For being 9 years old and having 118,000 miles on it, I have to say we have had virtually no problems with our van. Except for this…
There is just no excuse for this! I am the Queen of “out of sight, out of mind” and it is clearly too easy for me to forget about a mess until I encounter it again. And add to it again. And “I’ll do that tomorrow” again.
Our van is a real problem spot. Once I haul the kids out, and the groceries, and whatever else… I completely forget about the mess until we’re rushing out the door to another activity. No time now! We’ll clean it up later.
Today was later.
Lance volunteered to take the seats out so I could do a complete overhaul. Out with two bags of trash. Out with broken headbands and cracked drinking cups and numerous damaged odds and ends that I successfully made disappear before the kids knew what was going on.
After the pitch-fest, I reorganized the things that really do need to stay in the van. Then I tackled the carpet and upholstery with the shop vac and washed the other surfaces with a bucket of soapy water.
Oh, that feels so good! Wonder how long it will last?! 
This post is linked to
- Itch to Pitch
- Tackle it Tuesday
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my van looks just like your before picture and I was just telling the kids that we needed to clean out the car, today. Yeah guess that will have to wait later too, lol.
Wow, that looks great!
Oh my friend – i SO know the feeling. Does it ever get better?
Whoa… what a difference! Guess that is another small “perk” of my barrenness… my car stays clean 99% of the time
lol I gotta keep making that lemonade in my life 
Hah!! We all seem to drive the same mini-vans!! Your post was just the encouragement I needed today! Yesterday a sack of sugar ripped in the back after shopping, so now there’s really the urge to clean before the bears break in and do it for me!! Your after picture looks great…doesn’t it make you feel so good to drive it now? (I always want to drive my husbands truck for that reason…it’s always so clean! Could that be because he’s never carting the kids here-and-there??!!)
We’re constantly cleaning out our cars. :O) Your van looks great though! Well done!
Hey!!! How did you get a pic of my van???
Seriously, I have been asking my hubby to clean out the van for… oh… about 4 months now. It’s a disaster!! I am soooo glad I’m not the only one that gets a messy car.
You have inspired me to glean mine out. Thanks!
That looks just like my van! It is embarassing to open up the doors to let the kids out! I must get it done–thanks for that reminder, before I was in town embarassed again.
Must be going around, cause I just cleaned mine out yesterday! It feels so good to get into a clean car!
Sounds like my van and my same “no time now, will do it tomorrow!” It does feel good to clean it up but how long it lasts for me is until the next ride as a family!
That’s an awesome tackle:-)
My van is getting that way… I think that maybe tomorrow will be my day to tackle the mess. I am usually really good about keeping it clean, but have gotten to lazy lately. Perfect for right after the library don’t ya think?
Your van looks great! I need to vacuum mine out, too. I had to get in there to clean out hubby’s junk when we switched cars. It is amazing how much stuff gets lost in our cars.
I am sad to say that our van looks exactly like that. Getting the kids and just the main stuff out of the van when we go inside is about all I can deal with. The rest just accumulates until it gets unbearable, and then we deal with it…
Wow, excellent job! For being 9 years old your carpet in the van looks great. Bravo.
I wish I had a van. I have a neon, so the stuff just goes up instead of scattering out. lol great job though. It made me think If I clean my car once a week it would stay that way. I think ill start that next week.
That looks great!
Although, I should show the picture to my husband so he sees that our van doesn’t look so bad.
LOL Sometimes he says, while pointing to the van, “Angela, this is NOT a trash can.”