After a long, hard winter with many slush baths, most of our cars are looking a bit gross. It’s time to give your vehicle a good cleaning – inside and out. Here’s the best way to get your car shiny and ready for warmer weather!
Exterior
This one seems obvious – make an outing to the car wash! While the car wash is a staple, most people stop at this point. In reality, there are a few tips you can use to get the best out of your wash. For starters, make use of the squeegees at the gas pump. While you’re refilling your gas, give your windows a once over to soften up stubborn dirt. This will make your actual trip to the car wash more effective.
When your wash is complete, you’re always left with water spots. It just doesn’t matter how slow you go through that air dryer. The solution to this is keeping a microfiber towel on hand to dry your car after the wash. They’re soft, cheap, and the fabric won’t scratch your car like a regular towel or old t-shirt will.
Another important thing is to make sure you wipe down the rubber weather seals on the edges of the door and trunk. This prevents your doors from sticking when the temperature drops below freezing.
Now that the exterior of your car is shiny and clean, it’s time to go to an area that most neglect which cleaning.
The Engine Bay
A lot of people either don’t care to or are too scared to do anything under their hood. That said, manufacturers make sure the items under the hood are waterproof when they engineer them. You just want to make sure you cover any electronics before you get started. If you’re ever unsure as to what is an electronic, it’s better to be safe than sorry and you should cover it up!
To get a showroom engine, you’ll need degreaser, a couple of brushes, some spray to make the interior nice and shiny and a microfiber cloth. You’ll need access to a hose, water supply and a dryer to get rid of any excess water let behind. Work your way down, starting by spraying the hood with degreaser. Scrub until the grime is gone and then wash it off!
Next, you want to spray off any loose dirt and dust by spraying down the engine bay itself. Apply the degreaser liberally and get to scrubbing. Once you’re done, you’ll want to grab the hose again and wash it off. Things get fun at this point – that is where your air dryer comes in! Get rid of that residual water! Last but not least, we want that shine, so grab your beauty spray and get to work, wiping off any excess.
Interior
Another dreaded area of cleaning is the interior of the car. It is, however, completely necessary, since it’s where you actually spend your time while driving. There are some products you should have for this step, but they can easy be obtained by a trip to Canadian Tire. First, if you have an electric drill hanging around your house, you can buy brush heads that fit, which you can use to give your carpets and mats a good cleaning. Next, we need a good vacuum as well. Wet vacs can allow you to really scrub your seats and then suck out all the moister and dirt.
Now that the heavy work is done, it’s time to add some polish. This is where the microfiber towel comes back into play. Pair a cloth with windshield cleaner for a game changing combination. Finish up by wiping down your seats and handles with some Lysol wipes. This will keep viruses and bacteria, but won’t damage your interior. If you don’t like the scent, soap and water will work too!
Let us know if you found this car hygiene crash course useful!
