What’s the best way to disinfect and sterilize a car?
(I) Alcohol Disinfection
Instructions: Wipe the interior with 75% alcohol, including frequently touched areas such as the steering wheel, interior and exterior door handles, window buttons, floor, accelerator pedal, brake pedal, clutch pedal, and trunk. Then rinse thoroughly with clean water. This method achieves good disinfection without damaging the interior.
Precautions: Do not directly wipe leather, plastic, or fabric parts such as seats with alcohol or disinfectant. This may cause corrosion, discoloration, or whitening of the leather or interior parts, which may be irreparable. When using alcohol for disinfection, park in a well-ventilated area. After disinfection, ventilate the car promptly. Never smoke inside the car. Start the engine only after ventilation, otherwise, the consequences could be disastrous.
(II) Steam Disinfection
Instructions: First, clean the vehicle with a regular cleaner and waterproof the electronic components. Then spray the interior with a cleaner and disinfectant. Finally, disinfect with high-temperature steam.
Precautions: Steam may adversely affect the vehicle’s electronic systems and has limited effect on the air conditioning system. However, it has a good sterilization effect on leather and fabric seats and can be used in conjunction with the first two sterilization and disinfection methods.
(III) Chemical Disinfection
Usage Method: This method mainly involves spraying and wiping car parts with disinfectants to remove germs through chemical action. This sterilization method is simple and easy to operate, and the germs are killed relatively thoroughly. Currently, the most common chemical disinfectants on the market are peracetic acid and 84 disinfectant. This method disinfects thoroughly, but an odor will remain in the car cabin after disinfection, requiring ventilation for a period of time.
Precautions: Chemical disinfection can easily leave chemical residues, causing potential hazards, and can also damage car parts to some extent. Chemical disinfectants are generally corrosive and bleaching, so care should be taken when using them on car interiors and metal parts.
(IV) Ozone Disinfection
Usage Method: Unlike chemical disinfection, ozone disinfection does not leave harmful substances. Ozone quickly decomposes into oxygen after sterilization, thus not causing secondary pollution to the car. However, a slight ozone odor may remain in the car cabin after disinfection. This odor will disappear after ventilating the car by opening the windows for a period of time.
Precautions: Prolonged use of ozone disinfection can cause the rubber interior to age. Furthermore, the quality of ozone generators used in car detailing shops varies, and their disinfection effectiveness cannot be guaranteed.
(V) Ion Disinfection
Usage: This method primarily uses the release of ions to freshen the air inside the car. It is simply a way to freshen and purify the air, and its advantage is its ease of use.
Precautions: Ion disinfection is a slow air purification process and may not completely kill bacteria.
(VI) Photocatalytic Disinfection
Usage: Hydroxyl radicals and active oxygen have strong bactericidal capabilities. They can decompose common car interior compounds such as formaldehyde, ammonia, and benzene, and can also remove floating bacteria. Titanium dioxide can be fixed inside the car with a special resin, resulting in a long-lasting disinfection effect. Generally, one treatment can maintain its effectiveness for about two years, and the cost is relatively low.
Precautions: Titanium dioxide only works under ultraviolet light, which can be harmful to the human body. Some car window films block ultraviolet rays, thus affecting the effectiveness of photocatalytic disinfection.
(VII) Activated Carbon Disinfection
Activated carbon has a strong adsorption capacity for harmful substances such as formaldehyde; the smaller the particles, the better the adsorption effect. Furthermore, using activated carbon is a physical method and will not produce secondary pollution, so it is safe to use.
Precautions: Activated carbon has low biodegradability and is unlikely to be recycled.