How To Wash Your Car

"Properly washing your car by hand helps to avoid scratches, swirls and strong detergents often associated with using abrasive washing tools or driving your vehicle through a tunnel car wash."

While washing a vehicle isn't exactly rocket science, there are tools and techniques that you can use to minimize car wash induced swirl marks and microscopic scratches that can reduce the beauty of your automotive paint finish. In this article we will learn about the do’s and the don'ts to get the most out of washing your car.

We need to take the approach that we are "gently lifting" dirt and grime rather than "scrubbing" it off the car. So often I hear about someone who meant well but really did more harm than good by using a scouring pad or steel wool to remove bugs, road tar or tree sap from their automobile's fine finish. These may seem like tough cleaning jobs to tackle but with a few specified products and my guidance, you will be able to clean your car the right way every time.

SELECT THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB Do not use dishwashing detergent, scouring pads or any other household cleaning item on your car. I highly recommend the use of high quality products that are made specifically for automotive cleaning and detailing.

Here are some detailing tools that I recommend for washing your car:

1. Two (2) clean 10 litre buckets.

2. 15 Metre garden hose with an adjustable spray nozzle or pressure cleaner.

3. Soft wash mitt, wash sponge or boar's hair wash brush.

4. pH balanced car wash shampoo.

5. Plenty of microfiber towels for drying.

WORK IN A SHADED AREA. One of the most important things to remember when washing you car by hand is to work in a shaded area and that the paint surface be cool to the touch. If you work in direct sunlight, the car's surface will get too hot and your car wash solution will tend to dry on the paint finish. Dried soap residue and water spots are something that we want to avoid so finding a shaded area to work in will be of great benefit to you and your car.

PRE-RINSE THE VEHICLE THOROUGHLY. Use a pressure cleaner or garden hose with an adjustable spray nozzle and thoroughly rinse your car, starting at the top and working your way down.. This step is very important as it will remove loose dirt and contaminants from the vehicle. Remove as much dirt as you can using this method before touching the car.

USE THE TWO BUCKET METHOD. I highly recommend the use of two buckets when washing your car. One of the buckets is going to be a clean water rinse for your wash mitt and the other bucket will contain your soapy car wash solution. When you see how dirty the water in your clean water rinse bucket gets, you will fully understand why I am telling you about using two buckets when washing your car.

To your first bucket, add the appropriate dilution of car wash soap and then add water. This method will agitate the solution to create copious amounts of suds. These suds with help lift dirt and grime away from your paint.

Fill your second bucket with clean water. You will use this bucket to dunk your wash mitt in after using it to clean your vehicle.

The proper steps to using the two bucket method are as follows:

1. Prepare two ten litre buckets, one with clean water and the other with soapy car wash solution.

2. Rinse vehicle thoroughly. This will remove loose dirt and contaminants.

3. Dunk your wash mitt into the soapy car wash solution, gently glide mitt over vehicle to lift dirt from surface. Start at the top of vehicle and work your way down. This is important to prevent transferring dirt from the grimier lower areas up to the rest of the vehicle. Use long straight sweeping motions with the wash mitt. Do not scrub. Allow the soap and water mixture to do the work.

4. Dunk wash mitt vigorously into the clean water rinse bucket to clean the mitt and remove any dirt and contaminants that were removed from the vehicle surface.

5. Dunk wash mitt into soapy car wash solution again, gently glide over vehicle to lift dirt from surface. Repeat this process until you have washed the entire vehicle and then rinse thoroughly.

RINSE YOUR WAY TO EASIER DRYING Now that you have washed your vehicle and rinsed it with a garden hose and spray nozzle, I am going to teach you another rinsing technique that will actually make the drying process easier!

You may have noticed that when you rinse your vehicle using a hose with a spray nozzle that a lot of water remains on the surface. This makes drying a chore with all that water left behind! The water may even be beading and if the beads dry before you get to them, you will be left with thousands of tiny water spots. There is an easier way!

Simply take the spray nozzle off of your water hose and use a stream of water instead of a spray to rinse your vehicle. Start at the top and slowly move the hose in a left and right pattern as you work your way down. Using this method to rinse causes the water to sheet right off your vehicle. This floods the vehicle surface and by providing more water volume, you allow gravity to pull the water down and off the car!

FINISH THE DRYING PROCESS WITH WAFFLE WEAVE MICROFIBRE. Throw away your old T-shirts, leather chamois, cloth nappies and anything else that you have been using until now. High quality waffle weave microfibre is a superior fabric to use when drying your car. Waffle weave microfibre slides across your paint finish easily, without stripping wax like other chamois and leather products do.

Start at the top of your vehicle and gently dry the surface. Use a smaller microfibre for the lower areas such as bumpers and bottom of doors to help prevent your towel from touching the ground.

WHAT ABOUT STUBBORN BUGS, ROAD TAR & TREE SAP THAT WASHING DID NOT REMOVE? Washing alone is not enough when it comes to bugs, road tar and tree sap. These contaminants make a tough bond and can be very destructive to your paint if not removed quickly. Please read this how to article that I have written to address these car care issues: HowTo Remove Bugs, Road Tar & Tree Sap

IN SUMMARY. Washing your car is the single most important thing that you can do to help keep that "like new" appearance for years to come. By keeping your vehicle clean, contaminants don't have a chance to etch into and destroy your expensive paint finish. Don't skimp when it comes to detailing tools. Use high quality car wash soaps, wash mitts and microfibre towels to help make the job easier and reduce the risk of car wash induced scratches and swirl marks.