Learn2 Wash a Car

Rub-a-dub-dub, your little car in a tub...

Depending on how you feel about your car, washing it is either a fine thing to do on a sunny afternoon, or a royal pain in the you-know-what. However you feel about it, you can prevent premature body rot if you wash it regularly. However you feel about car washing, you can prevent premature body rot if you wash it regularly. Automated car washes may be convenient, but they strip the wax and scratch the finish. Do-it-yourself coin-operated places often use water that's too hot, and brushes that are stiff and dirty. Folks who appreciate their cars always wash them by hand, and take great care to avoid damaging the finish.

All cars have a finish: a combination of paint and clear sealant of some variety. Older cars have a finish that's mostly paint with a thin, glossy coat of lacquer over the paint. The finish on newer cars consists of a thin layer of paint with a much thicker layer of glossy clear coat (see Keywords) applied on top of the paint. And finally, some cars have a layer of protective wax that their owners apply. When you wax a car, you're adding a layer that protects either kind of finish from the damaging effects of road grime, tree sap, bird droppings, dead insects and air pollution. Whether you wax or you don't, the finish is the first line of defense against body rot, and for that reason you want to keep it intact. Once you impair the finish of the car, you invite more destructive types of corrosion to take place.

To avoid damaging the finish and wax, you'll need to wash and dry your car with clean, soft all-cotton towels, or car washing mitts. Using the wrong cloth during the washing or drying process can create scratches and swirls, which you want to avoid at all costs. The same holds true for the cleaning solutions: dishwashing liquid will strip the car wax right off the finish, and powdered car soaps can scratch the clear coat. So use a good liquid detergent specifically designed for cars. And a final note on buckets: plastic buckets are recommended over metal ones--they're less likely to damage your car (and your toes) if you accidentally kick them over.

Park your car in the shade, and let it cool off before you start washing. If you can park on a slight incline, the water will run off more easily, and the car will dry more quickly. If you can park on a patch of gravel or grass, that is greatly preferable to washing a car on the street. Washing on the street could send the dirty rinse water (which contains chemicals from automobile emissions ) down to a storm drain. From there, the pollutants can enter a local body of water or even the water supply. Washing on gravel or grass provides a filter of stones or vegetation that will slow the spread of pollutants.

Clean the wheels if you want to

Wheels are a good place to start, because the cleaning solution generally works best on dry surfaces. Spray on the solution as directed by the instructions, and see if removes the dirt and dust. Use a little stronger stream for stubborn areas. If all of the road grime doesn't come off, use a soft brush but don't scrub too hard. If you have alloy wheels, make sure that the cleaner is safe for the protective clear coat. Rinse the wheels if the directions call for it. Note: keep any abrasives like steel wool pads, wire brushes, or even hard nylon-bristle brushes away from the wheels.

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Rinse the car down

 Use the hose to wet the car thoroughly from top to bottom. Use a pistol grip hose nozzle, and set it to create a medium-strong stream that will drive off bird droppings and other hardened deposits.

• Avoid those high-pressure handles that are becoming popular. They can damage a car by driving road grime into the finish, rather than washing it off.
  
• Aim the hose up under the car and into the wheelwells to wash off road salt and gunk from those areas.

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Prepare the car and the solution

If there's still some bug splats, tree sap, or other material on the surface, use a pre-cleaning solution to remove it with a clean mitt or towel. The answer can be as simple as adding a spot of full-strength car detergent (or another product designed specifically for this purpose) to a mitt or towel. Seltzer water works well for getting rid of bird droppings (which should be removed as soon as you spot them--even if you're not washing the whole car--so they don't damage the car's finish). Just pour some on, let it bubble up, then wipe clean. In any case, stubborn gunk (regardless of origin) should come off with gentle wiping; don't scrub the area and risk scratches.

Fill the bucket with the recommended ratio of detergent to cool water (hot water will soften the car's wax). Don't use more detergent than the instructions indicate--more detergent removes more wax. If anything, use less: many folks dilute the detergent to 75 percent of the recommended amount, and they end up with a sparkly clean car. Experiment and discover what amount works best for you.

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Wash the car

Since there's more dirt on a car's sides and panels than on the top, hood and trunk, you use two strategies. First, you'll work from top to bottom, and second, you'll switch to seperate mitts and towels when you get to these dirtier areas--again to keep scratches to a minimum.

Clean the horizontal surfaces (roof, trunk, and hood).

• Thoroughly wet down the section you'll be washing, and dunk the cleaning mitt or soft cotton towel into the wash solution. Wiping gently (no scrubbing!), clean the roof, hood and trunk of the car.
  
• Dunk the mitt or towel frequently, and shake it in the solution to let the grime wash out.
  
• Rinse each surface after it's been washed by flooding it with a low-pressure flow--not spraying it with a forceful stream. Rinsing as you finish washing is important: don't wash a section and then leave it to wash another. The dirty wash solution can dry on the surface, and then you're back where you started!

Clean the sides, grille and bumpers.

• Rinse again the section you'll be washing--start with the upper parts of the fenders.
  
• Dunk and shake a few times to keep the mitt or towel clean. After the upper parts are done, change your mitt or towel and wash the lower parts of the fenders, then the grille and bumper areas. These are the dirtiest parts of the car, so keep that second mitt or towel pretty clean by dunking and shaking.
  
• Wipe, don't scrub, and rinse each part as you clean it (as described above).

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Dry the car

Dry the surfaces of the car in the same order that you washed them, and move the towels around gently and...you guessed it...don't scrub.

• Take a clean, dry all-cotton towel or synthetic chamois (natural chamois contain acids that can strip the wax) and lay it on the surface to blot up the water.
  
• Switch to a dry towel and lay it on the surface a second time, gently blotting up any remaining water. Continue in this fashion, wringing out the chamois and changing the towels as they're saturated, until all the surfaces are dry. Opening the doors, trunk and hood will allow you to wipe up any water that trickled in. Finish by cleaning up the door jambs with a damp towel--this will prevent water from dripping inside the car.

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