Wheels Guru

Training, Travels, Racing – Motorcycles and Cars

The Rush Hour: Dos And Don’ts Of Car Washing

When you buy a car with your hard earned money, you want it and your ride look good and worth it. The best way to achieve it is to do a good, thorough wash with a lot of attention and precision. A slightest of negligence can cause damage to your valued car, followed up with a loss of money over repairs for the damages.

In order to avoid all this and to keep your car safe, there are certain dos and don’ts of car washing that you must keep in account.

  • Don’t end up scratching your car paint accidentally

dont-end-up-scratching-your-paint

Do:

Be little gentle while cleaning the surface of the car and always wear comfortable clothes sans any metal zippers or pointed accessories. Or else you may end up scratching the paint of your ride while leaning on sides to cleaning the roof.

Don’t:

Always remember to take off your jewelleries before starting to wash the vehicle. Rings, watches, bracelets, belts and so on can potentially scratch the body paint.

  • Read the directions properly before using the car care products

read-the-directions-properly-before-using-the-car-care-products

Do:

Read the directions properly over the car products you use. Some of them may have caution indications or tips to get the best results. Always follow those points to avoid any mishap while you rinse or buff the car surface with them.

Don’t:

Never use just any old cleaner product for the sake of cleaning the car; it may damage the car’s paint or the seats. Baby shampoo is safe but using dishwashing liquid is a terrible idea, especially for your car’s paint.

  • Try the baby shampoo trick

try-baby-shampoo

Do:

If ever you need to clean bird shit off your car urgently, but you don’t have a proper car wash product, then you can always use diluted baby shampoo. It is the quick and gentle way to wipe away the mess caused over your car by the birds.

Don’t:

Do not let the baby shampoo remain over the car for too long, especially under the sun. It may cause risks of faded car paint.

clean-the-rims

Do:

Apply the mist gently to remove the dirt of the car rim. Always start the wheel cleaning before the main car washing, as removing brake dust and wheel crud is a tougher thing to remove than the mess that gets over your car surface. Meanwhile you clean the rest of the car, the tough dirt gets removed off the rim eventually. It is somewhat similar to sinking the dishes before you clean them.

Don’t:

Do not wash the wheels entirely before the rest of the car. If you do that, while you wash the car later, all the grime and dirt rinsed off will end up in your clean rims. You would definitely not want to work double.

  • Control the amount of water

control-the-amount-of-water

Do:

Always use the right amount of water while car washing. Using too less water will not get the soap off your car surface and whereas using too much water can break all dirt on your car without washing it away. Get a sprayer head that has multiple settings like spray, mist and flat. You can fine-tune the flow of the water that gets to your car.

Don’t:

Do not spray the water with a full blast over the car and expect the dirt to get off.

  • Overcome the water traps

overcome-water-traps

Do:

While drying the car after a wash, always open the car doors, hatches and hood. Wipe or blow-dry every edge of the car. Water tends to get trapped in such tricky segments of the car and ends up leaving streaks over the paint as they dry up.

Water will go wherever it can, your task is to track them down and ensure they are all dried up beforehand.

Don’t:

Always stick a towel to your door pocket. There are chances when you roll down the car windows for the first time after washing, hidden water may get released running down to the sides of the car. A towel nearby will help to clean the dripping water instantly.

detail-interiors

Do:

Nothing is worse than a car that is clean from exterior but dirty from the interiors. Take time and clean the steering, vacuum the carpets to remove the wrappers or dirt over them and lastly, use some cleaner for the seats as well.

Don’t:

Never forget the dashboard interiors, they generally have dust more than you have ever expected.

A smart approach towards the car wash can help you keep your car clean as well as intact in a proper condition.