When it comes to washing cars, nothing is worse than poor technique. At best, you simply wasted a couple of hours. At worst, you may permanently scratch your car.
Lest you give up and cruise to the local car wash, it isn’t really that difficult to wash your car by hand. In fact, if you wash your car efficiently, you can knock it out in no-time. Here are six simple steps:
Gather the Right Materials
The first step to wash your car by hand is to be prepared with the proper car washing materials. First, grab a bottle of car wash detergent like Armor All. Even though using dish soap is popular, don’t use it. Dish soap wasn’t made for cars, so it can harm your paint job. You’ll also need a sponge or car-washing mit to wash the body of the car, a brush to clean the grill and wheels, a bottle of wheel cleaner, a can of tire blackener, a bucket, and a water hose with running water. Rinse Off
Take a water hose and give the car a thorough rinse to get all the dirt and grime off. If you try scrubbing without rinsing, you’ll just be pushing around the grime — or, worse, you’re likely to cause a scratch. You may need to re-rinse your car before washing each individual section, especially if the weather is warm, but this initial complete rinse is essential if you want learn how to wash your car by hand. Wash the Top
Next, wash and rinse the top of your car. The suds will rinse down the sides of your ride, saving you a little time and effort later. If you wait to wash the top of the car until later in the process, you’ll have to spend extra time rinsing and spot-cleaning where the suds ran down the sides of the car. No need to waste time and effort! Wash the Front
The next step to wash your car by hand is to wash the front. The front of your car is usually covered with dead bugs and grime. When you wash it first, it will have time to dry while you wash the rest of the car. When you make your way back around to the front of the car again, you’ll be able to spot-check to see if you missed any dead bugs. Wash the Body
Wash your car’s body section-by-section. Rinse a manageable section (like a door, for example), wash it, then rinse the suds off. Repeat this step until you make your way all the way around the car, and then survey your work to tidy up any missed spots. And while the “wax on, wax off” style of scrubbing is popular, you’d be best to avoid it. If you scrub in circles, you’ll likely miss spots in the center of the circle you make while scrubbing. Instead, try scrubbing side to side, left to right.
Clean the Wheels
After you wash and rinse the car’s body, brush your car’s wheels. The wheels do most of the work, and they’re usually the dirtiest, so use some wheel cleaner and a sturdy brush to scrub all the crevices. After you rinse your wheels, spray your tires with a tire blackener. It will make your tires look darker and shinier than the day you bought them!
The most important ingredient when you wash your car is to enjoy yourself. Use this time to listen to some good music, soak in the sun, and take pride in your ride. Plus, know that you’re saving money by washing the car yourself!