Yes, it’s household work, but once you learn how to wash a car, inside and out, you’ll think two times about shelling out cash for someone else to clean it. Use this bit-by-bit manual to wash, dry, and vacuum your car for an all-around squeaky-clean vehicle — tyres included.
Before You Begin Washing Your Car
With a little planning and organization, your home car wash will find lasting success.
Find the shade.
Park in a shaded spot before washing your car. Washing it in the sun will make it dry faster, conceivably leaving soap rubbish and patchy spots on the car’s surface. If you don’t have a shady spot for washing your car at home, wash it on an overcast, shady day for less daylight.
Park on the grass.
When washing your car at home, the soapy water and soil that’s washed off the car will probably run into a storm drain, which can lower the community’s water quality. (The downside is that non-eco-accommodating items can damage your lawn, and you may wind up with sloppy areas that could get your tyres and wheels filthy.)
Prepare to get soaked.
You’ll probably get a lot of water and soap on you as you wash your car, especially if there’s any wind. Put on swimwear or other moisture-wicking clothing. And make certain to wear goes back and forth that can get wet.
How to Wash a Car at Home
When done proficiently, washing your car at home takes less time and yields improved results than using a retail car wash. Follow these moves toward taking care of business rapidly and successfully.
- Clean the Interior
- Vacuum Floor Mats and Blow the Interior
- Remove all floor mats from the car.
- Slap the mats together to remove the free soil.
- Blow debris from the spaces between each seat and the mid-control area with the vacuum hose connected to the exhaust port.
- Rub a clean toothbrush along the dashboard and entryway panels to unearth debris and dust these small areas.
To clean seat belts, dunk a cotton cloth into some warm water blended in with a couple of drops of laundry cleanser and wipe the belts clean.
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Vacuum the Floor and Upholstery
- With the front car seats pushed all the way ahead, vacuum the area under them from the backseat.
- While sitting in the back, vacuum the back floor.
- Finally, recline the seats and vacuum as far into the cleft as conceivable to recover any lingering soil.
- Wipe Down the Dashboard
Using a microfiber cleaning cloth, wipe the dashboard. Continue toward the centre console, gearshift, steering wheel, entryway handles, cupholders, and seats. Apply an auto-specific interior cleaner to the surfaces — skipping the seats (except if they’re leather). Using another cloth, wipe again.
Wash Windows
Apply a foam glass cleaner to each window like Invisible Glass ($10 for 2, amazon.com), which doesn’t trickle like a fluid formula.
Wipe the two sides with a microfiber cloth. Work in a S-motion horizontally on the inside, and then use a vertical S-motion on the outside.
Replace Floor Mats
Replace all floor mats. Give them a shake before placing them in the car to remove any dust or soil that may have landed on them from sitting on the driveway.
Hose Down the Outside
Make sure that all car entryways and windows are shut. Hose down the whole car, paying special attention to the tyres (and the panels behind them), where debris and brake dust gather.
Lather and Clean
- Fill two 2-gallon pails with water. To one, add a couple of spurts of an auto-specific soap like Meguiar’s ($4, amazon.com).
- With a car-wash mitt or a sponge, apply soapy water liberally over the outside, rinsing the mitt periodically in the container of plain water to avoid scratching the finish with clinging debris.
- Working from top to bottom, wash the car outside in this order, hosing off after each area to prevent the soap from drying: roof, hood, rear, upper portion of each side, and then lower part of each side.
Clean Tires and Wheels
Using a second mitt or sponge, clean the tyres (the elastic part) and wheels (the metal or coated alloy edges). You can also use an old toothbrush to clean between the wheel spokes.
Rinse and Dry Outside
Using the hose, completely rinse the car from top to bottom to be certain all soap is rinsed off, allowing the water to trickle to the floor. This way, as the water drops down, they won’t rewet areas you just dried.
Have a go at using a leaf blower to dry your car faster, working from top to bottom to let the water trickle down.
Apply Wax (Optional)
While optional, applying car wax can help safeguard the car’s outside. One wax coat typically lasts about 90 days, so you don’t have to do this step every time you wash your car. When necessary, this is the way to do as such:
Once the car is completely dry, apply wax like To The Max Wax ($28, turtlewax.com) for a shiny, defensive layer.
Use a clean, soft cloth, and follow the label’s directions.
Restore Headlights (Optional)
If your headlights have dulled or yellowed, you can restore them using a headlight renewal kit like 3M’s Fast Headlight Renewal ($4, amazon.com) that sands and polishes the focal point.
How Often to Wash a Car
You should wash your car at home about every fourteen days. Doing so will help preserve your car’s paintwork and prevent soil or grime from settling in. If you drive through a particularly filthy area (mud, dusty construction site, and so on), wash your car immediately to remove debris.
Regularly washing your car will prevent rain spots, dust, and other streaks from accumulating, which helps make each car washing session speed up.
How to Keep Your Car Clean Longer
Help your car stay clean among washes and waxes with these tips.
Use cup holder liners.
To avoid tacky cup holders from condensation and spills, purchase liners to insert in the cupholders. You can also insert silicone cupcake liners as a Do-It-Yourself option. Then, periodically remove and wipe clean.
Keep wipes handy.
For fast cleaning of spills, use wet wipes. Be certain they’re sans bleach, so you don’t affect the interior.
Dust off shoes.
Removing soil, snow, and other environmental debris can help prevent development on your car floor or mats.
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