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5 Washing Tips To Avoid Accidental Damages To Your Car

by IndianAuto Team | 15/06/2018

In case you regularly wash your car at home instead of at the garage, these 5 washing tips to avoid damages to your car is dedicated for you.

We all want to drive a glossy and clean car, but not many of us are aware that it requires more than just soap, water and rag to wash a car properly. And neither do the folks who embrace this task voluntarily. There is nothing wrong with the idea of “cleaner cars run better”; it is how you pull it off that makes the difference. And if you happen to be a speedy washer, chances are you are inadvertently doing more harm than good to your car.

First of all, are you using the right cleaner?

One-size-fit-all product may not apply to the case of car cleaners

It is very important to know if you are using the right detailing product (too-acidic one can corrode the car’s wheels) and use it with a proper quantity. To choose a suitable cleaner, it also depends on what type of contaminants you are trying to get rid of your car. Alkaline chemicals work well for dead bugs, dirt, oils and fluids; acidic ones for salts and rust; solvents for tar and also oils and fluids.

Secondly, please! No dish soap or laundry detergent

Nope! Nopey nope!

To put it briefly: they don’t get along with car paint. These abrasive substances speed up the oxidation process, slowly leaving the car with a tattered look by eating off the paint layer and wax as well.

Sadly! Washing alone is by no means a thorough process

The clay bar’s elastic trait allows us to work it on different sections of the car

After finishing the washing part, just simply run your hand on the car’s surface. If you’re lucky enough to feel nothing, you’re good to go. In case there are still small protuberances that cleaners and water are unable to remove, you need to take another step to get rid of these stubborn pollutants. Always use a clay bar after the rinsing step and rub the clay bar against the unclean surface. This helps to deal with dust, bird droppings, tree resin, industrial fallout (you know, the hard-to-remove blots). The clay bar can be either natural or synthetic, but the synthetic one is more common nowadays.

Don’t ever underestimate wax

The automotive paint itself is used not only for decoration but also to protect your car from the UV rays. But no paint - no matter how refined it is - can stand the test of time being consistently exposed to the sun, and this is exactly when waxing comes in to play. The wax plays the role as a shield against the sunlight, and at the same time maintain the finish’s lustre, hence, increasing the paint job's lifespan. It comes in several forms which are liquid, spray and paste.

Function and fashion – two in one. Proper use leading to some bucks being saved

And finally, the wheelset

It is always the most essential step to do research on what your car’s wheel type is and going with the apt cleaner. But most of the time, very few of us feel bothered enough to ask the car dealer or manufacturer for information. You might feel frustrated by how appalling it is t find out which category your car wheelset belongs to. However, understanding that applying unsuitable cleaner can cause corrosion to the car’s wheels over time, you will feel less discouraged. Your best bet in this situation (being unaware of the wheel type) is to err on the side of caution by choosing the nonacidic cleaner used for aluminium wheelset since it is not as abrasive as the others.