How do you wash a car?!

[TheChosenTwo]

Dh usually takes mine once a month for a full valet inside and out, now costs £55 (he does pay!) but I think if I bought a bucket and a few sponges it’s probably easy enough to do myself? What else do you need? What detergent do you use on a car, is it a special soap? I’m sure it’s not quite fairy liquid… do I also need to buy something to dry it with so it doesn’t dry streaky?
I’ve never washed a car before (can you tell?!) and would like to give it a go!

Personally I mostly just wait for the next rain 🤣🤣🤣 If I do use the car wash it'll be at the end of winter, primarily for the undercarriage treatment.

washing a car is really hard work, and it will dry streaky if you don’t polish it.

You can get a supermarket drive through car wash from £6. The top price one near here is around £9.50 and it’s excellent and repels the water on the windscreen and paint work for ages.

Go to Halfords and get some turtle wash car wash liquid.

Fill a bucket with cold water, sponge the car down with it to loosen dirt. Then do the same but with a bucket of water containing the soap, then slosh the car with several buckets of cold water. Start from the top and work down.

If feeling fancy invest in some special brushes for the wheels.

Get car wash shampoo, sponge it over. Hose it down.
I need a step stool to reach over the roof.

Am not that fussy about streaks.
Also use car washes, at about £7.50

I use waterless shampoo in a spray bottle off Amazon - spray on, wipe with microfibre cloth then polish with a different cloth. I have another spray for the inside too.

Tried fitting it in dishwasher, but sadly didn’t fit! I leave mine, occasionally take it to one of those drive through things. Husband buys snow foam and uses it with a karcher power washer. Just save a few of those £50’s up and it’ll pay for itself!!

Reluctantly.

Car wash shampoo (Home Bargains) in a bucket of water with a sponge. Clean the windows/glass first. Then clean from top down with the soapy sponge. Then rinse off with hosepipe or buckets of fresh water. Use chamois leather to dry off glass. Don't wash it in hot sunshine as it will leave water spots on your paintwork. Be careful not to drop your sponge on the ground - you don't want to get grit on it!

You need to use the double bucket method with grit guard.

We have a drought, so this is the ideal time to stop washing your car. As long as you can see out of the windscreen and the number plates are readable, forget about it.

I pay someone to do it - £12.

I take it down to the ‘foreign’ men. £25 inside and out and they do a great job!

All rather depends on how much effort you want to put in and how perfect you want it.
Basic (20 mins)
Hose it down, sponge and car shampoo, hose it down and run away.

Medium (30 mins)
As above but wipe it down with a cloth or leather

Best (45 mins)
If the paint and clear coat are good, then use a jet wash, sponge and car shampoo, wipe down with a cloth or leather

Madness (2-3 hours)
Spay on wheel cleaner, Jet wash, snow foam, soft brush, hose down with clay bar clean, jet wash (softened water if avail), wipe down, polish, and wax. Looks like a brand new car till it rains, assuming the paint is good to start with.

Automatic Car washes, tend to scratch the paint, human car washers may damage paint or clear coat and refuse to compensate. Avoid polishing waxing in full hot sun, it tend to bake on and can be a PITA to get it off.

I do "Best" every couple of months, and "Madness" once a summer.

My late DH was obsessive about cleaning cars. He had a whole section of the garage full of products. This is how he did it....

Hose it down first.
Have two buckets full of warm water with car shampoo in. One is for the wheels and the other is for the bodywork. Wheels get exceptionally dirty so you don't want that dirty, gritty water on your paintwork. DH had buckets with grit guards in the bottom to help keep grit and dirt away from the wash cloths/mitt.
Give the car a thorough wash all over with a sponge.
Use a wheel brush to get into all the nooks of the alloy wheels.
Use a large watering can full of warm water, starting at the top, to rinse the car.
Dh had a battery operated blower thing that blew the excess water off the car.
Use good quality absorbent cloths for drying the car.
Separate cloths (lots of them) for polishing bodywork and glass.
He used Autoglym products (from Halfords, expensive but good), Rapid Detailer for bodywork, Fast Glass for the windows and mirrors, Tyre Dressing for the tyres (I did say obsessive!), Vinyl &Rubber Care for the dash and trim inside.
He'd then go over and over it until there wasn't a single drip mark or streak. God forbid if I then wanted to use the car! I could fill the washing machine with all the cloths and mitts he used for one car wash.

Note: normal people don't have to be this obsessive about cleaning their cars. Now DH is gone, I usually take mine to the guys at the hand car wash once every few months. Looking at it now, DH would be horrified how dirty I let it get 😂

Oh some great advice, thanks everyone - think I’ll go with some buckets and car wash shampoo stuff.
It’s just so dusty, we spent a lot of money last year getting it fixed up and rewrapped (had been neglected by a previous family member who wanted rid of it but we loved the car and for various reasons it meant a lot to dh but he already has 2 vehicles for work so bought it off family member and donated it to me, my previous car was beginning to be a money pit so it was good timing!) and it’s nice to keep it looking nice but when he said last time that it had gone up to £55 I thought that I was sure it could be done cheaper at home although possibly not to quite as high a standard…

Ah @DozyCrow - at least he was obsessive about something useful! Dh gets obsessive about the lawn and besides looking at it we don’t do anything else with it - not even sit on it 😂

”Sliced Bread” on Radio 4 did a programme about car shampoos. Conclusion was that fairy liquid is just as good. Not that I’ve tried it - I always found when my car dried there was a bit I’d missed, so take it to be washed now. I do mange the vacuuming it out bit occasionally, never had one valeted.

The lawn was his other obsession. He had a petrol mower and it had to have stripes. He mowed it every few days and constantly had the sprinkler on. If our dog created patches from weeing on it, he’d be out sprinkling grass seed and covering it with soil. Sometimes it looked like we had moles. I used to wonder what the neighbours thought of his obsessions. I’m in South East and the “lawn” is currently brown and dead looking - oops!

oh that’s interesting to know @Molecule - I do have fairy liquid! Although think I’ll just get some cat shampoo stuff to be on the safe side…

yes @DozyCrow - ours has stripes too and is sprinkled and manicured and mown twice a week… and no one cares!

In winter I let the rain wash it. In summer I get a bucket of soapy water (car shampoo) and a bucket of clean water. I spray the car with the jet wash (that feeds from the clean water bucket) to loosen dust. Then clean it with the soapy water (using a car wash mop) Then rinse with jet spray water. It doesn't clean it perfectly, but it removes the dust.

Re the lawn, I mow it once a month in summer, but trim the edges more often so the grass doesnt grow over the plants. I dont water it and don't mind if it goes brown as it grows less.

We've got a white car,with some sparkly paint effect. Don't sponge off first,you risk scratching
We don't have a hosepipe ban yet, but when we do,DH bought a battery operated jet washer. Rinse off car first,then shampoo wax all in one. Rinse, wipe dry. Don't do it in the sun. We have dogs,so the car goes to woods, Forest. I can't believe the folk on Mumsnet who proudly decree never washing cars,or windows. Both are our most expensive purchases and we want to keep them in good condition.

The drive through at my local petrol station is £7, 20 minutes with the hoover and a damp cloth to wipe round inside is plenty. Maybe if it was a Ferrari I might take more care, but TBH in a couple of days the outside will be just as dusty/dirty as it was before being washed.

Gosh I used to get it washed but never again .. It takes me no more than 10 minutes, two buckets, one to wet it and one to soap it.. one final bucket chucked over and a chamis cloth wiped over to dry. So bloody easy.

I've often wondered! I'll check out the podcast.