Careful! Can disinfectant gel damage the car's dashboard?

In recent months, driving a car has become a risky situation. Although the situation has changed somewhat now and we have more mobility again and the car is once more part of our lives, we continue to use hygiene, cleaning and disinfection products when we get behind the wheel. The hydroalcoholic gel is part of our daily routine, and we use it to disinfect our hands and also the surfaces of the car that we touch.

It is a good way to prevent us from catching the coronavirus, which has been making our lives difficult since March, and to combat many other health risk situations. But the use of this type of product not only damages the skin of the hands through use, due to the effect of the elements they are made with, such as ethanol.

Disinfectant gel, a cause of dashboard wear

Cleaning elements of the car such as the dashboard or the steering wheel with these products is fine and avoids many risks, but just like the skin of the hands, it produces an effect of wear that can harm its integrity. And that is worrying, because the growth in this type of disinfectant gel is something that will not stop increasing, and its use has become normalized. That is precisely why the condition of the car’s interior must be looked after in order to avoid premature wear.

Some brands are already working to offer a dashboard covered by a product that prevents ethanol and the rest of the products that damage the appearance of the car’s interior from acting on the surfaces. Manufacturers’ efforts are focused on the places that are in contact with the hands or directly with the driver.

The steering wheel, the gear or brake levers, the light or indicator stalks, the dashboard, the buttons, the multimedia system or the armrests are the elements of the car’s interior that receive special treatment. These are the ones that are usually disinfected and the ones that suffer most from the effects of this type of disinfectant.

To avoid this, products that protect these elements are used, but the tests go further. The car’s interior is subjected to tests as harsh as those used on the exterior. For example, the dashboard is subjected to extreme temperatures, both high and low, to hours of sun exposure, to the use of abrasive products and to other mistreatment in order to check its resistance.

This way we can be sure that the elements remain in good condition against these aggressions of daily use. But even so, the use of abrasive products should be avoided and cleaning should be carried out in a way that does not damage the material used in the interior.

How to clean the car’s dashboard

To disinfect the car’s interior you can use disinfectant gel, but it must be done as follows. Do not apply it directly to the surface. Dampen a soft cloth or a paper with it and wipe the dashboard, the steering wheel or any other surface. Afterwards it must be dried to prevent gel residue from remaining and damaging it. Although it is advisable to disinfect the car after each use, it is better not to use a lot of gel, and to do so only on the elements that are touched most frequently.

Wiping with a damp wipe may be enough if the risk is high, but for limited use, in which there are no risks (nothing has been touched or hands have been disinfected before touching anything in the car, etc.), it may be sufficient. If less disinfectant gel is used, wear is reduced. Protecting the interior from the sun with a sunshade is another way to keep the dashboard and steering wheel in perfect condition. This way, it can go a long time without needing a specific treatment to restore its shine and original appearance.