Everybody likes a clean car, right? Well what if I said I could make your clean car even cleaner? In an effort to help you bring out the best in your ride, we’ve put together these 5 tips to help you make your car wash even better. So read on, take it in, and when you’re done I strongly suggest putting them to use and seeing how well they really work…
1. Use Less Water
When washing at home, typically you use one or two buckets (two is always recommended). Often times I see too much water going into the buckets. There’s simply no need to fill a 5 gallon bucket all the way to the top – you’re going to over use your car wash soap and end up spilling half of the water out when you go to rinse your wash pads. A good rule of thumb is to fill the bucket up half way to three quarters. 2-3 gallons is really all you need and you’ll instantly increase your suds production while cutting down on your water usage.
2. Dry With Damp Towels
I know what you’re thinking… now that’s just silly, why would you ever dry with damp towels? We’ve been practicing it in our detail shop for over 6 years and it works wonders. Dry towels tend to cling and become over saturated, making it actually harder to dry the car – with a damp microfiber this no longer an issue. By using slightly damp microfiber towels to dry your car, you will effectively decrease the amount of surface friction, wick away water easier, and dry the car faster. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself… lightly wet your drying towel and throw it in the dryer for a few minutes so that it’s a bit heavier than normal – not soaking wet. Dry your car and I guarantee you wont be disappointed.
3. Always Use GritGuard
Placing a GritGuard at the bottom of any wash or rinse bucket greatly decreases your risk of damaging your paint. When rinsing, agitate the pad against the GritGuard to release the contaminants such as dirt, grime, sediment, and the like. The insert allows the “grit” to settle at the bottom of the bucket so you don’t pick it back up with your wash pads. This ensures a dirty pad is never in contact with your finish.
4. Wash Wheels First
To prevent overspray and sling from dirty wheels, always wash them before you move on to your paintwork. Granted you may not be moving your car, and in that case it doesn’t really matter, but in the event that you do need to reposition you don’t want to tarnish your hard work by flinging brake dust up onto your quarter panels. Additionally, make sure your wheel cleaning tools are in a separate bucket from your wash utensils and your rinse water. Brake dust can tear apart your finish – it’s not worth getting on your wash pads and risking damage to your paintwork.
5. Clean Windows
Clean windows make a clean car – no smudges, no finger prints, no smiley faces, and, most of all, no streaks. To aid this, there’s a little detailing trick that I’m going to let you in on: when cleaning your windows, use vertical strokes on the exterior and horizontal strokes on the interior. Can you guess why? If you end up leaving streaks then you’ll know exactly what side you need to hit with the towel one last time. Making sure your windows are spotless is one of the best ways to make your newly washed car really pop and I strongly suggest doing so with every car wash.
BONUS TIP: While the car is still wet, apply Formula 1201 to put a 6-9 month base layer of protection that will shield your paintwork from environmental contaminants, UV damage, and more.
Car wash tips are a dime a dozen, but these five are priceless. They might seem simple at first, but I guarantee that if you add them to your car wash routine you won’t be disappointed. So give them a try next time you soap up your car and remember to let us know how it goes… What did you like? What didn’t you like? And as usual, speak up if you think we missed something – everyone has their own tips and we’d love to hear yours!