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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask how you clean your car if you live in a flat?

101 replies

snarfblatt · 22/04/2019 19:24

Just that really. I've had my car around 4 years and can count the amount of times I've cleaned it on two hands. Lugging buckets of water downstairs, having to go back up three flights of stairs again to refill / clean the sponge is just a pain in the arse to clean it on the outside, and that's not to mention the inside which is frankly disgusting despite my halfhearted best efforts with a handheld dust buster and wipes. Mud and debris all over the floor. Dirt from DC shoes on the back of the seats. And then there's all the crap from nearby trees which seems to be permanently embedded in every crevice... and I'm fairly sure there's moss growing in the door seals which a toothbrush just isn't shifting.

If you live in a flat and have a car, how - and how often - do you clean it?!

OP posts:

Everydaypeople · 22/04/2019 20:29

I’ve got a driveway with a garage full of car products and I’d rather pay a fiver a month for a pro clean.

SmileEachDay · 22/04/2019 20:29

I don’t understand why cars need washing. Doesn’t the grime protect the paint?
if you use hand car washes readthis

and maybe this, and get the app

Rememberallball · 22/04/2019 20:29

I always used a car wash place and they were brilliant.

GaraMedouar · 22/04/2019 20:29

Ah - well maybe with a toddler the bottom 2ft can be cleaned and buffed nicely, nice shiny wheels 👍 - just the top half he won’t be able to reach!!!! For me life’s too short to clean my car, I also live out in the sticks so even if my car is cleaned it’s mud splattered again within the week , so I think what’s the point?

kalopali · 22/04/2019 20:34

All these cheap car washes will screw your paint eventually. Just sitting in traffic I often see the swirl marks that repeated use of these establishments create. For reference a proper wash/polish/protection takes a minimum of a day and costs £2-300+. A really serious job could take 10 days and cost a couple of grand. I wouldn’t take a car worth more than £1000 to one on the ‘scratch & swirl’ specials.

FunkyKingston · 22/04/2019 20:34

I live in a flat and just go to a jet wash, i have concerns about people trafficking and slave labour at hand car washes.

Please don't do what my git of a neighbour does. Handwaahes his car in the street every Sunday without fail. So in winter there will be a sheet of ice across the pavement and road. where he's rinsed his car off. He thoughtfully moves his car afterwards so he doesn't slip on the icepatch he's created. Selfish wanker

ForalltheSaints · 22/04/2019 20:37

OP, if it is that much effort, have you considered not having a car at all? Walking, using buses and trains, a taxi for those other journeys these can't cover?

Agree about the hand car washes, having heard that from an expert on the subject of modern slavery. Perhaps our useless transport secretary could pilot a bill through parliament to regulate them (have a licencee like pubs do).

Waveysnail · 22/04/2019 20:37

At local garage usually wothntheor vacuum and then power wash. Friend uses cordless vacuum

Original poster

snarfblatt · 22/04/2019 21:04

@ForalltheSaints we barely use the car, I only learnt in my early 30s and it's just for doing the food shop, taking partner's equipment for hobby and then family visits. I never saw the need before and tbh don't love having it but it does come in useful enough to justify the cost... just about. If anything it probably gets dirtier sitting there under trees not getting used than it would if I used it every day! I've considered getting rid of it but would make no money on it now (15+ years old) and it does make certain things easier. I make sure we don't do unnecessary trips and we mostly use public transport or walk.

OP posts:

Original poster

snarfblatt · 22/04/2019 21:05

@FunkyKingston we live on the south circular so won't be washing it in the street any time soon

OP posts:

SoyDora · 22/04/2019 21:07

SmileEachDay the people who do mine are as English as they come so not sure they’ve been trafficked from anywhere.

kalopali not overly fussed by swirl marks to be honest! One of our cars is a company car and the other is a run around that we’ll run into the ground so no need to worry about resale value. They drive the same even if they do have ‘swirl marks’.

Original poster

snarfblatt · 22/04/2019 21:07

And yes to a pp who mentioned the damage they can do - I think that's perhaps another thing that's made me not even consider getting someone else to do it, my dad always told me those services would ruin it. Not that I'm precious (clearly). And I would worry about the working conditions and so on.

OP posts:

BayandBlonde · 22/04/2019 21:10

I work in SE14, there are loads are car wash places. The BP garages on Old Kent Rd and New Cross both have 'do it yourself'

Or get a mobile valet to come out to you at home?

Original poster

snarfblatt · 22/04/2019 21:13

@SmileEachDay really interesting links, thank you. And yes it needs washing, I was told the dirt will eventually erode the paint and seals and allow rust? Also it looks a fucking state and I can barely see out the windscreen if I leave it too long

OP posts:

Original poster

snarfblatt · 22/04/2019 21:29

@BayandBlonde thanks for the tip. Since I never knew this was a thing I've clearly not been looking for/noticing it! Will definitely keep an eye out now. Home valet sounds like a luxury we wouldn't be able to afford but is very tempting

OP posts:

mathanxiety · 22/04/2019 21:38

Go to a diy jet spray place. You can Google locations.

If you want to wax it yourself afterwards you can buy a tin of wax and proper cloths and do that. Wax will add protection to the finish.

PinkiOcelot · 22/04/2019 21:42

Just paid £17 on Saturday for a hand wash and valet. Got a free air freshener as well. Well worth it. Cba to do it myself.

Original poster

snarfblatt · 22/04/2019 21:47

Thanks Mumsnet - you've blown my tiny mind tonight. Will budget a clean and valet in as soon as I can next month or so! Will feel like the height of decadence And will keep an eye out for DIY stuff in the meantime.

OP posts:

londonrach · 22/04/2019 21:51

Now i understand why there are so many car washes...its a mn meet up. I dont know a single person who uses one in rl. Dh washes my car and his every month or so. Dd helps. Think he likes it when its clean as i do admit its nicer to drive. His is clean now, mine is due its dh car wash...next weekend if no rain.

londonrach · 22/04/2019 21:52

SoyDora · 22/04/2019 21:53

I dont know a single person who uses one in rl

I don’t know a single person who cleans their own car IRL

BrightYellowDaffodil · 22/04/2019 21:56

My car also had some moss growing on it. To be fair, it’s been about a year since it was cleaned and it spends a fair amount of time going up and down farm tracks.

But I live in a flat and don’t clean it myself. £15 and the charming chaps round the corner will do the inside and outside far better than I ever could because I just can’t be arsed.

aintnothinbutagstring · 22/04/2019 21:57

The drive through car wash near is ours is always rammed, £3 for a basic go and they jet wash your alloys and whatnot before you go through. Other than that, I have a waterless cleaning spray and hang the extension out of our ground floor flat window to vacuum the interior.

gt84 · 22/04/2019 21:58

I don't live in a flat but there’s no parking outside my house and often have to park a few mins walk away. I use the local hand car wash place, it’s costs from £8 - £20 depending on what you want done. I also have two football playing teenagers so car constantly covered in mud that I can’t be arsed to clean up myself!!!

MissBehaving1000 · 22/04/2019 22:37

I drove a shit heap of a car when I lived in a flat, and never took any pride in it whatsoever.

Circumstances have changed and I drive a half decent car now, and no longer live in a flat. There is a tap literally next to where I park my car, but time is precious so I'd rather spend a tenner once a month for an outside clean and quick vacuum.

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