- Hi guys, welcome back to my channel.
In today's video I'm going to share with you
my best car hacks and essentials for mums.
I have been caught out way too many times
on days out with the kids or during road trips.
Recently when we went to the zoo,
my three year old thought it would be a really good idea
to dive bomb the water feature at the zoo
and I obviously didn't have a towel or a change of clothes,
so this year I vow to be organized.
So, I'm gonna show you how I do that
and I really hope you like these hacks.
Please give this video a thumbs up if you like hacks videos
and I will make more of them
and subscribe to see more as well.
And yeah, let's jump into it.
So, the first thing I want to show you
is this cool new gadget from the AA,
it's called a Car Genie and it's basically
this little plug that you plug into
your onboard diagnostics thingy
and luckily when you download the app
that comes with this, they show you exactly
where that is in your car.
Mine is just above the pedals
and so you basically plug that in,
and then you do everything else from your phone.
So, it's super simple.
Basically, this little gadget will monitor the health
of your car and it will monitor your battery life,
if there's any faults in your car,
it will even show you how to save fuel,
and how economical you're driving,
and it will even, if you're in a crash,
it will contact you to see if you're okay.
I found this gadget really, really simple
and easy to use and really helpful.
This is 29 pounds a year if you're a member of the AA
so I'll put the links down below if you're interested.
Next up, is a hack to protect your car seats.
Even though we have leather,
they still just get so messy with kids
so we got ourselves this car cover for pets
and it basically comes with holes already for the seat belts
but you can also put more holes in this
if you need to for car seats
and then all you have to do is clip it onto the headrests
and cover the seat and match up the holes,
and there you go, it's all protected.
Next up, is a way to make a really cute but practical bin.
All you'll need is a command hook like this.
I got a pack of four for a pound from the pound shop.
Just peel off the sticky bit,
stick it wherever you want it to go in the car,
and then I've used a gift bag as the actual bin.
And this is brilliant because it doesn't slide around.
I used to use a container like a cereal container as a bin
but it would slide around so this is great
and also quite stylish.
Instead of the normal air fresheners that you can get
that can give you a headache, use a scented candle.
You can choose your favorite fragrance
just pop it in your cup holder
and it smells even better on a hot day.
The car smells like Jo Malone now.
(laughs)
Next up you'll need a bungee cord
and hook it to a hook like this,
you'll probably find this in your boot, or trunk,
and then just thread it through your shopping bags
and then hook it again and this will prevent your bags
from spilling or falling over while you're driving.
Single hooks like these also work really well for shopping.
My next hack is for scratches.
All of these scratches are from me
leaning the car seat on the car, whoops.
So, if you want to get rid of them
before your husband comes home
and you don't have any polish,
grab yourself some toothpaste
and a sponge, just sponge the toothpaste
into the scratches and give it a really good scrub
and then wash off with water and you will be amazed
that they have reduced considerably.
That seriously works, that's weird.
Next up, I got this backseat storage
you can buy something specifically like I did
or use a shoe rack.
All you have to do is clip it onto the back
of the front seat, fill it up with all the things
your kids will play with, and drinks and snacks,
and things like that, and you're good to go.
My next hack is a way to cool down your car
really quickly on a hot day.
Just lower one window, put on your air con at full blast,
close the door again, and that should push all
of the hot air out of that one window.
I also found this phone holder from the pound shop,
it was so easy to install and it's really nice
that I now have an actual place to put my phone.
Make sure you also have some kid-friendly music
or books to play in the car.
If you have an older child that likes
to undo their seatbelt, get a plastic cup like this,
cut a hole in the bottom and then slip it over
the part of the seatbelt where you clip it
and it will be much harder to undo.
In my driver side door, I'm going to keep my scraper,
and also a small umbrella 'cause I always get caught out,
and microfiber cloths so that I can wipe surfaces
if I need to and also a little foam paint brush
which is perfect for cleaning in your air vents like this.
I found this great small picnic blanket for the car.
If you didn't want to carry a whole one
another great option is to carry a party tablecloth.
They're plastic so they're waterproof
and perfect for impromptu picnics.
And next up I wanted to show you
all the essentials I'm going to pack
and how I'm going to store them.
I found this great storage system on Amazon.
It basically brings everything off the floor
of your trunk or boot, leaving space
for things like buggies, and scooters.
So, you just clip it onto your headrests and fill it up.
So, I'm packing grocery bags because I always forget them,
a simple first aid kit, some Savlon cream,
and some band-aids or plasters, two nappies, and wipes,
sun hats for the boys and also some suncream,
a change of clothes for each of the boys,
enough money for milk if I forget my purse,
and also a towel, this could be used if they're wet
or also it could be used as a blanket,
water, a flashlight, and I've even got
a camping pillow for my eldest if he needs to sleep,
and for entertainment for the boys,
I'm packing these flying disks
which fold up a lot smaller so they're easy to pack
and I'm also gonna pack a ball and also
a portable potty because you never know
when you're on the road with kids.
And that's it, that's all my essentials
packed away and looking so, so clean.
All there's left to do is add my buggy
and close up the car.
So, thank you so much for watching.
I hope you liked this video
and I'll see you in the next one.
Bye guys!