How To Wash Your Car The Right Way

Every weekend, people gather in their driveways for a time-honored tradition: washing their car. This not only gives off a great impression to your neighbors, and coworkers, but also preserves the paint (and value) of your vehicle. Unfortunately, most people are doing it wrong! The usual washing techniques end up in those weird swirls, water spots, and little scratch marks that you see when you see the sun’s reflection.

Fear not, we’re going to go over a few tips on how to wash your car the right way.

Tip #1 – Two-Bucket Wash Method

Let me guess, you use a single bucket and a water hose, fill it with dish soap (or fancy meguiars soap), a microfiber towel or mitt. Once you get it all lathered up, you give her a good rub down and rinse your rag off when you need more soap…

Wrong.

Let think about this. If you put the dirty rag you were using to wash the car in the same bucket you use to get soap…won’t you just be taking dirt particles back to the vehicle to rub into that clear coat? Exactly. Don’t scratch, mar, and fade your clearcoat. Your car deserves better.

Luckily, this is a totally easy fix. All you have to do is use to buckets of water. One filled with water, the other filled with water and soap! Once you’re done washing a section of your car, you just clean it in the bucket with just water, then you can transfer it back into the soap bucket and repeat!

Tip #2 – Grit Guards

Imagine a washboard type of device that doesn’t let your rag touch the bottom of the soap buckets. That device would prevent any settled dirt/debris in your buckets to get on your wash mit. Very simple solution and cost effective as well. Honestly, I wish I would have invented this simple tool. Suggestion: ttp://amzn.to/2wsaHnr.

Tip #3 – The Soap

Unless you want your clear coat cracking/fading in a few years, Put the dish detergent down! Yeah, it cleans really well, but it will eat your protective wax coatings away too like nobody’s business. Have you ever spent hours on your car, waxing it? If you used dish detergent in your next wash, you threw all of your hard wax work away. The solution is simple: Buy a soap designed for paint protection that is pH-neutral and maximizes lubrication so you don’t scratch that clear coat.

Soap Suggestions:

Chemical Guys – Mr. Pink = http://amzn.to/2iuOzmp

Griot’s Garage Car Wash = http://amzn.to/2iv9vKa

Tip #4 – Drying Your Car

Don’t just take a cotton bath towel and rub your car down. Cotton might be too abrasive for softer clear coats. Start at the top of your car with a microfiber towel and pat dry (like someone on a diet patting down a greasy pizza). If you just drag a towel across the surface, you might end up pulling a leftover piece of dirt/debris across your car, leaving a nice scratch.

Personally, I use this kit (http://amzn.to/2w29hyP) from chemical guys. It came with both buckets, wash mit, soaps, grit guards, and a microfiber towel. For the price, its an amazing deal.

Now go out there and make your car the cleanest on the block!

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