Holiday Travel Mode: Don't Forget These

The holidays are peak “car life” season: road trips, shopping runs, family pickups, car seats, dogs, snacks, and constant HVAC adjustments. It’s also when your interior screens take the most abuse, because you’re touching them more, cleaning them more, and driving in harsher lighting.

If you want your interior to still look like a new car in January, flip on Holiday Travel Mode: protect first, clean correctly, and avoid the chemicals and wipes that quietly cause haze and micro-scratches.

Top 10 Road Trip “Don’t Forget” Items (Holiday Edition)

Before you pull out of the driveway, grab these. They solve 90% of road trip problems before they start.

1. Snacks that don’t melt (plus a small cooler for the ones that do)
2. Water bottles (or a case of water for longer trips)
3. Napkins + wet wipes (kids, coffee, fast food, emergencies)
4. Trash bags (a small roll + one bag ready to go)
5. Phone chargers (12V and USB-C/Lightning, plus a backup cable)
6. Portable battery / power bank (for phones, kids’ tablets, emergencies)
7. Blanket + small pillow (especially for winter travel)
8. Hand sanitizer (quick clean-ups when stops are chaotic)
9. Tire essentials: pressure gauge + small air compressor
10. Screen-safe microfiber cloth (and a screen-safe cleaner for quick touch-ups)

Pro move: keep a small “road kit” tote in the trunk so you’re not rebuilding your setup every trip.

Why the Holidays Are Hard on Screens

• More passengers = more fingerprints (kids, friends, family)
• More cleaning = higher chance of wipe swirls from “normal” towels
• Winter light = glare that makes every smudge more noticeable
• Dust + crumbs = gritty particles that can micro-scratch when wiped

The Holiday Road Trip Screen Checklist

1) Start with a dry wipe (always)

Before you use any cleaner, do a gentle dry wipe with a clean microfiber. Dust is what turns “cleaning” into fine swirls on glossy screens and piano-black trim.

2) Clean the right way (spray the cloth, not the screen)

Skip household glass cleaners. Instead, spray your microfiber cloth lightly and wipe with minimal pressure, then buff dry with a second clean cloth.

3) Use a screen-safe cleaner you can trust

For holiday season fingerprints and quick touch-ups, we recommend Nano Aplica. It’s designed for screens and safe to use with Screen ProTech film, making it an easy “one bottle” solution for your infotainment and driver display.