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8 Clever Tips for Cleaning Your Car You Need to Know About
Get your car back to prime condition with these brilliant ways on how to clean your car!
By: Viktor Austria | June 01, 2020
Doing it yourself not only saves you money, but you also make sure your car gets a quality cleaning.
Any dedicated driver would know that cleaning one’s car isn’t just about wiping and washing—it’s more than that, so you should know about the smartest tips for cleaning your car. Keeping it in immaculate condition also ensures that your car is kept efficient for longer.
That much at stake means it’s time to ditch the neighborhood car wash and take up the thorough task yourself. If you think the deed is too daunting for one man to do, worry not, as this list should tell you that it’s doable. Help keep your ride stay spick and span with these tips for cleaning your car!
1. Park it in a nice shade.
It sucks when it rains after cleaning your car, but car wash days are actually better cloudy than sunny.
Imagine it’s a sunny Saturday and you finally found the time to clean your car yourself.
Despite the nice weather, the first thing to remember is to avoid washing your car when it’s been bathing under the sun beforehand. Make the mistake of rinsing a car resting under direct sunlight and the water will just dry off along with the soap and whatever stain you intended to clean. This falters your car’s initial finish, and you might not be able to save the paint’s spoiled polish with further washing or waxing.
You can let it cool beneath a shade, or start cleaning just as the day is closing for a gentler job on your car.
2. Give it a thorough rinse.
Don’t zip through the task, as rinsing solid dust stuck on the surface makes them harder to remove.
Here’s an easy start: give your car a quick one-over to start cleaning. Do a dry-wash by removing random leaves or litter and wiping off the obvious mucks and loose dirt off the surface with a regular rag.
Then, start the rinse with a high-pressure hose and wash any excess blots off the entire surface of your car. Make sure to reach even the nooks and crannies of the often-overlooked undercarriage, grille, mudguards, and wheel arches, as these are where rust might start to build up beyond your notice. Be careful not to set the water pressure too high too, as this might cast off your car’s wax.
3. Scrub in a straight motion.
Make sure to have two buckets of water ready: one for washing and another for rinsing.
Now that your car’s cool and clean of initial dirt, it’s time to be more hands-on. Grab a soft sponge – it can be made of wool, cotton, or any soft, non-abrasive material – and an automotive cleaner, car shampoo, or anything of the kind. Ditch the common dishwashing soap, as this might be too coarse on your car’s coat.
Then, start scrubbing your car’s surface in a straight, up-and-down motion. Haste is waste, and opting to scrub wildly to finish fast would just cause dried streaks and swirls afterwards. Do a complete top-to-bottom clean, and make sure to get into the tire grooves, antennae, and anywhere else you might otherwise miss.
4. Use a soft terry towel for drying.
If you don’t have terry cloth towels at home, super-absorbent microfiber chamois used on kitchen and bathroom surfaces work just as well too.
Once you’re done scrubbing, don’t delay and grab an absorbent terry towel and just dab your whole car dry. Avoid using regular rags for this as these might not soak up the water fully, causing you to wring them again and again. For this purpose, its durability and absorbency still make terry towels the top choice for the task.
Make sure to be as thorough in wiping as you were in washing. Likewise, you would want to avoid air drying your car as this will definitely cause water spots, streaks, and swirls, putting your efforts in vain.
5. Buy the correct tire cleaner.
Also consider that some tire cleaners might affect your car’s coat when incorrectly sprayed.
While one round of washing might seem enough, the strain that your tires constantly take calls for a special system of cleaning.
Make sure to buy the suitable tire cleaner and spray the recommended amount on your tires. Take note of the kind of cleaner you’re buying – some cleaners can work for both, while some might only work for either the tire or the wheel.
Once sprayed, let it set, and give the wheel a careful wipe and the tires a thorough clean with a stiff scrubber, a grout brush, or any brush with bristles hard enough to clean the tires’ tough surface. Rinse, and then repeat if necessary.
6. Wipe both sides of the windows.
You may opt to repeat this process for that extra buff.
A word of advice: window cleaners, usually the household brands, have ammonia that help dissolve deep stains that commonly get stuck on window surfaces. However, ammonia reacts to plastic, vinyl, rubber, or leather, which bodes badly for your tinted windows. What’s more, ammonia is a dangerous chemical that releases fumes which might be inhaled long after you wipe the inside of your windows. Therefore, you definitely want to use only ammonia-free window cleaners for your car.
Now that you’re using a cleaner that’s free from ammonia, spray just enough onto your microfiber terry cloth and opt to start wiping your windows and windshield in a straight up-and-down motion instead of spraying it directly. Also remember to lay terry towels on the interior or the dashboard to catch water drips.
7. Wax after washing.
You can get that gloss with waxes or paint sealants that come in either tub or spray form.
It’s time to let that clean sparkle stay for longer.
Before applying wax, you’d want to strip off the previous coating first, as it may dull under the new layer. Spray the surface with a pre-wax cleaner, then with a clay lubricant, gently swab the clay over.
Car owners also tend to think that the more wax they smear, the more their car will shine, when it’s actually the other way around. Through the process of layering, spread the wax as thinly as possible using the pad provided in the wax tub. Make sure to cover every inch of your car before wiping it with a terry cloth for a nice polished finish.
8. Scrub the seats and clean your quarters.
Work through the consoles and the crevices with care as they might get damaged.
Your car’s interior might be the last on the agenda but it’s the most demanding part to clean.
First, the easy part: take out any obvious trash and wipe all surfaces with a microfiber cloth or a duster. For your car covers and floor mats, dust them thoroughly and apply trace amounts of baking soda solution for a deep, deodorizing clean.
For the more intricate areas, start by vacuuming through the crannies of your center console and in between passenger seats. Then, with a palm-sized brush and soap solution, just work your way around the steering wheel and the dashboard. Finish the job with a fresh smell: spray baking soda on the floors, or invest in an essential oil diffuser.
Make sure to check out Yoorekka for more smart tips on being a responsible car owner.
The task might be tedious, but making time to clean your car shows that you care for your everyday commute companion. Now that’s a weekend well spent!
Note: This article was originally published in Yoorekka on November 26, 2019.
About Viktor Austria
Viktor would love to receive an extra hour a day as a Christmas gift. That way, he won’t have to struggle over splitting his 24 hours among making brand copies and campaigns, writing children’s stories, going to the gym, commuting around Taguig, and feeding his two overweight cats. He hates the hustle culture, that’s why he’s thankful for friends who have time to spare on weekends, preferably over spicy ramen and cold bottles of beer.
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Disclaimer: All articles in the Consumers Magazine of Yoorekka are
for general information and entertainment purposes only. Although
careful research has been made in writing them, Yoorekka does not
make any warranty about the completeness and accuracy of all
information presented in our articles. Our content is not intended
to be used in place of legal, medical, or any professional advice.
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