How to Wash Your Car Properly | Behzad Bandari

Dirty automobiles are excellent because they reveal how much the vehicle has been - utilized. However, this only works on dirty cars or those that appear to have been - used off-road, as seen by mud splats around the wheel arches, etc.

However, the problem is that most dirty cars don't look like this. They look neglected and untidy. It is the state that my car tends to get to no matter how often I use it, and so rather than find a forest rally stage to take part in, it inevitably brings to the point where I decide to wash it.

According to Behzad Bandari, there is some proper way to wash and clean a car. The following is intended as a guide for those of you who are new to the world of motoring and, as a result, to the world of keeping your car clean, or for those of you who believe you are not cleaning your vehicle correctly.

First of all, try and find a spot where the washing process won't be interrupted by falling leaves, etc.

Next, read the instructions on your car shampoo bottle and get a pail of warm soapy water ready. However, for the time being, set the bucket aside. One typical blunder is failing to hose off any excess dirt or grit from the car's surface. 

Because rubbing it off with a damp cloth or a sponge may produce microscopic scratches on the surface of your paintwork, do it with a hose or a pressure washer. Make sure you hose off all the characters from the top to the bottom of the car, including the wheels and tires.

Now, get your sponge or cleaning cloth and lather it up in your bucket of soapy water, and clean the whole of the roof of the car. Please give it a good rinse with the hose once you have completed sponging off the top.

Next, pick one side of the car and do the same. Please give it an excellent clean followed by a thorough rinse. Repeat this for the other side, followed by the front and the rear. Make sure you rinse between each section.

Once you have completed all four 'sides,' give the car another good rinse to try and stop any water spots from developing. After rinsing, take a towel or chamois leather and thoroughly dry the surface by laying it flat against the paintwork and dragging it across the surface. You may want to rinse the towel or leather in a bucket of clean, warm water before squeezing it dry and repeating. Do this for the whole car, starting with the roof before doing all four sides, starting at the top, and working your way down.

Behzad Bhandari, Now give the windows a good clean all around using some glass polish and a rag after making sure the surface is dry. Do the inside while you are at it.

If you have any metal or chrome on your car, give it special attention and a good rub with a cloth to polish away any water spots, says Behzad Bandari.

You can get cleaning supplies from almost anywhere. One good tip I heard was not to use car cleaning cloths from the pound shop as they tend to leave bits everywhere. A plain old cotton t-shirt is ideal from there for use as a drying rag.