When it leaves the garage for the first time, a car quickly becomes dirty, inside and out.
With these few tips, a little time, and some elbow grease, your car will regain the shine of its first days!
Before you begin:
Place your car in the shade to prevent it from drying out too quickly, which would cause streaks to appear on the bodywork.
- Check that all your windows are closed to avoid flooding the car.
- Raise the wipers and place them in a high position.
- Prepare the necessary materials:
- One wheel bucket
- One bucket of water and car shampoo
- One bucket for wringing out the wash mitt
- Several microfiber cloths
- A washing mitt
- An old toothbrush
- A brush with semi-rigid bristles.
- rim cleaner
- A vacuum
You can wash your car yourself or search for car services online for saving time, effort, and money.
Let’s start with the outside:
Cleaning the Exterior of Your Car
Rims or hubcaps recommend thoroughly cleaning your wheels, often the dirtiest part of your vehicle.
To get into every nook and cranny:
- Use an old toothbrush
- Take the opportunity to scrub the sidewall of the tire and the wheel arch using the brush with semi-rigid bristles.
- Rinse your wheels thoroughly to remove dirt and soap.
- Repeat the operation for each wheel.
Bodywork
Take your bucket of lukewarm water mixed with car shampoo (dishwashing liquid will also do the trick), then soak your bodywork with a water jet with hot water if possible because it will pre-remove dust and grease.
Then put on your wash mitt or grab a clean microfiber cloth and clean your car, starting with the roof and windshield. Indeed, proceeding from top to bottom is always necessary since the parts closest to the ground are the dirtiest.
Once the cleaning operation is complete, rinse the car (always from top to bottom) to remove all the foam. Finally, dry your vehicle with a clean, slightly damp microfiber cloth to avoid streaks. When the microfiber is saturated with water, wring it out and continue.
Seems like too much effort? Don’t worry you can book car wash services at home in just three clicks for keeping your car in the best shape easily and affordably.
Next, let’s go inside:
Cleaning the Interior of your Car
Clean Door Openings
For the interior, start by cleaning the door openings with a microfiber cloth, without forgetting all the undersides and door passages. Finish with the trunk, the seal of which is often very dirty.
Dust
Spray a few sprays of cleaning product (glass cleaner will do) on a microfiber cloth and gently remove dust from the dashboard, steering wheel, and center console. Help yourself with a small brush or paintbrush to go into hard-to-reach corners.
Clean the Interior Windows
As for the dust operation, spray a few sprays of glass cleaner on your microfiber cloth, then quickly pass it from top to bottom, then from left to right on your windows. A tip for cleaning the interior windshield: sit in the passenger seat, so the steering wheel does not interfere with your movements.
Vacuum
Clear your vehicle of its floor mats and vacuum, taking care not to spare any corner (under the seat, seat rails, door storage, etc.)
Clean the Seats
For the seats, it all depends on what type of seat you have:
For leather, choose products dedicated to leather surfaces to preserve their shine.
To remove stains from fabric, use a water/washing-up liquid mixture or a product designed specifically for fabric.
Use a sticky paper strip to remove pet hair attached to your car seats after vacuuming. You will quickly remove hair by sticking and peeling it on the seats.
Sounds like a tough job? You don’t have to wash your car yourself as you can book car wash services at home online.
Clean the Floor Mats
In the case of rubber floor mats, wet them, then spray a few sprays of cleaning product. Rub them to remove the dirt using a brush and a little elbow grease, then finish with a good rinse.
For fabric carpets, vacuum them, insisting on very dirty areas. If necessary, wash them with a mixture of soapy water, and rinse them well after washing.
Finally, let them dry, and then put them back in your car.
