Wash your car correctly - step by step instructions

Several times a year you need to wash your car with your own hands. Frequent rinsing at touchless car washes with jets of water and foam does not always help remove stains from bitumen, insects, or simply old deposits of road chemicals caked at the bottom of the sills, next to the wheel arches and under the mudguards. You cannot leave them, because they will corrode the paintwork over time. However, a simple stream of water will not remove them. Therefore, you have to arm yourself with a rag, sponge, gloves, a bucket of water and car shampoo. In addition, a thorough wash is necessary in the spring before applying polish or protective wax film, which will come in handy during summer trips. Auto expert and Ruseff auto chemical specialist Andrey Grechannik talks about how to properly wash a car body with your own hands .

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Car - driver's face

It’s not in vain that we touched on this topic, because how unpleasant it is to see dirty, unkempt cars on the roads. There is no great desire to meet and communicate with the drivers of such cars; it is not pleasant to even approach such a car.

It’s not for nothing that they say that a car is the driver’s face; look at the car and you will immediately form a first impression about the owner.

Therefore, if you respect yourself, then keep your vehicle always clean and tidy.

Conditioners and gels

Air conditioners are the most popular; they are suitable for quick cleaning. Such compositions have a pleasant smell and boast remarkable foaming, which protects the paint layer from possible damage during cleaning procedures. This is easily explained by the fact that foam with special additives envelops dirt particles and does not allow them to come into contact with the surface.

Such car shampoos make the paint brighter and do not leave any traces behind. They can be safely used:

• for all types of paint and varnish coating;
• plastic;
• glass;
• rubber.

Gel detergents are highly viscous. They contain optical conditioners that enhance the shine of the paint. Such compositions protect the polish. They can be called more advanced analogues of air conditioners.

Products with anti-corrosion properties are usually used to clean cars with damaged body surfaces. Such car shampoos help slow down corrosion in vulnerable areas. On sale you can also find compositions intended for cleaning the interior. They are usually characterized by increased foaming (fabrics are not cleaned with water).

When to wash your car

The timing of washing a car can vary, and it depends on many factors.

Let's look at the main ones:

1. How much the driver can tolerate even slight contamination of the car body;
2. Operating conditions of the vehicle (city, village, soil, asphalt);
3. Frequency of changes in weather conditions;
4. Methods used for washing the car.

If you delve deeper into the meaning of the fourth point, you can understand that different methods of washing a car to varying degrees affect the condition of the paintwork of the body.

Frequent use of complex auto chemicals, strong water pressure, and polishing the car body leads to rapid wiping of the paint coating.

Therefore, it is recommended to polish the body after washing 6–8 times a month, using simple polishes (provided that there is no serious damage to the body).

The frequency of washing your car largely depends on the time of year; in summer it is one, and in autumn - winter - early spring it is different.

What's the result?

As you can see, washing cars, regardless of the brand, model or condition of the paintwork, must take into account a number of features. First of all, it is important to use only special detergents, as they are gentle on the paintwork of the car.

We also recommend reading the article on how to wash a car engine correctly. From this article you will learn how to wash an engine, as well as what needs to be taken into account during this procedure.

However, this rule cannot be violated by using ordinary household products. Moreover, it is a mistake to believe that you can use shampoo for contactless body washing when manually washing a car. In fact, contactless shampoos are more aggressive; it is not advisable to actively rub them and must be rinsed off thoroughly.

One way or another, if you follow all the recommendations and regularly wash the car correctly, then you can keep the paintwork in excellent condition for many years, and also avoid the premature formation of paintwork defects, the appearance of paintwork cracks and corrosion in damaged areas.

Summer

It’s warm in the summer, which means everything is much simpler, and washing the car is more comfortable, so drivers do this much more often than, for example, in winter.

During this period, car owners rarely go to car washes, with the exception of large cities, where there is a problem with parking space, not to mention a place to put their vehicle in order.

In the summer, the more often the driver can tolerate even slight contamination of the car body (see point 1 above), the more often he washes his car.

Some wash every day, others once a week or month, and others every hour, without leaving the car, it all depends on the individual.

Burnout of paint.

It is worth understanding that you cannot influence the fading of body paint; sooner or later the color of the car will change, the main thing is that this happens simultaneously over its entire area.

Therefore, contaminated areas, even not very large ones, must be immediately removed in the summer by any available method, so that dark, unfaded stains do not form; it is advisable not to use strong detergents.

We recommend that you adhere to the following rule from May to September:

1. You drive every day - wash your car once a week;
2. You leave once a week - my car once a month;
3. You leave once a month - my vehicle is at the end of the summer season.

Stages of the procedure

A manual method of cleaning the body part from dirt, which requires the presence of basic equipment - a bucket, microfiber, suede cloths, a water squeegee, a porous sponge, auto chemicals, etc. Ideally, there should be tap water, a well or a reservoir nearby.

Warning.
Washing is prohibited near any type of water bodies and within water protection zones.
Moreover, doing this on a city street or any other place in a populated area, except for specially designated areas - and only automatic car washes are considered them - is strictly prohibited. Therefore, the issue is mainly resolved in the courtyards of private houses or in summer cottages. If we talk about shampoos, they are selected taking into account the hardness of the water and how dirty the car is. Moreover, you cannot use other, non-specialized products: they may not remove stains, but due to alkali or acid they will damage the top layer of paintwork.

Use of auto chemicals.

Some experts recommend using car shampoo no more than 2-3 times a month, and for severe stains using other chemicals. How much product to pour into the bucket depends on the degree of its concentration. Therefore, you need to listen to the instructions on the label, which also indicates the expiration date of the drug. There are also dry car shampoos, but we rarely use them. In addition, to clean the engine and oily parts, it is better to use white spirit rather than specialized auto chemicals. Even a novice driver probably knows that washing powder is contraindicated for these purposes...

Stage 1

It is necessary to apply a large amount of water to the car body, which will wash away dust, organic particles, and silicates. Buckets are ineffective in this matter; you can pour endlessly, and still to no avail. It will be even worse, since during subsequent manipulations the remaining sand will scratch the paint. And microdamage to paintwork is a direct path to corrosion. Therefore, it is better to use a high-pressure apparatus and a hose.

Recommendation.
It is advisable to wash not only the body part with the windows, but also other suspension parts, not to mention the engine with the bottom. Particular attention should be paid to the suspension, since modern road chemicals that are sprinkled on asphalt in winter are very aggressive - they can “eat” not only paint, but also metal. However, to do this you need to remove the wheels. And since it is more difficult to clean the bottom, this procedure is best carried out at special washing stations.

Stage 2

The second layer of dirt is formed from an “explosive” mixture – exhaust gases, soot, dust, tar. Accordingly, you can get rid of it only by treating the surfaces with shampoo. For this procedure, you need a porous sponge, which is moistened in water with the addition of shampoo. The water should not be cold, otherwise the auto chemicals will not dissolve well in it. It is recommended to use 2 buckets, this will help separate the dirty and clean soapy water. After all, washing with 1 bucket means dirt getting back onto the body, and the sponge will scratch the paint.

Stage 3

Everything is simple here - you just need to wait until the car shampoo has an effect on the dirty film. How much to wait? It depends on how dirty the surfaces are. In order not to waste time, you can use a brush to remove deposits from the wheel rims.

Stage 4

Now you need to remove the applied car chemicals. To do this, just spray the body with warm water a couple of times and use a roller brush and a squeegee to clean the soapy areas. Squeegee is needed in order to remove excess water from the glass, otherwise stains will remain on them.

Stage 5

We rinse the body with the same water, finally removing any remaining shampoo and liquid. Next is drying. Ideally, it is better to use a microfiber towel with a waffle texture, as it can absorb 5 times its own weight in water. They put it on the body, wet it, squeezed it out, and repeated the process. You need to start with the roof, then the glass, the hood, etc. Next, we dry the internal surfaces - doorways, thresholds. If possible, blow all corners and joints of the body with compressed air, without leaving a single drop on the surfaces.

Stage 6

We've covered almost everything about how to properly wash a car. However, the procedure will be incomplete if you forget about polishing, after which the body panels, glass, and rims will shine clean. To do this, we use special napkins, and the movements should be circular.

Winter

For some regions of Russia, winter begins in September and ends in May.

Therefore, in order to properly wash your car in winter, you must proceed from the following rules:

1. The ambient temperature should not be lower than minus 5 - 10 degrees;
2. No prolonged snowfall or rain;
3. When performing the first two points, and when driving frequently around the city, rinse the body, fender liners, underbody and tires of the car as often as possible with cold fresh water without auto chemicals in order to wash off the harmful reagents that are sprinkled on the roads.

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You only need to wash with cold water, since when using hot water, the paint on the body and glass may crack as a result of temperature changes.

There should be no ice crust on the body and windshield. A prerequisite for washing a car in winter is that the body is completely dry after completion of work.

Equipment and cleaning products

When answering the question of how to properly wash a car, it is necessary, first of all, to note that, despite its apparent simplicity, there are a number of specific recommendations and rules, following which you can guarantee a high-quality result.

First of all, if you plan to wash your car by hand, you need to select auxiliary equipment:

• water container;
• suede rag;
• waffle towel;
• a mop equipped with a foam roller;
• brush for removing dirt from wheel rims.

In addition, you need to stock up on a porous sponge, brush and car shampoo. In order to get the desired result, you will need a sufficient amount of water. Preference should be given to running water.

When choosing the optimal detergent, you must be guided by the degree of water hardness, and also take into account the nature of the contamination.

Some car owners, due to their own ignorance, wash their cars with household cleaning products, which is absolutely unacceptable. For example, you cannot wash your car with laundry soap, as well as with all kinds of rinses, shampoos and detergents that are widely used in everyday life.

If you are not sure which detergent you should use to wash your car, you can go to a car store where consultants will help you choose a special shampoo.

Choosing a method and place for washing the car

Car wash.

The training of the car wash staff largely determines how well your car will be washed.

Therefore, if you do not trust the staff of a particular car wash, then check whether it is possible to wash the car yourself using their equipment.

Many car washes provide this service.

If you don’t have time to pay attention to your vehicle, you will have to trust regular car washers.

Choice of car wash and list of services.

Use any means convenient for you to find out which car wash in your city or area is most popular among drivers.

Learned? Now you need to call and make an appointment, since popularity is a queue-forming concept.

Each car wash has its own list of services, but in any case this list will include:

1. Dry car wash (not always);
2. Contactless and contact washes;
3. Car engine washing;
4. Interior cleaning;
5. Body polishing;
6. Tire blackening.

Contactless washing includes:

1. Washing the car with water;
2. Wiping the body;
3. Washing using car shampoo;
4. Manual wiping of the body;
5. Car waxing (optional).

This method is suitable if the car is washed frequently, the body and other areas are not very dirty.

Contact washing includes:

1. Washing away dirt with a large stream of water under pressure;
2. Wiping the body;
3. Washing with car shampoo (foam);
4. Wiping again;
5. Waxing.

This method is suitable for those who have not washed their car for a long time and want to achieve maximum results. The car will be perfectly washed and shiny, like a cat's..... You know what.

For contact washing, conventional means for manual washing or special chemicals for high-pressure washers are used.

To apply wax to the body, a wax paste with the best water-repellent properties and imparts the greatest shine is selected.

All the services presented above are intertwined with each other and can be formed in a different sequence, for example, you can simply order washing the body with water and manually wiping it dry, or just washing off dirt from the fender liners. As you say, so they will do.

Additional services.

Engine washing, interior cleaning and tire blackening are considered additional services for an additional fee.

In these cases it is used:

1. Tire ink;
2. Car chemicals for removing stains and insects, cleaning plastic, cleaning wheels.

This type of service, in combination with a contactless wash, is worth contacting if the car owner has decided to do general care for his car.

After the car owner has chosen the type of service, he should:

1. Drive the car to the specified location;
2. Turn off the engine, remove the key from the ignition;
3. Put the car on the handbrake, first move the gear lever to the neutral position;
4. Close all doors tightly and leave the washing area.

After completing the work, the driver checks its quality, if necessary, points out shortcomings that should be immediately eliminated, accepts the car clean, pays, gets behind the wheel and drives off.

This method of washing a car is typical for business people for whom time is money, or for those people who do not want to bother with detergents and are ready to part with the nth amount of money.

Which is better - manual or automatic washing?

There are only two drawbacks to washing yourself - the amount of time spent and the worse result. True, the cleanest car owners pay special attention to it, which is why the car looks no worse than after being washed at a car service center. Moreover, if the high-pressure apparatus supplying water to the body was used correctly.

By resorting to the help of professional washers in this matter, the owner risks not only receiving a car with a scratched surface, chips and stains - after all, our service is not always of high quality. There is also the issue of costs: the greater the degree of pollution, the more expensive the service will cost. In addition, you can lose time, since other customers may be waiting in line.

Of course, the best results are obtained by a robotic car wash, which cleans the car in a contactless way. There is no risk in using it, but the price is clearly off the charts...

Rental of washing equipment

This rental involves the driver using the car service’s washing equipment.

As a rule, such moments are discussed in advance over the phone so as not to go empty-handed.

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Also, prices are specified, which can be based on:

1. Equipment usage time;
2. Water consumption in cubes.

Do not forget that in this case, car washing products will have to be purchased separately.

How to quickly and correctly wash the interior?

After purchasing the appropriate cleaning products , you will need to acquire a few more clean rags, interior cleaners, brushes and a vacuum cleaner.

First, you need to empty the car of everything unnecessary and superfluous, remove all things from the glove compartment.

Then remove the covers and undershirts, if present , remove the floor mats, and move the front seats back a little. It is quite convenient to clean up large debris with your hands, and for small debris you can use a vacuum cleaner.

After this, take an interior cleaner and apply it to the surface of the upholstery.

Important! The cleaner should not contain alcohol - it can erase the paint, the leather covering will become oak, which will lead to cracks.

Self-service car wash

There are two ways to wash your car yourself:

1. Using your own mini-wash and other washing equipment;
2. Washing by hand.

Read on the topic: How to make a car wash with your own hands.

Using a mini washer.

It should be borne in mind that almost all modern mini washes require a pressurized water supply, so you will be limited in the choice of place to wash your car.

But the quality of such a wash will be much higher than washing by hand, because water supplied under pressure and at the required angle of 45 degrees (set manually) removes stubborn dirt and dust well.

A stream of water from a mini-wash can reach the most difficult places: wheel arches, bottom, etc. which significantly affects the final result.

In modern mini-washes it is possible to use detergents, which further guarantees good results.

How to wash a car by hand.

• Choose a non-sunny day or hold this event in the evening.
• Wet the body generously with water; this will require 15 to 25 liters of water.
• Dilute the shampoo in a separate container according to the instructions; 5 liters of washing liquid is enough.
• Apply the resulting diluted shampoo to the entire car body, including the windows.

• Wait 1 – 3 minutes and wipe off the shampoo with a clean, moisture-absorbing cloth.
• After the car is dry, you can apply wax to it, or polish the body with a wax paste.

Is the use of Fairy justified?

It is unlikely that you will be able to get rid of persistent contaminants with water alone. Such a wash will most likely be ineffective. To remove soot, salts and other substances, you will need to use specialized compounds, they are called car shampoos. Some motorists, wanting to save money, use cheaper dishwashing gel or even regular hair shampoo.

Most drivers respond negatively to such experiments, believing that they are unacceptable. After all, cars, unlike kitchen utensils, have parts made of different materials:

• plastic;
• metal;
• rubber;
• paint coating.

The effect of Fairy-type agents on them has not been studied. You can use them for your car only at your own peril and risk. Some detergents contain chemically active substances that can harm paintwork. We are talking about the following components:

• acids;
• alkalis;
• abrasives.

After such a wash, scratches, stains, and swelling may form on the surface of the car.

Now you can find a huge number of reviews from motorists who have already tried to wash Fairy’s car. Most of these comments indicate that such detergent compositions are harmful to the paintwork of a vehicle. Cases of marks appearing on the surface in the form of stains, darkening and smudges are mentioned. You can find numerous evidence that dishwashing gel has a destructive effect on the varnish and contributes to faster corrosion of body parts.

However, you can also find reviews from car owners who say that using Fairy does not pose any threat. Moreover, some drivers claim that this composition demonstrates greater effectiveness in comparison with some special car shampoos.

Experts recommend not experimenting with Fairy and washing your car exclusively with specialized compounds. These car shampoos are mild liquid soap. It usually consists of water and surfactants. Of course, the choice of such a composition must be taken with full responsibility. It is important to decide on the type of washing: there are car shampoos for both manual and contactless washing.

When choosing a car shampoo, it is important to make sure that all the necessary details are present on the packaging. It is also necessary to pay attention to the release date of the composition; you cannot use expired detergent. Expired car shampoo can harm your paintwork. If a product is not in demand, this may indicate its poor quality. Before making a purchase, you should study the instructions and determine whether this product is suitable for a particular machine.

The properties of car shampoos are very important; only the color of the composition does not play any role, since it does not affect the functional properties. It is usually not matched to the color of the car.

To determine the concentration of the composition, you need to shake the car shampoo . Most often, detergents have transparent bottles, which allows you to notice how the resulting bubbles rise up. If this happens quickly, the composition is likely diluted and, as a result, ineffective. However, the amount of surfactants should not exceed 30%. Too concentrated car shampoo can damage the paintwork. Such compositions often emit a sharp alkaline odor that even flavorings cannot overcome.

The durability of the emerging foam also matters . It needs to be held even on vertical surfaces. Foam promotes the appearance of a sliding layer that prevents solid particles from coming into contact with the paintwork. At the same time, it should not be too thick, in which case it will be difficult to get rid of it without streaks.

Manufacturers often offer the same type of detergent in bottles of different sizes. If the driver has found a composition that completely suits him in all respects, it is recommended to buy it in large containers, this will save money.