How to wash a car | How to wash a car properly

You can wash your car in many different ways and with different cleaning products. The best way is still to wash your car by hand. It is quick to drive your car through the carwash, but that can produce scratches on the paintwork. So we like to provide tips on how to wash and wax your car by hand. Wash your car in your driveway or street or at a carwash centre, use the following tips and clean your car in 4 steps.

1. Equipment for washing a car
Washing your car in your driveway or street is convenient and economical. You need the following equipment:

• Garden hose or high-pressure jet cleaner
• Soft cloth
• Wax shampoo for cars
• Two buckets
• Microfibre sponge
• Cleaning brush
• Natural chamois

2. Rinse your car
Cleaning your car starts with rinsing all parts of your car with a garden hose or high-pressure jet cleaner. If you use a high-pressure jet cleaner, keep at least 20 cm distance between the jet and the paintwork to prevent damage. Start by rinsing from the top and work down to the bottom, to make sure you rinse all the loose sand, dirt and grime from the car. Don't forget to rinse the rims with the garden hose or high-pressure jet cleaner.

3. Wash a car with car wax shampoo
After rinsing you clean your car with a car wax shampoo. We advise against washing your car with an all-purpose cleaner or washing-up liquid, because this is harmful to the paintwork. Take two buckets. Fill one bucket with car wax shampoo and lukewarm water and the other with just lukewarm water. You can rinse your microfibre sponge in the bucket of water and keep the bucket with soapy water clean.

You wash a car lengthways. Circular motions produce circular scratches that become clearly visible in daylight. Change the water in your bucket regularly, because dirt and sand will stay at the bottom. Every time you immerse your microfibre sponge in the bucket, there is a chance that this dirt or sand gets put back on the car. When you have soaped your entire car, you can rinse the car with the garden hose or high-pressure jet cleaner.

After washing the bodywork, it is time for the rims and the windscreens. You can clean the rims with HG car wheel rim cleaner. Spray the rims and leave the wheel cleaner to work for 1 minute. Take the brush and brush the dirt from the rim. Wipe off the dirt and rinse with warm water. You clean the windscreen with water and washing-up liquid or with the special glass cleaner: HG car windscreen cleaner.

4. Drying the car
Drying is the last step. Preferably you dry your car with a natural chamois. The soft material makes sure that there are no streaks or scratches on your car. It also absorbs a lot of liquid, which makes it pleasant to work with on large surfaces. After drying with the chamois, your car is dry and sparkling clean again.

Dirt is harmful to your car. It affects the paintwork, but also causes rust spots over time. With good maintenance, you enjoy your vehicle longer.

You cannot always see the dirt on a car with the naked eye. So wash your car regularly. Washing your car protects it against dirt and makes sure that dirt is easier to remove. When you wash your car, never use a scouring sponge because this will scratch the paintwork. Various tips are shared on the internet. HG has selected a random number of tips for preventing dirt on your car:

1. Avoid muddy roads
Avoid muddy roads to prevent your car from being covered in mud. The moisture in the mud makes your car rust faster. Older cars are particularly vulnerable to this. Is there mud on your car? It is best to wash your car today. For the underside of your car, you can use the carwash or a high-pressure jet cleaner. With a high-pressure jet cleaner you can clean your dirty car in your driveway or street.

2. Do not park under trees
Don't park your car under a tree. It prevents getting tree resin on your car. Tree resin is persistent and adheres immediately to the paintwork. You can see it with the naked eye, and it makes the paintwork feel sticky. You can remove tree resin with:

• Kitchen products: you can use frying butter, vegetable oil or olive oil. Rub the kitchen product onto the sticky patches and leave it for 15 minutes. Then wash the paintwork with water.
• Turpentine: dilute the turpentine with water and apply to the sticky patches. Leave for 15 minutes. Then wash the paintwork with water.
• Nail-polish remover or a solvent for stickers. Rub on the tree-resin patches and rinse with water after 15 minutes.

3. Remove bird droppings immediately
Bird droppings on your car look dirty. If you leave the bird droppings too long, they cause ugly marks on the paintwork. Temperature fluctuations are the culprit of those ugly marks. The sun makes the paintwork expand a little and in the evening it will shrink again. Bird droppings on the paintwork mean that this subtle process is not even in all places. When the paintwork shrinks again, it will shape around the bird droppings. This causes a distortion in the paintwork.

The distortion has consequences for the light reflection of the paintwork, and you will see it like a dull patch. The damage is easy to limit by waxing your car once a month. The wax protects and makes sure that it is easier to remove new marks. Removing the marks immediately is even better of course! You can remove bird droppings by:

• Moistening the stains with a soft cloth drenched in warm water. Leave to soak for 10 minutes and then remove the bird droppings with a soft cloth. Put the soft cloth in a high-temperature laundry programme and wash your hands properly to avoid any chance of diseases.

4. Remove insects immediately
In the summer months in particular, insects on cars are a problem. When insects stay on your car too long, the sun makes sure that the acid content of the insects burn into the paintwork. It is essential to remove insects from your car. You can remove insects by:

• Washing the car with a pantyhose or wash net with a sponge.
• Putting a soft cloth drenched in warm water on the insects. Leave to soak for an hour and then remove the insects with a cloth.
• Putting wet newspapers on the windscreen and the hood. Leave those for an hour and you can simply wipe away the insects. Do this in the shade, because in the full sun your newspapers will dry out.

Do not use a scouring sponge to remove insects or other dirt from your car, because it can cause scratches. Are you looking to deal with this quickly and efficiently? Then it is best to use HG car insect remover together with a soft microfibre sponge.

5. How to remove sand from a car
Do you struggle with sand on your car? Don't wipe it off with your hands. Sand is like fine sandpaper, and it will easily scratch the car. You can rinse most sand from the car, but that is not enough. Sand always remains on the paintwork, but you cannot always see it with the naked eye. It is wise to wash your car by hand afterwards. You can remove sand from your car with:

• A mixture of water and car wax shampoo. Pour the mixture in a plant spray and spray your car. This produces a thin foaming layer that enables the sand to come loose from the paintwork. Then rinse the car with the garden hose or the high-pressure jet cleaner. Soap your car once more to remove the last bits of sand. Use a microfibre sponge and rinse it regularly to prevent scratches. After soaping, you rinse again with water.

6. How to remove grit from a car
During the winter season, the roads are gritted heavily in slippery conditions. It makes the roads safer. The downside is that the grit damages your car. The grit is bad for the paintwork and breaks down the wax layer of your car quicker. The underside of your car suffers too.

When unprotected metal comes into contact with grit, it starts rusting. Prevent rust and spray off the underside of your car regularly in winter. Continue to wash your car regularly in winter too, to make sure it always has a good wax coating.

If you tried any of the above tips and they are either too labour intensive or don't produce the required result, use the powerful HG car cleaner and protector.