Beginners guide to cleaning your car by yourself

Buying a car is already a big investment for one. But buying is not sufficient, one should also maintain a car well to ensure its proper running. Often this happens because we feel like cleaning our own cars but lack the skills to do that. Also, the cleaning service outside is quite expensive. Actually, there is no science or skills required to properly clean your car. This step by step guide will help you, in the long run, to keep your car clean and fresh every time you drive it.  

• Table of Contents

  Toggle

  Wheels

The wheels being the dirtiest part of the car needs to be cleaned first in the whole car with a specialised wheel cleaner. Yes, the logic says that the car needs to be washed from top to bottom. But the wheel cleaners are highly acidic in nature and if by mistake the solution sits on the paint surface of the car for long it can start to corrode. By washing the upper body later we ensure that the rest of the body of the car is cleaned and those wheels get an extra rinse.

Start by wetting the wheels with water. Next, Apply the wheel cleaning solution on a rim, scrub it with a brush properly. After scrubbing off do not rinse the rim at once let the cleaner stay on the rim for a bit, By the time you can start the next wheel. After cleaning all the wheels rinse them well.

• Exterior Cleaning

Once the wheels are clean the next part is cleaning the exterior. The first part to clean the exterior should be the roof. Now we follow the top to bottom rule as the soap and water will flow downwards during cleaning. Rinse the car well and start to make a solution from either car soap or hair shampoo. Soak the cloth with all the foam and start rubbing it over the surface. Make sure you do not go too hard with scrubbing as it can cause scratches on the car body.

Also, divide the cleaning process into parts and re-rinse the whole car after completing each part’s cleaning. This is essential as the air-drying of water droplets will create spots and you have to wash it off again anyway.

After cleaning the entire car from outside, use a microfiber cloth to dry off the remaining droplets of water properly all over the car. You might want to use a buffing agent, freely available in the car market, to make the car shine after the wash.  Also, to clean the headlamps you can use toothpaste to make them sparkle. Just rub the toothpaste on the headlamps and then after a few minutes wipe it off with a clean cloth.

Read Also: HOW TO FIND AN ELECTRIC CHARGING STATION FOR YOUR EV

• Interior cleaning

After being done with the Exterior the next step is to clean the interior. Remove all the things and matting from the inside of the car. Make sure you pull out the mats carefully and not make the interior dirtier. After removing mats, clean them with a brush and soap water solution until they are clean. By the time they dry, vacuum clean the complete interior. It will be better if the vacuum has a brush attachment to give it a thorough clean.

This step is completely optional. After vacuuming the car get some interior detailing spray and apply it to the cloth as directly applying to the electronics can cause damage. Gently rub the cloth all over the dash and screens to make it look new as the first day. With the same cloth and a microfiber dry cloth clean the seats as well to see better results. To clean the AC vents use a foam spray, these cost around Rs 350 and clean the vents in no time.

• Glass cleaning

After arranging the dried mats back in the interior, the last step is to clean all the glass in the car. To clean the glass completely get a glass cleaning towel with an automotive-grade glass cleaner. The best thing about this towel is that it is lint-free so won’t leave marks after you wipe off the screen and all the windows

Spray the glass cleaner on the lint-free towel and gently start cleaning the glass window, rear screen, mirrors and front screen. It can be also used to clean the interior rear mirror as well as infotainment system if it’s a touchscreen module.

Following these steps will make your car seem new as it has come out of the showroom. Following the basic washing, cleaning and drying schedule will make any automotive lover be proud of you. It will also increase the lifespan of your car too while making it look gorgeous as ever. If you have any tips for fellow readers do leave them in the comments below. 

For the latest car and bike news, car reviews/bike reviews, and auto features follow us on Twitter and Facebook