can't wait to get a Defender!

I miss mine, sometimes, but not its fuel consumption and repair bills and habit of breaking down in horrifically inconvenient places (railway crossing, deadly junctions/bends etc)

I have leather seats, which I got on purpose because they clean up very much better than cloth. Of course, that is if I actually go clean them.

I usually have bits of hay in my hair at work, and it's kind of a joke that I can't keep clean. I now feed the horses in my pjs, so I have hay in bed, rather than in my hair at work...

And after accidentally spilling some kind of horrible cleaning product in my car, I'll take the horse smell!

I have leather seats and they are fine. We used to have cloth seats previously in a Freelander and needed waterproof covers in the Winter (they worked well though).

We have a plastic sheet in the boot - more for the dogs prints than anything else.

When we transport hay up the field we put it in old plastic sacks (Alfa A bags or similar) before putting in the boot.

We wear our wellies when either mucking out or turning out and swill them with the hose before leaving the yard.

We wear jackets when doing yard jobs - we know that fleeces attract muck! - and wash them as necessary.

Luckily our cars are fine despite the bad weather.

Was reading this yesterday thinking 'wish I knew', then last night was getting petrol and they had a little Hoover that plugs into cigarette lighter for £5, didn't hold much hope, but it really works!!!! I'm going to give my car a proper Hoover and then use this in between. It won't pick up long thick bits of straw, but everything else seems fine! I also use rubber mats (cheapy Argos ones) and they are easy to clean. Tip with them though leave them outside for few data when you first get them though as they STINK!!!

oh dear, I HAD leather seats and now cloth

oh well, waterproof covers on order and luckily I love the smell of rubber although it makes me salivate, and by chance I found a boot liner which must have been a Good Intention last time I bought a car!

possibly I will never be the sort of person who can start stripping off for yoga without leaving a trail of dried mud and animal hair and hay but it sounds like there are things I can do to keep it to a minimum!