How to wash your car

A flat, shady place to park with enough room to open the doors is essential to having a good working space in which to clean your car. A hose with a variable nozzle, two buckets (more on this shortly), a good quality car wash, a handful of microfiber cloths, an auto towel (for drying), and a wheel brush – or a separate microfiber cloth – for your wheels and tyres, are also vital.

You’ll also need a vacuum cleaner, rubber gloves, and a rubber brush and/or soft-bristle nail brush. Microfiber rags, paper towel, window cleaner and electrostatic cloths are also a great idea. Wheel cleaner is optional, depending on how dirty your wheels are.

We recommending washing your wheels first to avoid any harsh cleaners or brake dust being later transferred to your nice clean car. For the same reason, always use a separate microfiber cloth or wheel brush to that you’ll use to wash the rest of your car.

Most well-kept wheels won’t require anything more than soapy water to sparkle and shine. But if you’ve missed a few washes, or the wheels are black with brake dust, you may wish to use a spray-on wheel cleaner, being sure to follow the instructions on the bottle (as many contain acids that can attack the surface of your wheel if misapplied).

Wet the wheels first and use a soft cloth or brush to agitate your soapy water or wheel cleaner over every spoke and surface. Get in around the wheel nuts and give the outside tyre walls a good scrub, too.

We suggest doing one wheel at a time and rinsing all the detergent off thoroughly. Once the wheels are all clean, you can move on to washing your car.

Sparkling paint, clean windows, and shiny wheels are the three fundamentals of a good-looking exterior. But don’t grab that microfiber cloth just yet.

Before you start washing your car it’s important to think about the end result. Dragging out the hose on a bright, sunny day seems like a great idea, but in truth it’s best to wash your car in the shade or when it’s overcast to help prevent water and detergent spots from forming on the paintwork.

To make sure you’re not scratching any grime back into your paint, start by giving the car a thorough hose down. Once that’s done, you can use a foaming pre-soak treatment (or some detergent and water mixed in an atomiser) to lift any muck from the paint – being mindful to let it soak in for a couple of minutes before rinsing it away with a high pressure hose.

Now it’s time to bring out the microfiber cloths and buckets. Yes, buckets plural.

Fill one bucket with fresh water and the other with good-quality suds. Start washing your car from the roof down, cleaning and rinsing one panel or section at a time, as well as the door jambs, sills and scuff plates – and don’t forget inside the boot or hatch jambs.

Remember to rinse your microfiber cloth in the bucket of fresh water before going back for more suds, as this will ensure all that grit and grime you’ve just removed from your car ends up at the bottom of a bucket, and not rubbed back in to your paint.

If the cloth looks dirty, set it aside and grab another one. This will also avoid rubbing grit back into your paint.

For stubborn stains like sap and bird poo, check out this link.

Drying your car is an important step of the cleaning process. Removing any standing water from the paintwork and wheels not only helps leave the car looking more presentable; it also eliminates water stains which, over time, can have a mild corrosive effect on the clear coat.

Starting at the top, use a good quality auto towel to sweep the water away from the painted panels and glass. Squeeze your drying implement regularly to make sure you’re not reintroducing water to parts of the car you’ve already cleaned, and consider rinsing the auto towel regularly in a bucket of fresh water to prevent light scratching.

Once you’ve dried the painted panels and glass, re-open the bonnet, boot and doors and dry the edges of the panels and the door jambs. This attention to detail will pay big dividends come sale time, and also stop hidden dirt and grime from making its way on to your clothes next time you hop in the car.

With the body work done, use a separate soft cloth to dry your wheels and tyres. Although the wheels might be clean, fine grit that may be lurking in hidden spots can contaminate pliable fabrics – and you don’t want to rub this back into your paint next time you clean the car. Different coloured cloths for different parts of the car is a great way of avoiding this kind of cross-contamination.

If you’re considering adding a protectant like wax or tyre shine to your finished work, do it now before moving on to the interior.

Like cleaning your home, cleaning your car is a process that is best done in sequence. It’s also the place you spend the most time in – and no one wants to sit in a dirty car.

Start by taking any rubbish from the car, and by setting aside any personal possessions and loose items – this includes your floor mats. This will give you a better idea of what needs doing, and allow you to get in and under all those nooks and crannies that can harbour dust and ick.

Next, it’s time to grab an electrostatic cloth and wipe over all the cabin’s hard surfaces. The electrostatic cloth is a great tool for lifting away loose dust and particles, and will reach into areas such as vents and panel gaps to ensure a thorough clean. If you don’t have these, a lightly dampened soft cloth works nearly as well.

If you have leather seats, the electrostatic cloth can also help get crumbs and dust from between the seams. If you have cloth trim, use a rubber glove to loosen any lint or hair trapped in the fabric before firing up the vacuum cleaner. You can use the same method on your floor mats, or employ a soft rubber brush, similar to one used to brush your pets, or even masking tape.

Now get the vacuum cleaner to work using a small, brushed head to thoroughly rouse the fibres of your fabric and carpet. You’ll be surprised at how much material the vacuum cleaner picks up once you’ve taken the time to first loosen that pressed-in grunge. For heavier stains, consider a little shampoo and warm water on a dampened microfiber cloth.

If you’re as fussy as we are, you can also use a nail brush and soapy water to clean your pedals. Just be sure to place an old towel or some rags on your carpet first, and remember to dry them with a clean, soft rag immediately afterwards.

Clean glass and mirrors are vital to your safety. Being able to clearly see where you’re going is a crucial part of safe driving. Furthermore, clean glass will also allow your wipers and demister to work more effectively, further improving your visibility and safety the next time it rains.

The important thing to remember, however, is that standard and tinted glass should be cleaned in different ways. Where glass cleaners and a paper towel will work well on untinted glass (like your windscreen), mild soapy water – rinsed with fresh water and a soft cloth – is better used on tinted glass so as to avoid any damage to the film.

Like any spray or cleaner, always apply the window cleaner to your paper towel or cloth first, as spraying the product directly to the glass can lead to over-spray on other materials. Be sure to keep the cloth damp – but not wet – and work it into the very edges of each window. Be careful not to bump electrical connectors, such as the ones for your demister, and to reset your rear-view mirror if you happen to knock it out of place.

Repeat the process two or three times per pane – inside and out – until you’re satisfied with the result.

It’s recommended the same method is applied to cleaning your mirrors. Don’t forget the wing mirrors, rear-view mirror and vanity mirrors, and if you have one, give the reversing camera’s lens a wipe too. Once you’re done, use the same damp cloth to wipe your front and rear wiper blades, and remember to top-up your washer reservoir.

Moving beyond the basic clean outlined above is commonly referred to as ‘detailing’ your car. This can include the application of protectants and waxes, tyre shine, and an under bonnet scrub. We’ll cover these steps in more, err, detail later on.

But for now the results of a proper wash should impress even the fussiest driver. Remember to secure your floor mats back in place and return your personal items before packing the hose away.

Car cleaning time is also a great opportunity to check your car’s vital fluids and tyre pressures (including the spare) – and don’t forget to have a look at your engine, wheels and tyres for anything out of the ordinary you may wish to report to your mechanic.

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This story was originally published on March 4, 2018, but has been recently updated.