Car Cleaning Tips :

Cleaning Your Car

By Jim Haskard

Keeping your car clean is very important for protecting the paintwork. Car's are happier when they're clean, and tend to drive better in my experience.

Cleaning a car

You should always start off with the interior, the two main reasons for this are

1.   After an exterior cleaning, you'll be blowing dirt all over your freshly cleaned car.

2.     You won't be dragging your vacuum cleaners extension cord through the puddle of water on your driveway, which can be quite dangerous.

Interior

1.      Vacuuming. As stated always begin with the interior and use a crevice tool for those hard to reach nooks and crannies, and a carpet brush to loosen dirt on your rugs.

2.      Cleaning. After you're done vacuuming clean all the seats, headliner, dashboard and door panels. If you're using interior cleaner check for any colour fading on any areas first. If there is any discolouration use soap and water solution instead.

3.      Conditioning and protecting. After you've finished cleaning the interior, treat all vinyl and rubber with interior solution treatment such as maguiar's. This will leave a nice, rich natural gloss to all treated areas.

Car washing

For the most effective results always follow the instructions on your car wash product.

1.    Always wash your car when it is cool and in the shade, as a hot surface causes the wash to dry to quickly increasing the chance of water spotting which is not nice.

2.    Always rinse off loose dirt before starting, this minimises the risk of abrasion from small particles.

3.   Use the proper wash/water mix ration stated on the product, using too much will leave a residue on your glass.

4.   I'm sure most people know this but start washing from the top down so all the dirt goes to the floor.

5.   For washing your wheels use a different sponge or a special wheel brush, a different wash product is also a good idea.

It is important to remove water spots by using a shammy leather as if they are left on the paint and glass for a long time they can become permanent, especially in glass.

Always clean your windows with towels or rags used only for cleaning windows. Wax and protectant residues add to the problem of getting the glass completely clean.

Waxing and polishing

The purpose of waxes and polishes is to create a protective layer between your paintwork and the elements, but most people do it for the great looks that result from applying them.

1.    As with washing, work in a cool shaded area to prevent the wax and polish drying too quickly.

2.    If an applicator is not provided with the product, use a slightly damp cloth rag for applying the wax or polish.

3.    For removing the wax or polish use a soft, dry towel. When removing the wax or polish, try to do it quickly rather than pressing hard on the paint, as excessive pressure can cause abrasion and scratches in the paint.

4.    Use a soft toothbrush to remove the wax or polish from hard to reach areas such as around lettering, badges etc.

5.   Use a buffer to buff out any streaks from the waxed surface.

If you choose to use an electric buffer be careful around peaks and curves where the paint is thinner and more vulnerable to getting damaged. You can use masking tape in these areas to avoid problems.

Trim and plastic parts

For plastic trim around the wheel arches, taillight lenses and any other exterior plastic use a plastic polish e.g. black, chrome trim and bumper polish from turtle wax to fill up any scratches and add luster and shine.

Tyre cleaning

For the tyres you can use some tyre polish which you just simply spray onto the tyres to get that wet look. When doing this be careful not to spray onto the tyre tread or brake pads as this stuff is slippery and can have a bad effect on braking.

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