How to Clean Your Car

When hosing your car, make sure to go from one area then work your way up. Dirt may go to a different area of your car. Go over it several times if needed.

You know how difficult it is to get those Love Bugs off the windshield and the front of you vehicle in May and October, Love Bug Months.
While washing your vehicle, simply use a Bounce Fabric Softner Sheet, wet it and watch the magic.Unbelievable.

Hose from the top, then use baking soda and dawn in the bucket. Nothing works better.

Washing and waxing your car
NEVER, EVER USE DISH SOAP- IT WILL RUIN ANY WAX THAT’S PROTECTING YOUR PAINT- think about it- dish soaps contain degreasers for cutting through things- like waxy buildup. stick with a car shampoo or soap. And be sure to be in the shade, if at all possible.

1. Wheels
Start with your wheels, otherwise you could get parts of what could have been a clean car dirty again. Be sure to start on a wheel that’s not hot to the touch- you don’t want to warp your brake rotors! Take your time, get them good, these babies hold a lot of brake dust and road grime. After doing all four, be sure to change your water out for a fresh batch before continuing on the rest of your car. Back to the wheels- if they’ve cooled, get ‘em wet. Spray your favorite wheel cleaner and let her sit- follow directions on the bottle. I’ve found that sometimes I gotta give it a second round or use a SOFT wheel brush.If your wheel wells are nasty, you can hit them with the cleaner as well. When satisfied, hose your wheel down and move on.

2. Tires
These guys like to be cleaned one at a time as well- I like Black Magic’s Tire Foam. Easy to use- spray it on, let it sit and spray it off. This step will get the ready for that shiny tire dressing that’ll give your ride that finishing touch.

3. Wash and Dry
Most Important car care step- caring for your paint job. There are plenty ways to do it. You worked hard for this car; so, do it right- use the old school two bucket method. One with car wash solution (NO DISH LIQUID! IT WILL STRIP YOUR WAX!!) and the other with plain water for rinsing. This is in order to keep your rinsing mitt clean from grit that could damage your paint. Dip your mitt into some suds (not too many) then starting at the top, do one section at a time and work your way down each side of the car. Now, my dad used to use a circular motion, but he’d end up with swirls in his paint- i think you end up pressing to hard. SO, I recommend going with the air flow of your car, using a back and forth motion. I find this technique to rain supreme in all levels- washing, waxing, drying. Don’t muscle it, we want to lift the dirt not sand the car. After washing each panel, clean your suds mitt and hit the panel with some water- do all the panels this way- you will thank me in the end. Besides, this is YOUR time.

Now, for the final rinse, let the water run softly from the top down. Because you’ve used proper procedures during the wash, the water will sheet off and mostly remove itself. Now, kill the water and let’s dry. To do it right, use a micro-fiber towel (pick up a pack at Costco- 36 for $15) a terry cloth type towel. You can blot or swipe if your using a micro-fiber. But make sure you take it one step further and use a good quality micro fiber towel to get all the remaining water off and out of all the nooks and crannies before moving on to the wax process.

4. Wax and Polish- you have a technique now use it here as well and adapting your products directions.

5. Dress Tires
Back to my favorite tire cleaner because it does both clean and dress- Black Magic’s Tire Foam. Now, it’s not as glossy as some other things I’ve seen, but I don’t have a show car- If you love the wet look, there’s plenty of good products out there.

6. Polish Wheels
This is the last exterior step- be happy! You just saved yourself $200 on detailing- go buy yourself tickets to the Bears game- or you can keep yourself outta the doghouse by buying your wife a night out on the town in your detailed ride.

Back to biz- this will help you in the long run- polishing your wheels is like scotch guarding your couch- it helps to repel brake dust and grime, making it easier to clean for next time. I like Ice by Turtle wax for this- very easy to use and does a great job- if you want to spend a little more time and have an excuse to get out the drill- buy yourself Mother’s power ball. No wrong way here- wax on wax off- be sure the product you use is safe for the material your rims are made of.

7. Interior Care
Armor All has me covered here. I like the matte look. They’ve got one that’s safe for every surface (excluding glass) which I love- use it on the dash, the steering wheel, seats (with out sliding out of ‘em). Be sure to spray your micro-fiber cloth first and then apply. I keep mentioning micro-fiber here because they can be washed about 100 times- in the long run- they’re much better than paper and MUCH safe on all your car’s surfaces.

Have fun!
-Robert

When I wash my car, I do it weekly even if I don’t see anything on it. When I dry it, I use my husband’s leaf blower, it works fast and its’s great. It gets the water out from under chrome (usually one of the places rust starts at). I also wipe the inside of the doors with plain water. For the windows I use a product called Invisible Glass. It is great, it does not streak. Just spray and wipe off. To keep things in order in the trunk, I laid down some of those things you put under carpets to keep them from sliding. Nothing moves around in the trunk.

not a tip,a question: How can i remove accumulated wax (from auto carwash) from vehicle windshield.

Wipe under the dorr of your car after washing .
It is very important to wipe the car properly after each wash. and one very common place one misses is the lower panel of the door. When you wash the car, water enters the Doors through the window panels. SO once you are done washing the car and if you have enough place around your car, leave all the doors-open for 5-10 mins and wipe it dry . All cars have drain holes at the bottom of the doors to drain rain water. But due to accumalation of dirt and muck in the inner parts, these holes get blocked, ensure you clean and clear the blocks if any ….. DO not neglect this part , because if you do you know what you can expect in due course of time ….. RUST. Your cars WORST ENEMY. Happy wahing ! ! !

Question: Help!!! How do you remove build-up from headlights?

TIP : Help!!! How do you remove build-up from headlights?While I’m waxing a vehicle I buff the headlights too. It takes all the build up OFF! They will look NEW!!!! I use a auto buffer you just got to learn how to use one. It’s easy by the time you wax your vehicle you then do your headlights