Whether your pet takes long or short car trips, it’s important to take steps to prevent your furry friend from making a mess in your vehicle. From fur to vomit to other bodily fluids, animals can leave your vehicle in chaos. Fortunately, you can protect your vehicle from pet-related messes and easily clean up most of them after the fact. Here are five car cleaning tips for pet owners.

1. Prevention is Vital

When possible, do what you can to prevent your beloved pet from making a mess in your vehicle. Dogs and cats should always travel in a secured crate of the appropriate size. The crate is a good way to contain most messes. If your animal is not able to ride in a crate, you can buy waterproof mats and seat barriers to protect your car seat from moisture and fur. Finally, give your pet plenty of opportunities to play and take care of bodily functions if you’re traveling long distances. Frequent breaks help prevent your animal from having an accident in the car.

2. Use a Variety of Tools

If you think you need only one tool to clean up your pet’s mess, think again. You should keep a handheld, powerful vacuum cleaner with a pet-hair attachment handy. The suction will capture most of the loose pet hair. For any remaining fur, rub over the surfaces with a dryer sheet to loosen the fur. You can then use a stiff brush to remove the fur. If there’s any fur left, use rubber gloves to remove it.

3. React Quickly to Messes That Will Leave a Stain

Whether you’re dealing with blood, drool, urine, or some other substance on your car’s interior, it’s important that you move quickly to clean it up. The longer you let it sit, the more embedded the soil becomes, increasing the chances of permanent damage to your upholstery. For this reason, you may want to pull over and start the clean-up process right when the mess happens.

4. Address the Odor

Cleaning up your car isn’t exclusively about removing fur and stains. It’s also about removing unpleasant pet odors. One trick is to spread baking soda on your cloth seats and across all floor boards. Close the doors and let the car sit overnight with the baking soda in it. In the morning, simply vacuum up the baking soda. If you have significant, hard-to-remove smells emanating throughout your car, you can try carpet shampoo on your floor mats. Test a small area first to ensure the shampoo won’t cause a problem for your car’s carpeting.

5. Know When to Call the Professionals

Your local dealership has tools and know-how for cleaning up after pets. If you encounter a stain or other pet-related problem in your car’s interior, let the professionals take care of it. Not only will you get a clean car, but you’ll have save yourself the hassle and time of continuing to fuss with it yourself.

While you can’t always prevent dog and cat-related messes in your car, you can use these tricks to clean them up after they happen.

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