What’s the easiest way to wash my car (cheap/free)

[Jazz12]

I don’t mind bucket and sponge work. What I totally hate is to get the hose pipe out, clear all the twists, and then to wind it back in after the washing is done. Hate it.
Can I sponge scrub the car with car washing liquid just before a rain storm and leave it to wash off in the rain!?

Oh no way would I want to pay out 20 quid
I pay 5 (about 4 pound)

I can’t believe some people don’t wash their cars! Well, I can cos I see really dirty cars sometimes and think wtf. Sorry but I judge it just as much as if someone didn’t wash themself 🤮
where I live the hand car wash is quite cheap but I would use a bucket of soapy water, doesn’t take too long to do a half decent job. I have used the jet wash at the garage from time to time

Just fill the bucket three times with warm water, chuck it over and then dry with a chamois (currently going for about £1.50 in the random shop of junk treasures round the corner from me). You dunk the chamois in the water and wring it out first. If you're feeling fancy, a capful of Autoglym in the bucket used to do the job of polishing.

Source - used to make beer spending money as a student washing cars and minibuses. £5 a pop in 1991, about 25 minutes' work, 35 if it included vacuuming inside.

Wash mine all the time (the Joy's of owning classic cars and mucky, salty roads). bucket of hot water with autoglym car shampoo and a sponge. Rinse it off with a microfiber cloth and hot water. Buff if needed.
Takes 10 minutes tops.

I wait for the rain. Paying to wash the car is money burning luxury to me.

I've only ever done it cos the DC's like going in the big machine so I'll relent once a year.

Drive through car wash I go to every few months- £3.50 for the chapest cycle, It does a pretty good job tbh

I do this too it's £1 for 3 minutes where I am. It's numbered so you just twist the dial, Warm soapy water with lance, hot soapy water with brush, high pressure cold rinse and then wax. My top tip is always give the windscreen a quick blast of cold after waxing.

Find a dealership that does a free health check and wash and vac

If you’re doing it yourself, rinse with a watering can, much easier than a bucket as you can spread the water around and be more accurate with it.

I had a dealership wash my car once after being expressly told not to. I went fucking nuclear and they waived the cost of the service.

@Shade17 well yeah they shouldn't have done that
But OP wants her car washing so...

Williams waterless wash and wax. Amazon have it.

As I understand it…

The accepted method is the two bucket one, where you soap it up with one bucket then rinse it off with a fresh bucket and sponge.

Awesome! Thanks 😊

I’ll try this today

I have a large container by the tap which is filled with water so I can dip watering cans in in the summer - but also speeds up car washing in the winter. Our hose is turned off as risk of frost but the container is filled by rainwater. Means I can run back and forward with buckets and fill quickly.

I blame Brexit for my car being filthy. At a supermarket a few miles from me, there used to be a team of lovely Romanian guys who did a fantastic wash and polish for £6. It looked great afterwards, especially the glass. By the time I'd done my shopping, it was all done.

Sadly, they disappeared during the first lockdown and I'm told they all went back home as wouldn't have been able to get settled status.

Now, it's twice a year through the car wash, £5 for wash and wax. It's futile though, as I do a lot of driving on rural roads that are covered with mud, horse shit and god knows what else. After a couple of weeks, it looks like I hadn't bothered.

I have a rechargeable handheld hoover that I do the inside with.

If you get garden hose rage, get one of the stretchy / flexi ones - they are much easier to manage. We’ve got a hoze lock one but there are cheaper ones on Amazon etc. You just bundle them up afterwards. Much less annoying.