NEW YORK: Keeping a clear windscreen is a no-brainer to all drivers, but there's one other part of your car that's just as important to clean if you want to stay safe behind the wheel.
Cameras and sensors used by a car's driver-assistance system should always be wiped clean from time to time, road safety experts say.
Routine cleaning is the only way to ensure that parking sensors and cruise control systems work properly, according to experts such as the Consumer Reports testers in the United States. Otherwise, dirt could disrupt or even cripple the systems, leading to long-term car problems.
On longer journeys, it's a good idea to take advantage of stretch breaks or refuelling stops to clean the sensors.
Using a microfibre cloth and lens cleaner, for example, it's easy to keep the lenses of the front and rear view cameras free of debris.
No one likes musty smells in their car interior, but there’s a simple solution to keep car interiors fresh: a wooden clothes peg dipped in lemon oil.
Lemon for musty smells
While you're cleaning, you can try freshening up your interior with a bit of lemon oil dipped into a clothes peg.
Attaching the clothes peg to an air vent will help the scent flow through the car and keep away odours, and is a natural alternative to more artificial, chemical helpers like the classic scented tree on the rear-view mirror.
Drivers can also use simple household items elsewhere in their car. Many brands of toothpaste, for example, contain small particles to help scrub and whiten teeth — but these are also useful for eliminating minor scratches in a headlights’ acrylic glass. Be sure not to apply too much pressure when scrubbing.
With some rubbing alcohol and a microfibre cloth, streaking windscreen wipers can also be restored. Simply clean off the wipers’ rubber lips until they leave no marks on the cloth. If the wipers still do not clean the windscreen properly, it’s time to change them.
