Travel Guides Road Trips
Lexi Kassler
Road trips are a great way to explore a new place and can be a huge money-saver instead of flying your entire family across multiple states. But what isn’t as cool? The messes that can happen while you and the little ones are eating or drinking on the go. Luckily, there are some very easy ways to keep your car mess-free from spills and messy foods without spending a bunch on fancy car and seat protectors that you’ll just have to wash anyway when you get to your destination or when you get home.
While it won’t make you feel like you’re sitting in the lap of luxury as you cruise down the highway, disposable puppy pee pads are truly the best way to prevent your car from permanently smelling like your or your kids’ favorite beverages. The best part? You can quickly and easily dispose of these in any trash can if they catch a spill. No spills and just crumbs? Simply shake them so you can use them again.
Most pads can soak up between three to five cups of liquid which should be more than enough for your basic spill. For reference, a standard soda can holds 12 ounces (1.5 cups) of liquid. So unless you or your kid is chugging a gallon of water, you should be fine … except for the many bathroom stops you’ll be making.
Other inexpensive ways to keep your car clean
Fuss Sergey/Shutterstock
Grocery store paper and plastic bags are another great way to protect your car seats and floors during a road trip. What else are you using them for anyway? That pile is only growing larger with every trip you make to the store, especially if you keep forgetting your reusable bags at home. To reuse the paper bags, place them along the floors of your car. These will catch most minor messes and spills. For plastic bags, you can repurpose them as trash bags. Either put them in a cereal storage bin as a makeshift trash can or secure the bag to a headrest and have your kids use these as a trash bag instead of the floor. They may or may not use it, but it’s worth a try.
If a spill does happen, we recommend not jumping straight to the paper towels. Before you set off for your trip, buy a multi-pack of some inexpensive microfiber towels. These are not only fantastic at cleaning up messes, but they’re reusable, making them more eco-friendly. Unless they’re particularly dirty, you can just throw them into the washing machine along with your other towels. For icky messes you don’t want soaking into your nice towels, hand wash them in a sink first and then put them in the washing machine.
