Not Cleaning Your Vehicle Will Cost You
Regular car washes are essential to protecting your vehicle’s body from environmental elements and harmful materials such as bug splatter, bird droppings, dirt, and more. Over time, these contaminants can build up on your vehicle's paint surface, causing significant damage if left untreated.
While you may already wash your vehicle, are you using the correct detailing products? Are you following the proper washing techniques to avoid swirl marks and scratches? This guide not only provides instructions on how to clean your vehicle's exterior but also offers helpful tips to ensure a professional finish every time.
The Importance of Proper Washing Practices
Washing your vehicle regularly is important, but using the right techniques and products is even more critical. If you’re looking to maintain a perfect, flawless paint finish, it’s an all-or-nothing commitment. Slacking on proper care—even occasionally—can lead to costly damage.
If you're ever faced with the choice of washing your car improperly or letting it stay dirty for a while, let it stay dirty.Improper washing can cause irreversible damage, while dirt can usually be safely removed with the right techniques later.
Remember this
When cleaning the car, think of the life cycle of a rock, you wouldn't drag a rock along the hood of your car, but when you wipe dust from the paint, that's exactly what you are doing. The life cycle goes: Rock, Smaller rock, Pebble, Dust. And the high majority of the dirt on cars, is actually just dust, aka lots of tiny rocks.
Don't Use Tunnels
Tunnel car washes make detailers a lot of money in paint repair. NEVER EVER take your car through a car wash like this.
These car washes use spinning brushes, known as "wraps" in the industry. Wraps are rarely cleaned, and the brushes themselves are so aggressive that they scratch the paint.
Not only do these washes create scratches, but due to the extremely high water usage, they are forced to recycle the water—leading to an extremely high risk of hard water spots.
Safe methods
Touch-less, Automatic
Touchless automatic car washes (the kind that move around a parked car) are safe for the paint, but they aren’t the most ideal due to the risk of mechanical damage caused by high water pressures.
Self-Service Bay
Better than the automatic touchless car washes are self-service car wash bays. Just NEVER USE THE BRUSH.
DIY At-Home Wash
Key Tips for Washing at Home
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Don’t use dish soap: Only use purpose-made car wash soap. Avoid soaps with added chemicals like "wax" or "ceramic," as these will only protect the dirt you are trying to wash off.
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Wash during cooler times: Choose a cloudy day, early morning, or cooler temperatures to reduce the risk of water drying on the paint.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Start from the top to the bottom.
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Clean tires, wheels, and exhaust first:
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Use tire and wheel brushes to work cleaning chemicals into crevices.
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Cleaning the wheels last might splash road grime onto the freshly cleaned car.
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Rinse the engine bay:
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Ensure everything in the engine bay is closed and tight.
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Gently rinse the engine bay with water.
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Rinse the vehicle exterior:
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Use a garden hose or pressure washer, starting from the top to the bottom.
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This loosens dirt, grime, and bugs, letting them run off.
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Optional: Use a soap foam gun for better coverage (though not required).
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Wash with a quality wash mitt:
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Use a deep-pile wash mitt to reduce the likelihood of scratches or swirls.
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Employ the Dual Wash Bucket Method:
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One bucket for wash solution, another for plain water.
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Rinse the mitt in plain water before reapplying wash solution to avoid contamination.
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Wash in small sections from top to bottom, rinsing the mitt at least once per panel.
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Rinse the soap off:
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Start at the top of the vehicle and work your way down.
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Dry the vehicle:
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Work panel by panel to avoid water spots.
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If water spots remain, use a quick detailer to clean them up.
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