Your car may be fancy or it may be plain. But it doesn’t have to cost the earth to have some nice practical accessories for your car. If you pay attention to the running costs of your vehicle you’d probably realize that even car accessories can cost the earth these days.
From seat covers to air fresheners, to car cleaners and to organizers, you really can’t restrain from using those accessories that make your driving experience easier and better. Question is, how can you save money from buying all these stuff over and over again? Of course, everything turns old and gets broken eventually. You don’t want these lousy things to ruin the cool vibes of your car.
Well, your car accessories do not have to be expensive after all. If you just put it in the other way, you can actually furnish your car with some cool DIY accessories without pulling out your wallet for over-the-counter stuff. With creative ideas and thrifty palms, everything’s going to be possible.
Get your materials out for here’s a list of interior car hacks that will give you the most-needed car accessories without costing you too much. So let’s look at 9 cheap car hacks to transform the functionality of your pride and joy.
Table of Contents
- 1 Hoodie Car Seat Cover
- 2 Rubber Band Vent Phone Holder
- 3 Toothpaste Headlight Cleaner
- 4 Interior Car Hacks – Duct Tape Cup Holder
- 5 Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil to Clean your Dashboard
- 6 Paint Roller Lint and Dog Hair
- 7 Elastic Sunvisor Kit Organizer
- 8 Glass Jar Air Freshener
- 9 Rain Water for Your Car Battery
- 10 Conclusion
Hoodie Car Seat Cover
Who would have thought that you can actually transform a hoodie jacket into a car seat cover? This hack is so easy. What you only need is your old hoodie sweatshirt to have that instant car seat cover. Make sure it will fit the size of your car seat. So here’s how you do it:
- Step 1. Unzip the hoodie sweatshirt.
- Step 2. Place the hoodie over the seat while facing the car seat.
- Step 3. Zip to lock from the rear.
- Step 4. Cover the seat head with the hood.
- Step 5. Tie the knot to lock the hood.
I like this car seat hack as not always I have a spare towel around. Using an old hoddie means I can keep my cloth seats clean after work, or after a trip down at the beach. Plus they are easy to wash.
Rubber Band Vent Phone Holder
Driving while looking at your mobile GPS navigator might be a little dangerous. Instead of using the other hand to drive and the other one to hold your phone, you can let a rubber band hold it for you. Yes, a rubber band can definitely change the way you drive. Follow these steps to a last-minute driving preparation.
Insert the rubber band’s loop into the front central vent outlet let gravity work while you feed in the length of the rubber band.
Use a small pair of tweezers or a clothes hanger hook to fish out the other end of the rubber band. You can now use your mid and pointing fingers to hold the north and south loops while you insert a mobile phone to both loopholes. It should be nice and secure.
Toothpaste Headlight Cleaner
Foggy headlights are absolutely sickening. As much as possible, we all want to maintain a brand-new looking car. But with foggy headlights, the 90’s model will definitely show up.
Did you know that you can actually bring back the youthful days of your car without pulling out a penny for pricey headlight car sprays? Well, the answer is right at home. You can use toothpaste to brighten up your headlights. Toothpaste contains mild abrasive that clears the stains, giving the headlights a polished surface. Here’s how you clean it:
- Rub the headlight’s surface with toothpaste-laden cloth or toothbrush.
- Move in small circles to polish the affected area.
- Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Rinse with clean water and a sponge.
Toothpaste works well for faded and scratched headlights due to the abrasives found in the toothpaste such as hydrated silica which is made from sand, and alumina. I have actually used toothpaste to remove scratches in a motorcycle helmet.
Interior Car Hacks – Duct Tape Cup Holder
All cup holders occupied? Not a problem with the unfolded secret roll of duct tape. Make sure to use something that can hold any ideal size of the drink. You don’t have to follow a step-by-step procedure. It’s just as easy as pulling off the tape, sticking it alongside the car stereo deck, and Viola!
You can comfortably take a seat without worrying about your cup that you might spill on a road trip. You also have another option of just placing it elsewhere rather with a hanging position. Makes for a great conversation piece on your first date.
Be aware that if you have just oiled down your dashboard the tape may not stick very well. Just a warning before there is coffee or frozen coke all over your car.
Use Extra Virgin Olive Oil to Clean your Dashboard
Your dashboard of the car is one of the most neglected items in your car. It gets the full sun most days and on top of that, the temperatures on a dark dash can get very hot. So it’s important that we add some oil to keep the dash looking and feeling great.
Sure you can buy expensive dash cleaners but I like to use a small amount of Olive Oil. The tip is to place the oil onto a microfibre rag first and then rub onto the dash. Use a clean dry rag to wipe away any excess.
Over time you will find your dash stays shiny and pliable, not to mention a nice olive oil smell, for the first few days. Just don’t put it on your steering wheel, it will be too slippery.
Extra virgin olive oil is natural and pure so it won’t break down your vinyl or plastics like some other harsh chemicals will over time. If you are after a product that also has fade protection look into 303 aerospace protectant cleaner it’s a fantastic product that we use on all our vinyl seats and covers from boats to garden furniture.
Paint Roller Lint and Dog Hair
Now, this is a great interior car hack. There’s no need to purchase a lint roller in cleaning the car seats. If you have that old paint roller at home, then you can easily translate it into an instant lint roller. To achieve this hack, you will need some double-sided adhesive tape and a pair of scissors.
- Remove the paint roller nap from the spring cage.
- Cover the nap with double-sided adhesive tape. Or if you don’t have double-sided tape just use regular masking tape but wind it on with the sticky side facing outwards.
- Place it back to the spring cage.
- You can now roll it over your seats or your clothes to collect any dust particles, food crumbs, or dog fur.
Elastic Sunvisor Kit Organizer
The elastic kit hack will benefit all ladies for a not so ordinary makeup organizing experience. Most girls spend at least half an hour facing the mirror, fixing themselves which sometimes (I mean most of the time) makes them late for school or work.
Well, you can say no to being late for here comes the elastic knit organizer. With this, you can comb your hair, apply some makeup, or put on lipstick right inside your (or your mother’s) car.
Photo Credit: IdunnGoddess
To try it out, you will need an elastic knit or garter, scissors, and a glue gun. Here’s how easy it is:
- Cut the knit lengthwise.
- Connect both ends of the elastic knit by using a glue gun.
- Put it around the sun visor like the one shown above with a built-in mirror.
- Insert makeup accessories and tools in between.
Another easy way is to use large rubber bands but you will have to replace these more often as the sun and heat degrades them fast.
Glass Jar Air Freshener
Air freshener is an essential car accessory. Your car needs it as your body needs food. However, car fresheners can really cost an arm and a leg as they don’t last very long. For glass jar lovers, here’s how you can make your own car freshener out of old glass mason jars and Scentsy-scented wax cubes.
- Drill or punch some holes through the jar’s lid.
- Place the scented wax inside.
- Cover and let it melt in the warm car temperature.
I like to replace my wax cubes every 6 months for a nice fresh-smelling car. The Scentsy wax cubes will eventually lose their smell. I love this DIY internal car mod, just place it in the glove box or under the seat.
Rain Water for Your Car Battery
Over time your car 12V battery will slowly run out of battery acid. The level will slowly evaporate leaving a high concentration of acid behind. We need to add pure demineralized water to top up the car battery over time.
It’s not a good idea to use tap water due to the impurities and heavy metals in the water which will cause the battery to fail over time. Rainwater is cleaner than tap water provided that the procedure to capture the water is clean.
Rainwater has about 20 ppm of dissolved solids and tap water has anywhere from 300-2000 ppm
I use a rainwater tank with a first flush device to dump the first 30L of rainwater before it goes into the tank. This water can be used to top up your car battery and its good for drinking. It’s best to check the 12v battery water level at least every 6 months.
If you do get a flat car battery, try a multi-step car battery charger. These should bring the battery back to life through the desulfation process.
Conclusion
Hopefully, we have inspired you to try out some of these amazing cheap car accessories hacks and mods to make your car fun, cheap, and life a little bit easier.
Always remember to give 100% attention to the road and your fellow road users. Drive safe and please feel free to leave a comment on any other internal car hacks you do to get more functionality out of your car.
By: Sarah Contreras
Sarah is a full-time blogger focusing on areas of lifestyle and health wellness development. She also writes for the wetseat, Australia’s most trusted shop for car accessories like its best-selling neoprene seat cover. What motivates Sarah to keep writing is her passion for providing information to all readers out there.
I am a qualified Industrial Electrician for the past 20 years and I love to share my knowledge on home repair and maintenance jobs.
I love fast toys like Motorcycles, Cars, Jetskis, Boats, and Computers so writing about them is easy. Working on them is fun.
To keeps costs down I do all my own mods, repairs, and servicing. These skills I want to share with everyone. DIY is a skill everyone can learn.