There’s a point at the end of almost every beach day when you look at the kids, the dog, the towels and everyone’s sandy feet, then look at the car and realise what’s about to happen.
Sand has an impressive ability to get everywhere. It sticks to damp skin, hides in towels and swimmers, settles into shoes and somehow works its way into the smallest corners of the car. Once it’s in there, you’ll probably still be vacuuming it out days later.
The easiest way to keep sand out of your car isn’t to become better at cleaning the car. It’s to stop as much of it as possible from getting inside in the first place.
A simple rinse before everyone gets in makes a surprisingly big difference, especially when you have a pressurised portable shower in the boot. Add somewhere clean to stand, a place for wet gear and a couple of good beach habits, and you can leave a lot more of the beach where it belongs.
Rinse the sand off before anyone gets in the car
This is the big one. Brushing dry sand off your feet works reasonably well, but once sand is stuck to wet skin, sunscreen or saltwater, it tends to hang around.
Fresh water gets rid of it much more easily. With a portable shower at the car, you can rinse feet, ankles and legs before anyone climbs in, rather than discovering later that half the beach has made it onto the floor mats and seats.
A manual pump shower is particularly handy for this because you don’t need access to a tap, power point or battery. The tank stays on the ground, you build pressure using the hand pump and use the hose wherever the sandy person happens to be standing.
It also means you can deal with the sand at the end of the beach day, rather than waiting until you get home and carrying it through the car first.
Give yourself somewhere clean to stand while you rinse
There’s one flaw in rinsing your feet at the beach. If you clean them and then put them straight back onto the sand, you’re pretty much back where you started.
Having a small mat beside the car gives you a clean place to stand while you rinse and dry off. It’s particularly useful with kids, who have an amazing ability to put one freshly washed foot straight back into the sand while you’re still rinsing the other one.
Our Bag 'n' Mat was designed with exactly this kind of clean-up in mind. The removable mat gives you somewhere to stand while rinsing, then the waterproof bag can hold wet towels, swimmers, wetsuits or other sandy gear for the trip home.
You don’t need a complicated setup. You just want to create a little clean zone between the beach and the car.
Don’t forget the places sand likes to hide
Feet are usually the obvious culprit, but they’re definitely not the only way sand gets into the car.
Before everyone piles in, check ankles, the backs of legs, pockets, shoes and the folds of towels. Kids’ swimmers seem particularly talented at storing a final handful of sand for later.
If you’ve been surfing, bodyboarding or swimming, give your gear a quick rinse as well. Salt and sand can sit in wetsuits, board bags, fins and other equipment, so rinsing them before loading the car helps keep both the gear and the boot cleaner.
You don’t need to turn the car park into a full washing station. A quick rinse of the obvious sandy areas is usually enough to prevent most of the mess.
Keep wet and sandy gear together
One of the easiest ways to spread sand through the car is to throw wet towels, swimmers, shoes and beach gear into different corners of the boot.
Keeping it together makes the trip home much easier. A waterproof bag or tub gives you one place for anything damp, sandy or salty, so you’re not shaking out a towel later and discovering it has deposited sand over everything underneath it.
This is especially useful if your beach day includes wetsuits, kids’ gear or a dog towel. Once you’re home, you can take the whole lot out together rather than hunting around the car for stray wet things.
If something is particularly sandy, give it a shake or rinse before it goes into the bag. The idea is to contain the remaining mess, not bring home an entire bag of beach.
Dogs deserve a rinse too
If your dog has been at the beach, there’s a fair chance their coat and paws are carrying more sand than everyone else combined.
A quick fresh-water rinse before they jump back into the car can remove sand and salt from their paws, legs and coat. You can then towel them off beside the car rather than trying to clean them once they’re already sitting on the back seat.
This is another reason a portable shower works so well for beach days. You can take the water to the dog rather than trying to convince a very excited, wet dog to stand exactly where you want them to.
With kids, make the rinse part of leaving the beach
Anyone who has taken kids to the beach knows that asking them not to bring sand into the car is optimistic at best.
It’s much easier to make rinsing part of the normal pack-up routine. Bags go in the boot, wet gear gets put together, then feet and legs get a quick rinse before everyone gets in.
Once kids know the routine, it becomes much less of a production. It also saves you from trying to brush stubborn wet sand off their feet while they’re already sitting inside the car.
If you’re using a Beach Soul shower, the different shower-head spray modes also let you adjust the spray depending on whether you’re rinsing little feet, a dog or beach gear.
Why a portable shower makes beach clean-up easier
Public beach showers are great when they’re available, but they’re not always close to where you’ve parked and some beaches simply don’t have them.
Having your own fresh water in the car means the clean-up happens exactly where you need it. You can rinse everyone immediately before they get in, deal with sandy gear beside the boot and leave without making another trip back to the beach shower.
Beach Soul portable showers use a manual pump to create pressure, so they don’t need electricity or batteries. You can fill them with fresh warm or cool water before you head out, keep one in your beach setup and have pressurised water ready when it’s time to pack up.
That’s useful well beyond the beach too. The same shower can come along for camping trips, road trips, surfing, fishing, dog adventures and anywhere else you’d rather clean the mess outside the car than inside it.
A simple post-beach routine that works
You don’t need a boot full of cleaning gear to keep your car reasonably sand-free. The easiest routine is usually the simplest one:
- Shake excess sand from towels, bags and beach gear.
- Put wet or sandy items together so they don’t spread through the boot.
- Stand on a clean mat beside the car.
- Use fresh water to rinse sand from feet, legs and shoes.
- Rinse the dog and any particularly sandy gear before loading up.
- Dry off, step into your shoes or straight into the car, and leave the remaining sand at the beach.
You’ll probably never eliminate every grain. Sand seems to have its own plans. But stopping the bulk of it before anyone gets into the car makes the clean-up at home considerably easier.
Keep the beach at the beach
A great beach day should finish with everyone tired, salty and happy, not with you wondering how long it’s going to take to vacuum the car.
The best approach is simply to deal with the mess before it comes home with you. Rinse sandy feet and legs, clean the dog, keep wet gear contained and give everyone somewhere clean to stand while they get sorted.
That’s where having a portable shower in the car earns its place. You’ve got fresh, pressurised water right where the mess is, without needing power or relying on a beach shower being nearby.
You might still find the odd grain of sand in the car afterwards. It is a beach day, after all. But there’s a big difference between a few grains and bringing half the beach home in the footwell.
Frequently asked questions
What is the easiest way to get sand off your feet at the beach?
Rinsing with fresh water is one of the easiest ways to remove sand that is stuck to damp or salty skin. Stand on a clean mat or other sand-free surface while rinsing so your feet don’t immediately pick the sand up again.
How do you keep sand out of your car after the beach?
Remove as much sand as possible before anyone gets into the car. Rinse feet and legs, shake out towels and beach gear, keep wet items together and give dogs or particularly sandy equipment a quick rinse before loading them into the vehicle.
Is a portable shower useful for beach days?
Yes. A pressurised portable shower gives you fresh water at the car for rinsing sand and salt from people, pets and beach gear, even when there isn’t a public shower nearby.
Does a Beach Soul portable shower need electricity?
No. Beach Soul portable showers use a manual hand pump to build pressure, so they don’t require electricity or batteries.
Can I put warm water in a Beach Soul portable shower?
Yes. Beach Soul portable showers can be filled with warm or cool water, so you can choose what suits the weather and how you plan to use it.
Can I use a portable shower to rinse my dog after the beach?
Yes. A portable shower is useful for rinsing fresh water over sandy or salty paws, legs and coats before your dog gets back into the car.
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