subject: Are You Making These 10 Car Washing Mistakes? [print this page] At Bubbles, we know that you need to maintain your car between car washes. If you get a professional car wash from us every month, that leaves 4 weeks in between that you need to get rid of bird stuff or seat crumbs. We'd never wish that on our worst enemies! That's why these tips are posted for everyone to benefit from.
Some of these car cleaning tips may seem common sense, but you wouldn't believe how often we see a person come in with water spots on their hood. Read along, take notes, and your car will look almost as good as when we do it for you.
1. Most Common Mistake: Do not use dish soap to wash your car with. Dish soap will strip the polymers off of the surface of your car. You do not want that to happen, so please use a detergent specifically made for washing your car.
2. Before you start washing your car, rinse it with water to remove any loose dirt.
3. Wash your car with a large natural sponge, and use lots of suds to wash away the dirt. Don't skimp on the suds, that's the magic key to success.
4. Do not let your car air dry. You will be left with watermarks that people will be able to see from down the road.
5. Dry your car with a terry cloth microfiber towel. You may not know it but if you use an old shirt, you will actually scratch the surface of your car.
This tip is another common mistakes of at-home car cleaners. Using an old shirt or towel can very easily scratch your beautiful exterior. Shammy towels are inexpensive and can be found at nearly any hardware or boat store. If you want to go all out, you can even get the all-too-famous Sham Wow.
6. Clean the windows in a circular motion with another terry cloth microfiber towel. Using two different towels is an important step to keeping your car's paint shining well and blemish free.
7. Use q-tips to clean hard to reach areas in the interior of your car like your air conditioning vents.
8. Clean up spills as soon as they happen. It is easier to clean up a new spill than a stain that has set in.
9. Avoid parking by sprinklers. This is an important preventative tip. Sprinkler water is no good for your paint job or your car lights. The fact is hard water stains, and you do not want to have to deal with it.
If you need to get hard water stains off your car, there are two options for you to do. First, you can go to your local store and buy some wild chemical abrasives and attempt to remove them yourselves. Or, bring your car to a professional (Like Us!). We have formulas and equipment specially suited to tough jobs like removing hard or rusty water stains.
10. Don't wax your car unless you're absolutely sure you've cleaned it to a "T". If you have dirt on your car still when you wax it, it'll seal that dirt in under or within the wax coating.
These tips may not win you the lottery, but they can save you a few headaches down the road. Your car is a reflection of you, treat it right. We hope you enjoyed these car washing tips and look forward to seeing you at Bubbles Car Wash.
