How to Wash Your Car at Home To Save Money

At one point or the other, there comes a time in a home when you need to cut your costs. It could be due to; general tough economic times, the need to finance college education for your kids, losing a job, the need to top up some investment money and many more reasons. In such cases, the family looks at the list of expenditure and decides the ones to be reduced and the ones to be struck off the list.

To save money at home, you can; file your taxes instead of hiring a tax filing consultancy, cleaning your house instead of contracting a cleaning company, cutting your grass and doing home maintenance such as painting on your own.

You can also save money by washing your car at home. Perhaps, you were paying for your car to be washed or you had subscribed to a self-service car wash.

Instead of relying on a car wash service to remove bird poop from your car and also remove cement from your car, you can do it yourself. Car washes have gained popularity because as a car owner, you are always assured of driving a shiny, neat and brand-new looking car.

However, with the right skill and appropriate tools, you can attain car wash quality of cleanliness at home. You need to be reminded to take car washing seriously because it is an important aspect of car maintenance in addition to preventing minor car tear and wear from becoming noticeable therefore ensuring your car looks better for extended periods of time.

In deciding to take up the responsibility of washing your car at home, here are some basic tips to ensure the success of the activity.

1. Ensure you have the right tools

Before cutting down a tree, you need to ensure you have a well-sharpened axe. Before you start washing your car at home, it is imperative that you have a hose, buckets, a sponge or a car wash mitt, and washing liquid.

Note that hand soap, glass cleaner, and dishwashing soap aren’t substitutes to car washing liquid. Car washing detergent is specially designed to provide adequate lubrication to ensure that embedded solid matter doesn’t scratch the car. You also need to pay attention to the fact that natural sea sponges and microfiber mitts are recommended for car washing owing to their effectiveness.

On top of all these implements, you need to make sure that you have enough water. Otherwise, it will be an exercise in futility.

2. Never wash your car in the full sun

Before you start washing your car, make sure it is parked in the shade. Its relevance is to prevent premature drying which could lead to spotting on the car windows.

The period between parking your car under a shade and the commencement of washing should be used to hose off the car to remove bird poop from the car, cement, tree sap, dead insects and other debris that might cause scratching.

If you lack an appropriate shade in your home, then you can choose to wash your car on overcast days.

3. Avoid using one bucket

This is where most people go wrong when it comes to washing their cars at home. You aren’t supposed to rinse out your dirty cleaning sponge in the clean suds bucket. This is counterproductive because you are just taking back to the car the dirt picked and spreading it all over. Therefore, you are supposed to have two buckets; one containing the clean, sudsy water and the other containing clean water used to rinse the dirty sponge.

After you rinse the sponge, you dip it back in the sudsy water, and you continue washing the car.

Make sure you rinse the sponge often.

4. Mind your hand motions

It is advised that you wash the car with horizontal and gentle strokes as opposed to brisk, circular hand movements. This helps in minimizing the possibility of scratches by grit.

5. Use different sponges for wheels and the body

You should never use the same sponge to clean the wheels and the body of the car. This is because wheels and tyre sponges collect plenty of abrasive dust which has a scratching effect on the body.

6. Be systematic

After you’ve hosed your car, you need to follow a prescribed order. You start with the top of the car then head to the bottom. You finish off with the wheels and tyres after starting with the roof, windows, top of the bonnet, the doors, the front bumper, the boot and the back bumper.

7. Never forget the final rinse

After you’re done washing, make sure you hose the car. The hose used should not have a nozzle. This ensures the gentle flow of water over the entire car, therefore, leaving fewer water spots. Besides, you need to use a microfiber towel to ensure scratch-free and complete drying.

Once the car has completely dried, you proceed to apply a spray wax so as to boost the shine.

Washing a car needs skill. Once you have this skill, you’ll never set foot in a car wash. Imagine the amount of money you’ll save.

About the Author: David, the founder of CarUnderstand, is a car lover. He has a personal blog with lots of car fun things shared on. Don’t hesitate to visit his blog to find out more about cars.