How To Clean Your Car

Cleaning your car is one of the best ways to enjoy your ride. After investing a good chunk of money to buy your car, why wouldn’t you want to keep it nice and shiny? Especially if you plan on selling your vehicle or need to drive to a fancy party. Unfortunately, cars can get dirty quickly after a rainy or muddy day. Thankfully, it’s easy to clean your car, leaving it spotless afterward.

Of course, the easiest way to clean your car is by going to a car wash. However, these can be a lot more expensive than doing your own car wash at home. They can also be busy, so it might be more convenient to clean your car at home. There’s also a great feeling you get when cleaning everything by hand, which you’ll never get by going to a car wash. Now, let’s talk about how to clean your car yourself.

Before You Get Started

Before starting any cleaning, make sure your car is out of direct sunlight and heat. Leaving your car in the sun or heat will cause soap to dry up quickly, which will leave noticeable marks on your vehicle. Instead, park your car in a shaded area or schedule a time to clean early morning or evening when the sun isn’t too bright. You should also avoid parking under trees as leaves and bugs may fall on your car. Avoid parking in any area where your car may get dirty as you clean.

Next, you need to prepare all your cleaning supplies and tools. You’ll need:

1. A water hose that can turn on or off at any time. It needs a nozzle that sprays out water with strong pressure to clean off dirt effectively.
2. One bucket of water with cleaning solution that’s designed to clean cars. Follow the instructions of the solution to add the perfect amount.
3. Another bucket of water without cleaning solution.
4. One clean washing mitt or soft natural sponge. These need to be completely clean before cleaning your car to avoid scratching the paint.
5. One dry chamois or soft-terry cloth.
6. Tire cleanser that’s designed to clean car tires and another soft natural sponge.

Make sure you grab all proper supplies to clean your car. Using dishwashing detergent, hand soap, or another cleaning product from home may remove wax from your car.

It’s also worth mentioning that after your car is cleaned, adhesive floor mats can be used to protect the carpet of your vehicle from becoming dirty again. You can purchase premium adhesive floor mats from MBR Marketing at Adhesive Floor Mats.

Steps to Clean Your Car

Step 1: Hosing down

1. Spray down your entire car with a water hose standing at least one foot away.
2. If possible, choose a pressure setting that won’t damage your car but will effectively remove dirt, debris, and grime.
3. Take your time, and be sure to remove anything you can with your hands, such as leaves and twigs.
4. Don’t move the water hose closer than one foot to remove stubborn dirt, as it may damage your car’s paint.

Step 2: Working on sections

1. Focus on cleaning one section of your vehicle at a time, starting from the roof of your car to the bottom.
2. Grab your mitt or sponge and soak it with the bucket with cleaning solution. Start cleaning the roof of your car and swipe in straight lines. Avoid swiping in circular motions as it may leave swirl marks. Once done, rinse off your mitt or sponge in the water bucket. Use your water hose to rinse off the soap, so it doesn’t dry onto your car.
3. You’ll need to repeat step two each time you clean one section of your car. Soak your mitt or sponge with cleaning solution again to continue cleaning the remaining sections of your car. Make sure you clean your doors, rear bumper, in between the spoiler, and even inside the gas compartment. Open your doors and clean the door jams, too.
4. Once you’ve cleaned all the sections of your car, spray down your entire vehicle with your water hose one last time. Be observant to ensure no soap is left on your car.

Step 3: Drying

1. Grab your chamois or soft-terry cloth to dry your car. Do not let your car air dry as it can cause watermarks and streaking all over, causing you to do some extra cleaning to remove them.
2. Blot the water instead of wiping your car down dry for the best results. Use slight pressure and make sure you remove the water from your chamois or cloth often. 

Step 4: Cleaning the wheels

1. Grab two more clean buckets or clean out the buckets you used earlier to clean your wheels.
2. Fill the buckets with water and add the tire cleanser to one. Follow the instructions carefully to add the perfect amount.
3. Soak the clean sponge in the solution for 2-3 minutes and then clean one wheel at a time. Clean from the top of the wheel and work your way down. If there’s stubborn dirt that won’t come off or you can’t reach with your sponge, use a soft-bristled toothbrush to scrub it off. If the dirt still won’t come off, you may need to apply a de-greaser on your tires and then try cleaning them again.
4. Once you cleaned one wheel, rinse off the soap with your water hose and dry it with your chamois or soft-terry cloth. This time, you can dry your tires by wiping them down instead of blotting the water.

Step 5: The interior

Now that the exterior of your car is all clean, you can work on the interior. Cleaning the interior is pretty straightforward.

1. Remove all pieces of trash and anything else that doesn’t belong in your car.
2. Take your floor mats outside and shake them clean. Vacuum any big chunks of dirt that fall on the floor.
3. Vacuum any dirt, dust, and grime you see inside your vehicle.
4. Use glass cleaner to clean your mirrors, carpet cleaner for your carpets, and foam cleanser for fabric stains.
5. Grab a box of car wipes and wipe down everything inside your vehicle, including your steering wheel, dashboard, console, and air vents.