Essential Summer Gear: DIY Car Towel for Walkers
The hottest, sweatiest days of summer are just beginning—so now’s a good time to take on an EZPZ project that will make your life so much easier when tackling your summer walks.
You know how uncomfortable it is to climb into a hot car after a hot, sweaty walk, right? You’ve just walked a mile (or five) out in the hot sun. You’re worn out and dripping with sweat, and you’ve come back to the parking lot to a car that’s positively steamy. Maybe you thought ahead and left the windows open a crack while you were gone, but let’s face it: that doesn’t do a whole lot of good on the hottest summer days. The temperature inside your car has almost reached the boiling point—and you’re just not looking forward to sitting down on a seat that’s been cooking in the sun while you were out getting your steps. If you have leather seats, it’s even worse. You feel gross enough as it is…and then you end up with your legs sticking to your burning hot car seat.
That’s where the car towel comes in.
The concept is really pretty basic: it’s just a towel that goes on your car seat, so it doesn’t burn your legs and/or get all sweaty and gross. The problem with the average towel, however (and I know this from an entire summer’s worth of experience), is that it’s nearly impossible to keep it from sliding down. You have to try to position the towel before quickly sitting down—and, even then, it ends up slowly sliding down your back while you’re driving. So, after a few frustrating months, I enlisted my incredibly handy mom (because I’m not even sure that I remember how to start my hand-me-down sewing machine) to help with this quick and easy project.
To start, find a bright and cheery (and, preferably, oversized) beach towel. I didn’t want to use any of the old towels that we have around the house, so I ended up picking one up for a low-low clearance price at the end of the summer. While I was at it, I also picked up a smaller one for my daughter, who often joins me on my summer walks.
Next, put your towel over your car seat and fold the top over the headrest. Measure the size of the headrest and figure out how much towel needs to fit over it in order to stay in place.
This is where the sewing machine (or, if you prefer, needle and thread) comes in. Fold over the top of the towel to match the size of the headrest, then sew both sides into a kind of headrest pocket (see dotted lines below). It’s just that easy! Now you have a towel to protect both your legs and your car seat after those sweaty summer walks—and you don’t have to worry about the towel sliding around while you’re driving.
Don’t sew? Fear commitment? No worries! You can do the same thing with a couple of safety pins (and if you’ve participated in a race or two, you probably have a few of those lying around, right?).
Once you’ve measured your car’s headrest, just fold over the top of your towel and pin down the edge of the towel on both sides (see gigantic pin illustration below). It’ll still fit over your headrest—and stay put. And, since it’s not a permanent solution, your car towel can still double as an actual beach towel when you need it. I’d just recommend making a couple of subtle marks on the towel, so you won’t have to remeasure it every time to remove the pins.
This DIY car towel is such a quick and easy project, but it makes a huge difference in your post-walk comfort levels. Not only will you feel better about not getting your car seats all sweaty and gross, but you won’t end up burning your tired, sweaty legs on your frying-pan-hot car seats, either. It’s win-win!
Do you have any other tips for surviving walks on hot, sunny days? Share away!
