As it seems that all of nature is trying to kill me I thought it might be a good time to clean out my car and take some defensive measures so that I’m not at all out war with this season. I have collected a few tips on how to allergy-proof your vehicle so that I can live to see another day, and perhaps if allergies are your enemy, they’ll help you too.

According to the news wheel there are three main step to ridding your vehicle of all of those dust and pollen particles that are upsetting the carefully balanced homeostasis of your car. You’ve got to clean, contain, and replace. These three words will be my mantra for the next 2 hours and I THOROUGHLY clean out my car.

Phase 1: Clean. Clean out any messes or spills that may have worked their way into your seats and are causing mold to develop. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to deal with mold on top of everything mother nature is throwing at me. Do a regular check to make sure nothing has wedged itself in between the seats, take those preventative measures! Next vacuum, wipe down and rinse off the carpets, dashboard and steering wheel as often as you can. The dust and pollen will cover every surface of your car, mocking you and your inability to breathe without wheezing. With an old rag and a vacuum you can surely fix their wagon!

Phase 2: Contain. I don’t mean to get extreme, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Outerwear is typically how pollen and dust get in your car, so if you’re looking for a particularly crisp and clean environment, you can ask that anyone entering your car remove their shoes and coats, keeping them in a plastic bin to minimize the infiltration of the pollen. I also recommend checking that the weather stripping is intact and every window/door shuts properly so allergens don’t break into your car like the sneaky villains that they are.

Phase 3: Replace. Check and replace your air filter regularly. Your friends at King Volkswagen would be more than happy to help you with this if you’re unsure how to do it yourself. Also be sure to replace your cloth floor mats with plastic or rubber ones which don’t hold moisture and are easier to clean. The cloth ones have served you well, but ultimately will betray you and make your life more difficult. Having leather seats rather than the cloth ones makes a huge difference too, so if that’s a feature on a car you’re looking at and you’re not interested in puffy eyes with limited vision and breathing abilities, go with the leather.

Allergy season is a battlefield and you need to be strategic if you want to make it out alive. These days, allergy medicine simply isn’t enough. You need to take strategic measures to protect yourself and your vehicle from allergens. You spend a good amount of time in your vehicle every day, so it’s better in the long run to take care of it. If you need anything replaced, feel free to drop by King Volkswagen and we’ll gladly help you out!

“12 Easy Ways to Allergy-Proof Your Car!” The News Wheel. N.p., 22 Dec. 2015. Web. 02 June 2017. <http://thenewswheel.com/12-easy-ways-allergy-proof-your-car/%C2%A0>.