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How to Turn Your Car Into a Sanitizing Station

Right now, there are two kinds of people on the road: those with essential on-site jobs and those performing deliveries. No matter which category you fit into, you are one of the brave souls risking your health and safety to serve the millions stuck at home. The most important thing you can do right now is keep your hands clean and your air-space clear. It’s vital that you both prevent unknown viruses from escaping your lungs and to prevent other people’s unseen viruses from getting into your face.

That means gloves, masks, and constant sanitization of everything you touch, before and after you touch it. We know that this is a pretty tall order, so we’re here to help. Today, the American Wrap Co team put together a few helpful tips to turn your car into the ultimate sanitization station on-the-go.

Useful Supplies

  • Box of Nitrile Gloves
    • Medium or Large
  • Hand Sanitizer
    • Gel or Wipes
  • Paper Towel Roll
  • Stack of Clean Masks
  • Roll of Trash Bags
  • Filtering Water Bottle

Start by stocking up. Chances are you’ve already got some of this stuff piled in your house or at your workplace. Have at least one box or container (and a backup) of each in your car ready to go when you need them the most. Now, once you have all the things you need, the trick is arranging them so that they’re easy to reach and quick-&-safe to throw away as you go along.

Passenger Seat Car Caddy

The first handy way to set up your car sanitizing station is with a car caddy. These strap-in containers can take several shapes. Some are called car desks. Some are called road trip caddies. Look for designs you like. Some sit in the seat like a strapped-in bin, holding upright things like paper towel rolls and bottles of spray. You can also take the seat-back type, a sheet of pockets you can strap to the front of the passenger seat and pick out each thing you need with your right hand from the driver’s seat.

You can even DIY yourself a car-caddy as long as it straps and holds the things you need within handy reach.

Dash-Mounting Stuff with Command Strips

You can also mount the most useful and used things directly to your dash, and it doesn’t have to be permanent. Command strips are removable mounting tape. Leave a tab visible and pull when you want to unmount or remount something.

  • We strongly advise, for example, that you mount a hand sanitizer pump to your dash. Then you can reach over and get some sanitizer any time you need it.
  • A paper-towel roll dispenser might also be a great thing to mount to your passenger glove-compartment door. A quick reach and pull and you’ve got a clean paper towel.
  • You can even mount your box of gloves so it’s easy to pull two more. Most glove boxes are built so the box can be mounted on it’s side without the gloves falling out.

Stack of Cloth Masks

Everyone must wear a mask for protection outside the house, but you don’t necessarily need a medically rated one. Anything that prevents lung particles from passing between one face and another is useful. So make/order and wear cloth masks instead. These will keep your breath from getting on goods and customers. It will also keep the breath of customers and coworkers from getting into your face.

  • When a cloth mask starts to feel damp, it’s “full” of lung particles and is potential contamination. Carefully place your mask in a sealing hamper and put on a clean, dry mask.
  • Because this is the proper method for mask-wearing, the practical answer is to have a big stack of cloth masks that lives in a plastic dispenser-box in your caddy. Don’t have a plastic dispenser box? Cut a slit into the top of a plastic box and stack your masks inside.
  • When you’re at home, put on gloves and wash the whole stack of used masks on the hottest washer setting with detergent. Then stack the fresh masks in your dispenser box again.

Backseat Trashcan and Hamper

You’re going to need two modes of virus-containing disposal in your backseat. First, you need a trashbag for your gloves and any packaging or other trash that’s part of the job. Second, you’re going to need a hamper for face masks as they become damp with your breath. Both your trashcan and your hamper need to seal closed when you’re not using them.

  • There are several models of car trashcan that can be used for either trash or hamper. Some are open-top, some are closed. Pick the type with a zip-closing lid. You can choose two identical models or two that look distinctly different. If you pick two identical, you can make them distinct with brightly colored tape.
  • Place a small trash bag into both containers. Each time you take off your gloves, turn them inside out to remove them and then carefully deposit them into the trashcan and close it. When you take off a damp mask, place it in the hamper and close it. At the end of the day, wear gloves to carefully remove and deal with both bags of potentially contaminated items.

Build a System that Works for You

When turning your car into a sanitizing station, focus on building a system that works for you. Place your supplies where you can easily reach them. Use a caddy system that your arms can reach and that you can easily remember the placement of things. Mount the things you need closest and dock the things you use more rarely. Secure everything so it doesn’t get lost or roll around when you brake or make a turn.

Most importantly, take care of yourself. Stay hydrated, fuel up on vitamins and minerals, and wear those face masks. As one of your city’s first responders, the better you protect yourself, the better served everyone you help will be and the more likely you are to keep doing good works all through this crisis. So whether you’re providing medical care, emergency-repairing ACs, or delivering some much-needed pizzas, we wish you well. Contact us for more helpful vehicle COVID insights, or to wrap your car with some hilariously timely slogans.

Tyler O'Hara
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