13 Things That Don’t Belong In Your Car (Even Though Most Of Us Keep Them)

Declutter your car properly with this quick checklist of 13 everyday items taking up space, including some surprising things you may never have thought were an issue. Plus, learn the one habit that keeps it that way.

You open the car door, get in, and drive off.

There’s no moving a stray receipt off the seat before you sit down. No kicking a lone shoe out of the footwell so you can put your foot flat on the pedal. There’s nothing rolling around under the back seat every time you brake, and no papers piled on the dashboard that you forgot to take out when you checked some stuff in there a few days ago.

Just you, and a car that feels clean every time you get into it.

Sounds good, doesn’t it!

I’ll be honest – that’s not always been the case in my car.

It’s what I call my achilles heel when it comes to keeping it as I want it. Unlike my house… In there, I notice the second a surface starts filling up, because I’m stood at it three times a day.

My car’s different. I’m in and out of it in minutes at a time – errands, appointments, taking or fetching my daughter from something – and somewhere in all those trips, it fills up without me ever really clocking it happening.

• A receipt goes in the door pocket instead of the bin because I’m halfway across a car park and just need it out of my hands in that moment.
• A drink bottle rolls under the seat and gets forgotten for a fortnight because it’s awkward to get at.
• And before I know it, my boot’s doing a very convincing impression of a shop that’s about to close down.

The car is the one space that gets the least attention, compared with the rest of the house – and it shows.

The thing is a car doesn’t actually need much in it to work well. Unlike a kitchen or a wardrobe, there isn’t a long list of things that genuinely earn their place in there. Which means almost everything currently living in it is probably rubbish, a “just in case” that never gets used, or something that would honestly be safer somewhere else entirely.

So here are the 13 things that sneak into nearly every car – mine included, more often than I’d like to admit – that really don’t need to be there.

13 Things To Declutter From Your Car

Have a look through these next time you’re parked up for five minutes. Most cars have at least one item from each of the 3 categories below – see how many you can find in yours.

#1 – Rubbish That Piles Up Without You Noticing

This is the stuff that was never meant to stay – it just never quite made it to a bin.

Food Wrappers & Empty Packaging

The crisp packet from the drive back from the shops. The chocolate wrapper stuffed in the door pocket because it was handy. It’s all just leaving crumbs, smells, and clutter in the car that isn’t needed.

The tweak: Keep a small bin bag or specific car bin (yes, they exist!), hooked over a headrest or the gear stick. It takes ten seconds to use, and means nothing sits loose long enough to become part of the furniture.

Parking Tickets & Old Receipts

A handful of these are genuinely useful to keep – for expenses, for returns, for checking what you actually spent at the petrol station. But keeping them in the glovebox isn’t helping – either file them somewhere safe or let them go.

Do this instead: Add receipts to your purse / wallet when you get them – and then go through them weekly to file what’s needed and get rid of the rest.

Old Snacks

Somewhere in the door pocket or under a seat, there’s a packet of crisps or a cereal bar that’s been there since a car journey you can barely remember. You probably added it for a good reason, but now it’s been forgotten for long enough to have either melted, gone bad, or is out of date.

Not good for anything anymore!

Going forward: If you like keeping an emergency snack in the car, pick one thing, check it every time you fill up with fuel, and swap it out rather than adding to the pile.

Empty Cups & Bottles

That coffee cup from Tuesday. The water bottle that’s been empty since the weekend. They roll around, they clink at every roundabout, and they’re not doing a single useful thing anymore.

The fix: Better all around is to grab yourself a reusable water bottle and coffee cup. Most coffee shops give a discount when you use your own cup, and if you get into the habit of taking them out when you leave the car (to wash them and use the next day) you’ll reap the rewards in so many ways! (EXTRA STEP – Make sure these fit your cup holders OK, so they don’t cause any extra stress. Every car is different, so please measure yours and check!)

#2 – Things That Are Riskier Than You Think…

This next group isn’t just clutter – some of it’s genuinely worth clearing out for safety reasons, not just tidiness.

Plastic Water Bottles

It feels sensible to keep a bottle of water in the car – I did for a long time (we’re told to keep essentials in case of a breakdown, for example) and it IS good to have water – but those plastic bottles shouldn’t stick around in the car very long at all.

You see, when left for any length of time, they go through hot and cold spells on repeat. This allows the plastic to start to break down, releasing microplastics and trace chemicals into the water, plus, when in direct sunlight, a full bottle can even act like a magnifying glass on fabric seats.

Do this instead: As said in the previous point – start to use one reusable bottle, drink it, take it away and clean it – and use it again. Don’t let it become a permanent fixture that’s doing more harm than good.

Aerosols

A can of deodorant left on the dashboard or parcel shelf isn’t just melting slightly in the sun – it’s a genuine fire risk in extreme heat, and most bottles will actually say so if you check the label.

The tweak: Move anything aerosol or alcohol-based into a bag you carry in and out with you, rather than leaving it to bake in direct sun.

Loose Chargers, Cables & Power Banks

It’s all too easy to collect old phone chargers for devices you don’t even carry anymore, plus a power bank that you needed once when on holiday. But stop – because they can be one of the more surprising causes of car fires when damaged at all.

Try this: Keep exactly one working charging cable that fits your actual phone, and take everything else back inside.

Anything Flammable

Probably more obvious, but worth including – is anything that’s flammable. This includes things like lighters, matches, even hand gels (although these need a trigger). If they get left in a car that heats up like a greenhouse, they could be very dangerous, so it’s worth being genuinely careful with them all.

The question to ask: Would I be comfortable with this getting properly hot for hours on end? If not, it doesn’t live in the car.

Worth a read: 7 Key Reasons To Get Your Car Boot Organised – And How To Do It!

#3 – “Just In Case” Overload

This last group is the trickiest, because none of it looks like clutter on its own. It’s only once you add it all up that you realise how much space it’s taking up.

The big problems with this are that you’re using more fuel when driving a heavier car, and you don’t have space available when you need it when out and about.

Spare Shopping Bags

One or two folded bags for life, folded up and kept somewhere ready to grab when needed, are genuinely useful. A carrier bag full of other carrier bags, stuffed into the footwell, is just bulk.

The tweak: Keep two or three max., tucked into the door pocket or in the car boot, and take the rest away.

A Boot That’s Never Actually Empty

I’m always doing this – adding things into the boot to take places, only to find that I’ve been past it and come back without dropping it off.

A boot full of boxes for charity, items for the tip, etc…, feels productive – but if it’s permanently stacked with stuff, it stops being useful the moment you actually need the space. A big shop, a suitcase, a piece of furniture – none of it fits around a boot that’s already full.

Do this instead: Treat the boot as space you’re borrowing, not storing in. Anything that goes in there should be essential to carry around, or there because you’re taking it somewhere / need it that day. Everything else can go.

Toys & Games

A colouring book from a trip back in the spring. A toy car that rolled under the seat months ago and was never missed. Kids’ journey clutter builds up fast, mostly because nobody ever really decides it can go.

Try this: Keep one small box or bag of car toys, and let it be the only one. When something new goes in, something else comes out. This also helps entertain them better, because they get fresh things to do each time.

Odd Shoes & Wellies

I often change my shoes when I’ve been out on a walk, got muddy, and want to drive home without dirtying the front of the car. Thing is – they tend to stay around far longer than ideal!

The tweak: Put shoes in a bag as soon as you take them off, and take them out of the car as soon as you leave. That way they can dry off / get cleaned etc… – and be ready for the next time they’re needed. Nothing worse than having to run to the car to find them when you need to wear them again.

Loose Change

A few coins for a trolley or a car park machine are genuinely handy, and I love having some cash in the car just in case.

The thing is – once it starts to be collected in lots of different places (the cupholder, the dashboard, the little storage area on the side of your seat) all it’s doing is causing rattles when you drive, and not actually being together means it’s not useful when you need to grab some money fast.

The tweak: Keep a small purse with a few coins ready for the car park or the trolley, and empty the rest into a jar at home. Check on it each week or month and replenish when it gets low.

Worth a read: 10 Crucial Items You Should Keep In The Car Every Day

How To Keep It Feeling Fresh, Every Time

The car that stays clear is the one where clearing it out is a daily habit.

The trick is simple – every time you get out of the car, just look for one thing to take with you.

Even the busiest day, when your hands are full – you can find something small that you can manage. It takes seconds, but because it happens every single time rather than ‘when I get round to it’, the car never gets the chance to fill up in the first place.

Perfect! (Or close enough….).

P.S. If you’re ready to declutter some more, you’ll want to try the 5 Day Declutter Challenge next >