When it comes to a vehicle, always do your best for it. Take it for regular servicing, fix minor issues before they aggravate significant problems, and, most importantly, keep your car clean; that way, it looks new every day. Whether you’re doing it yourself or leaving it to professional car cleaners, cleaning your vehicle regularly is advantageous. Your car can last longer, and the depreciation value reduces.
When you do choose to clean your vehicle as a way to maintain it, here are a few secrets that will keep the cleaning process seamless and ensure you get the best results:
- Clean your car with car wash detergent
The best way to clean your car—exterior and interior— is by hand washing. The best agent to use is car wash soap. These soaps are specially formulated to meet your car cleaning needs so that they don’t destroy parts of your car like the paint. Do away with the dish or laundry soap. Some of these soaps have corrosive materials in their formula hence aggravating the process of wear and tear in your vehicle. They can remove the wax coating on your car that is meant for protection.
- Treating tar
While cleaning your car through the hand wash method, you will realize that some stains cannot be eradicated with car wash soap. Generally, car wash soaps eliminate water-soluble contaminants. However, road tar is a stain that your car wash soap will not clean off. Do not use friction trying to rub out these stains. Instead, get a wax and grease remover or a petroleum-based cleaner to treat the tar. Once you do this, you can re-wash those parts with a bar of car soap.
When cleaning your car, take advantage of gravity and start from the top and work down to the bottom: A common mistake a lot of people make is cleaning a car from bottom to top or, worse, cleaning randomly. The best cleaning structure is top to bottom. That way, stains, contaminants, and grime are not brought back to places that have already been washed. Start by washing and rinsing the car: roof first, then glass, the car’s hood, trunk lid, etc. All the contaminants at the car’s bottom? Wash it down. Use this process all through once the loose dirt has been washed and rinsed off on the roof, clean with a bar of car soap. Then rinse with water. Use some soap and wash the car glass on one side. Make sure to rinse after. Keep washing and rinsing following this process.
- Fill in paint chips
Once your car hits the road, scratches and paint chips are bound to happen. Nothing beats getting a professional paint job to give your vehicle that new clean look. But you can DIY to save costs. Find a paint color that matches your car’s color at an auto parts shop. It’s best to use an artist brush to give a good finish.
In conclusion, always look out for any changes to your car by paying attention to how it sounds or moves.