Do you use a sponge to wash your car? Do you leave it out in the sun to dry? If you are, you might be washing your car wrongly. In this article, we highlight five things you’re doing wrong when washing your car.
For most of us, our cars are one of the most expensive things to own. An essential part of car maintenance is ensuring that you not only wash your car regularly, but also correctly. To ensure your car remains in tip-top shape, here are five things that you should never do when washing your car!
1. Using a Sponge to Wash Your Car
Most car owners use a yellow rectangular sponge to wash their cars, and this is a huge common mistake. Sponges are good for washing your dishes, but really, you shouldn’t be using them to wash your beloved car. A sponge can cause damage to the paintwork of your vehicle. Instead, you should use a microfibre mitt as a safer alternative. Wash mitts have deep pile fibres, unlike sponges which are flat-surfaced. This allows the absorption of grit particles while reducing the chances of hairline scratch marks on your car.
2. Washing Your Car Under the Sun
It’s summer all year round in Singapore and you might think that such weather is perfect for washing your car. But it has been widely accepted that you should NOT wash your car in hot weather. This is because water and soap dry up much faster under the sun, leaving unsightly water spots or even swirl marks on your vehicle.
3. Using Only One Bucket of Soap Mixture to Wash Your Car
Despite the need for water conservation, you should not use a single bucket of water to wash your car. You’re just soaking your wash mitt into a bucket of grit-filled water and using that to clean your vehicle. Try the two-bucket wash method – one bucket of soap mixture and another bucket of clean water. Soak your wash mitt into the bucket of clean water to rinse out any dirt particles before you put it back into the bucket of soap mixture and continue washing your car.
4. Pouring the Bucket of Soapy Water over Your Car After Washing
Some of you would finish the car washing process by pouring a bucket of soapy water over your car to ‘rinse’ it. That’s equivalent to pouring a bucket of dirt over yourself after you have showered! You should always rinse your car with a bucket of clean water.
5. Leaving Your Car to Air Dry
Many car owners leave their cars to air dry after washing. But did you know drying your car with a towel is necessary to prevent water spotting? As water evaporates, the minerals in the water remain on the car surface, inevitably creating water spots. Always remember to use a microfibre cloth/towel to dry your car after washing to prevent watermarks.
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