7 Items You Should Never Leave In A Hot Car During Summer
That car essentials bag tucked away in your center console is handy for more than roadside assistance. After all, you never know when you'll need a bandage, hair tie, or stain remover. A headache could come on at any time, so over-the-counter pain medication is also a must. When out running errands, it's nice to have a snack and wet wipes waiting in your car.While these items can make it convenient when you're waiting for soccer practice to end, temperature and direct sunlight can damage some things. In the summer, it can get extremely hot in a car even on a cool day. That heat can cause items in your car to warp, weaken, fade, or worse. While it may be a no-brainer that frozen popsicles don't stand a chance against the heat, some things are less obvious. Here are the items you should never leave in your car during the heat of summer.
Related: 6 Habits Of People Who Always Have A Clean Car
What's Too Hot?
While it may feel like a 98 degree day in the humid South is hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, it doesn't have to be 98 degrees Fahrenheit outside for it to be too hot in your car. Temperatures inside a vehicle can rise 20 degrees in as little as 10 minutes and 50 degrees in an hour, even when the temperature outside is in the 70s.
So be cautious of what you leave in your car.
Medication
A hot car isn't the place to keep a bottle of medication. High heat and sunlight can lessen the potency of medications. Most medicines should be stored at room temperature out of direct light. This includes supplements, inhalers, and epinephrine injectors. If you must bring these items on a trip with you and potentially need to leave them for quick pit stops, bring along a cooler and ice packs for storage.
Food And Drink
It can be tempting to run just one more quick errand after grocery shopping, but you really should get those groceries home on hot days. Frozen items can melt quickly, and other cold foods can reach the danger zone, temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, where bacteria begin to grow very quickly. Cold food should be stored at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Pack a cooler with lots of ice packs to keep groceries safe for the trip home.
Besides food, drinks also shouldn't be kept in hot cars. Soda cans can warp and explode from pressure caused by the heat. Additionally, water bottles and other drinks that come in plastic containers can leach chemicals into your beverage when exposed to heat. Opt for cups made with food-safe materials instead. Bacteria can grow quickly in opened beverages left in the heat, so don't drink anything that has been left in your hot car either.
Aerosol Sprays
Aerosol cans can explode in high heat, even if left for just a short time. These cans are pressurized and shouldn't be exposed to temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit or above. Don't store aerosol cans of sunscreen, deodorant, hairspray, WD-40, or asthma inhalers in your car, and bring in groceries like cooking spray so they don't get too hot.
Electronics And Batteries
Laptops, cameras, tablets, phones, batteries, and power banks shouldn't be left in a hot car for prolonged periods of time because heat can cause them to shut down or suffer permanent damage. While they can generally withstand temperatures from 50 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, a parked car can well exceed that range even on a warm day. Batteries exposed to high temperatures can rupture and leak. You should also keep these items out of direct sunlight since they can heat up very quickly.
Plants
Don't kill your plants before you get them to their new home. If you leave your plant to do more shopping, you may find a sad, shriveled plant when you finally retrieve it. Even plants that thrive in heat and humidity may have a hard time in a hot car due to sunscorch.
Cosmetics
That tube of lipstick stashed in your glove compartment won't stand a chance against summer's heat. You'll find a gooey mess if you open it. Besides causing cosmetics to melt, heat can deteriorate the antimicrobial properties of makeup, possibly creating an environment suitable for bacteria and causing it to expire sooner. Sunscreen also becomes less effective in high temperatures, and the ingredients may separate and leak, causing an oily mess.
Glasses
If you stash your sunglasses or eyeglasses on your dashboard when you get out of the car, you should probably reconsider it. Heat can cause their frames and lenses to weaken and warp, and degrade any coatings applied to your lenses. They may no longer fit and can make it hard to see clearly. It can also make metal frames too hot to wear. Store glasses indoors or bring them with you when you get out of your car.
Related: 10 Things You Should Always Keep In Your Car In Winter
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