How to Effectively Wash and Polish Your Car

This is a guest post by Lucia Peregrim of Ricochet’s Rapid Detail, located at 715 Fig St in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Your vehicle is one of the most expensive assets that you will purchase in your lifetime, next to your home. In fact, our cars are under constant attack from pollution and airborne contaminants. If left on the surface of the car, it can embed into the clear coat or even the paint, causing expensive damage. This is why it is essential to wash your car frequently, at least once every two weeks. Exterior and interior car cleaning will keep your vehicle looking and feeling new!

The most important step before polishing your car is washing it. Before you begin to wash your car, you want to have the proper supplies. First you want to try to find good quality soap, not dish washing liquid, as the majority of dish washing liquids are not pH balanced and can strip the wax right off of the car. Try to find good car soap, maybe by Meguiar’s that is pH balanced and has fortified brighteners that won’t dull the paint. Let’s get started and I will take you through the steps to properly clean your vehicle’s paint.

• Pour soap in one bucket creating suds.

• Fill your other bucket up with fresh water.

• Try and keep your vehicle in a shady place because the sun will allow the soap to dry, creating water spots.

• Spray the car before you start to wash, this will remove loose particles and cool the paint for cleaning.

• Spray the wheels and wheel wells to remove overspray from the undercarriage.

• You may use a soft sponge or preferably a sheepskin mitt. Meguiar’s makes a great wash mit, the X3002 Microfiber wash mitt.

• Start at the top of the vehicle working your way down, do one panel at a time, rinsing as you go to keep the suds from drying.

• After each panel, rinse your mitt in the bucket with the clean water, as this will prevent the dirt that is collected from scratching your car.

• To prevent scratches when drying, use a soft, absorbent terry cloth towel or a chamois. We recommend using Meguiar’s X2200 Super Thick Natural Chamois 5′ square.

• Be sure to pay extra attention to the front panels, because these are the panels that normally are affected most by bugs, tar and overspray.

• Polish your car’s paint using a polisher and a high grade polish as this will clean the paint and smooth the surface, preparing it for waxing.

• Wax or seal the paint, which will protect the paint. We recommend using Meguiar’s NXT Wash & Wax Kit.

About Ricochet’s Rapid Detail

Ricochet’s Rapid Detail is owned and operated by husband-and-wife-team, Dave and Lucia Peregrim, who have over 25 years of experience in the auto detailing industry. Dave Peregrim has detailed cars for Tom Hesser Chevrolet, Kelly Volkswagen, and many others throughout his career and opened Ricochet’s Rapid Detail in Scranton, PA in 2002.

Check out the Ricochet’s Rapid Detail blog, “like” them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Did you enjoy this article? Share it!

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

Subscribe to Woman Tribune

Subscribe to Woman Tribune by RSS or enter your email below to receive email updates.

Hot Stories From Around the Web

Loading...

About the Author: Guest Contributor

This post was written by a guest contributor. You can contribute your work to Woman Tribune too! Get the details!

Homepage | Twitter