Last updated on February 26th, 2024
Washing your car at home does not have to be an arduous task that you dread performing. Properly scrubbing a vehicle should be enjoyable. I will provide Top Car Wash Tips for a Flawless Finish!
Detailing a car makes me feel better while driving a beautiful, clean, protected vehicle. Properly washing a car at home can take a lot of time. If you perform the work incorrectly, it can cause expensive and lasting damage to your vehicle.
However, if you do it right, you will feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. You may even be the envy of the neighborhood.
This post will explain the proper techniques for washing your car. Also, I will supply tips & products to make future home car wash experiences more effortless and less time-consuming.
Preparing to wash a car
One of the main things to remember before washing a car is the outside temperature and the car’s surface temperature. You want to avoid working in or on a hot vehicle for safety. It is also best to avoid washing the car immediately after driving it.
Most car cleaning products add a disclaimer to their labels saying not to work in direct sunlight. You should wash your car in a climate-controlled garage. You only clean the vehicle after it has had time to arrive at a cool-to-the-touch temperature. If you do not have the luxury of a climate-controlled garage, you can perform the detailing work in the shade.
If it is overwhelmingly hot, you must prepare all your tools and the necessary car wash products before you begin washing the car. You do not want your car wash products baking on the vehicle and in the heat.
Affiliate Marketing Disclaimer: I am an affiliate marketer with links to online retailers on my website. When people read what I have written about a particular product, click on those links, and buy something from those links, I earn a small commission from the retailer at no extra cost to the buyer.
The steps for washing your car’s wheels and tires.
While you allowed the car to cool down, you could have prepared all your car care products for washing your vehicle. During your preparation, you pulled out the water hose, a couple of buckets, a couple of dirt traps for your buckets, your specialized car wash soap, a wash sponge, a car wash mitt, and a couple of microfiber towels for drying. You should use scrub brushes to clean the wheel cavities when you wash the wheels and tires.
I prefer using two buckets when washing a car by hand. This is a good practice for the following reason: you do not want to drag your dirty sponge or wash mitt over a section of the car you just recently cleaned because it could scratch or transfer dirt back to the car’s surface.
When I wash a car, I start with the tires and wheels. I will use two buckets for this task because I do not want to scratch my wheels either. I wash the wheels with my soft cloth wash mitt and scrub brushes.
Cleaning the wheels and tires with regular car wash soap is acceptable. It might require a specially formulated tire and wheel cleaning detergent to remove stubborn grime, grease, and brake dust.
Tools & Chemicals I Use for Professional Detailing:
Steps for washing your car’s exterior surfaces.
After you have cleaned the wheels and tires, clean the buckets, sponges, brushes, and towels used. Use separate sponges or car wash mitts for the high-touch surface wash.
Refill the buckets with quality car wash soap so both buckets have heavy suds. Saturate the car with water from the top to the bottom. This is to loosen some dirt and debris from the vehicle’s surface.
You should not wipe the car’s surface in a circular motion as you wash. You want to wipe the panels in a side-to-side motion. The reason behind not using the circular motion is that it could produce scratches or swirl marks. Additionally, it is far easier to correct straight-line scratches than circular scratches.
Start by washing the roof of the car and then rinsing it. Next, wash and rinse the back trunk or deck lid. Next, clean the hood, windows, doors, and rear panels. Repeatedly dowse your sponge or car wash mitt to avoid transferring dirt and debris back onto the car or scratching the surface.
After cleaning the car, dry it with good clean microfiber towels. Blot the towel on the surface as opposed to dragging the towel across the surface.
Please see the videos on two ways to wash your car. The first video is from Mothers. Craig Burnett, the Lead Chemist, performs a high-touch hand car wash in the video, Mothers Polish – Car Washing (How To Video).
In his video “Foam Cannon Car Wash Tutorial,” Pan, the Organizer, discusses how to wash a car with a pressure washer and foam cannon.
Mothers and Pan, the Organizer, create incredibly detailed videos. The videos show how to get the best results from the snow foam cannon and the pressure washer. Both produce other videos showing the Top Car Wash Tips for a Flawless Finish!
Products not made for detailing your car.
Thousands of specialized products are explicitly made for car detailing, but I suggest several household products you do not use. Do not use dish detergent liquid, ammonia-based glass cleaners (especially on painted surfaces, instrument clusters, or display units for navigation & entertainment), hand soaps, or laundry detergents on your vehicle’s exterior finish.
Always use a product designed specifically for automobile finishes with the proper Ph balance.
You must read the precautionary labels on any products used for the application and follow those precautions. Do not cross-contaminate car wash products. Do not use more than the brands recommend. Remember, “more is not always better.”
Affiliate Marketing Disclaimer: I am an affiliate marketer with links to online retailers on my website. When people read what I have written about a particular product, click on those links, and buy something from those links, I earn a small commission from the retailer at no extra cost to the buyer.
Up next… apply a protective coat of wax or sealant or both.
As you have read from this post, I have focused on washing a car, but I want to introduce the idea of applying a protective wax or sealant coating. You can put on a good-quality paste wax, liquid wax, or a surface sealant. You can also use both quality sealant and high-grade wax.
I have plenty of recommendations, but one of my favorites is a product manufactured by Chemical Guys called JetSeal. The average driver in most conditions should expect six months of protection. The Chemical Guys list up to one year of defense against the elements on your vehicle.
Since you have come this far, apply some protection against the elements. Utilizing a wax or sealant will keep your car looking showroom-shined.
Your vehicle will stay cleaner for much longer and be easier to clean in future maintenance washes.
In closing, and in the following post about how to wax your car correctly, I discuss the steps, products, and methods for waxing or sealing your vehicle.
Thank you for visiting my website. I hope you enjoyed the Top Car Wash Tips for a Flawless Finish!
If you have questions, comments, or tips, please add them to the comment section below. Let me know if you want me to write about other automobile detailing topics in the comments section.
Thank you very much for this valuable and detailed post on Best Way to Wash a Car at Home. This is really a very important post. Because I also have a car. I often leave the service station, but with this post, you can wash your car right from home. Keep posting like this. I definitely share this.
Thank you for your comments, Pasindu. I appreciate that you took the time to view my site, and I am glad you found the topic necessary.
Great post, I am inspired! I have decided that my New Year’s resolution will be to take better care of my car’s exterior. I have been somewhat lax about this in the past, but with inflation and the many economic challenges we face today, it feels more important than ever to take care of my vehicle both inside and outside.
That said, I am preparing to do a thorough clean up. To assess the level of work I have ahead of me and gather all the right materials and products I have done some exterior inspection. I found two things that concern me. The first is dried bird droppings on the roof of my car. The second is tar around the doors and fenders.
I have made a cursory attempt at wiping the spots, but they seem to be really stuck on there. I don’t want to damage the paint. Help!
Can you recommend any products or techniques for easy and safe removal?
Thank you for your comments and questions, Kelly, and for visiting my website.
I know it isn’t easy, but you are correct in your statement about how important it is to take care of one of your most expensive purchases.
I have been using a product, but I am not satisfied with it for removing the bugs or tar from my car. The manufacturer advertises how easy it is to apply and boasts what an excellent job it does, but I have not found that to be the case. I will not name the product because they perform great in the market. They knock it out of the park with many of their other products.
I will research and post a follow-up article on my findings. I will inform you of the post once I have tested the products I am considering. The product isn’t cheap but is highly rated for bug removal. Unfortunately, this product doesn’t do much as far as tar removal is concerned. However, I have successfully removed tar from surfaces with Goo Gone Pro. I will also look into other tar removal products for future posts.
I will let you in on a secret that has served me well: use an excellent safe Ph-balanced car wash soap, followed by adequately drying the vehicle. A quality sealant, after which apply wax to make cleaning your car easier before tar, bugs, and bird droppings get on your vehicle. Suppose you do all that, and the bugs, poop, and tar should wipe off very quickly when you perform maintenance washes.
It is imperative to spot-check for bug guts, bird droppings, and tar immediately if you have encountered them so that you can clean your car as soon as possible. All of them left unattended will damage the vehicle’s surface over time.
Best regards, Matt