There are two types of dirt on rental vans – good dirt and bad dirt.

Good dirt is normal road dirt plus a little dust inside.

Bad dirt is excessive mud (inside or out) and food, drink, oil or other mess inside.

The reason for this is that while hire vans do get dirty in use, you don’t expect them to be like that when you pick them up from the hire company. That means someone has to clean them between rentals.

Van hire companies always do a quick wash down between hires – but if they have to do much more than that, they may decide to charge a cleaning fee to the person who created all the dirt! Your job is to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.

Fortunately, it is surprisingly easy.

Spilled coffee on the dashboard? Kitchen roll or baby wipes should take care of it (moisten the kitchen roll if the drink has dried on).

Excessive mud on the floor? A quick sweep or vacuum should get rid of it (easier if it is dry).

Oil? It should come off most plastics OK, but you may be in trouble if it is on the upholstery. Consider using disposable seat covers (or putting an old blanket on the seats) if you will be doing dirty work with your hire van.

Rubbish and litter? Do I really need to explain what to do with this?

I’m no cleaning expert and this is not meant to be a cleaning guide – just a gentle warning to try and return hire vans in the same state you found them – especially on the inside. Naturally, vans get more wear and tear than cars and some of the ones I have hired have been pretty shabby – so don’t get too paranoid about it.