[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/blog\/5-things-not-to-do-when-washing-your-car\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/blog\/5-things-not-to-do-when-washing-your-car\/","headline":"5 Things Not To Do When Washing Your Car","name":"5 Things Not To Do When Washing Your Car","description":"Major car-wash DON\u2019Ts that you must avoid If you happen to care about your car\u2019s paint finish down to the finest detail, you\u2019ll want to be a little more careful next time you go at it with a sponge and bucket. When the sun finally comes out, we\u2019re often quick to start scrubbing at our cars, yet so many of us are making mistakes that will leave our beloved motors with small scratch and swirl marks, rather than the spotless […]","datePublished":"2019-05-20","dateModified":"2019-05-20","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/author\/isabelle-lawrence\/#Person","name":"Isabelle Lawrence","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/author\/isabelle-lawrence\/","identifier":30,"description":"Max Wheeler is a leading motoring journalist and classic car specialist at Smart Motoring, renowned for his sharp insight and infectious passion for all things automotive. With years of experience covering motoring news, supercars, and the enduring legacy of classic cars, Max brings stories to life with style and authority. Whether it\u2019s the roar of a Lamborghini, the elegance of an Aston Martin DB5, or the cultural impact of vintage motoring icons, he delivers expert commentary that inspires enthusiasts and collectors alike. Dedicated to celebrating the heritage and future of driving, Max Wheeler is your trusted voice for classic car news and beyond.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d331506e3c530b5ec4930c30a01ed8cc29b0537227573ae5da98f559e681401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8d331506e3c530b5ec4930c30a01ed8cc29b0537227573ae5da98f559e681401?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Smart Motoring","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/smart-motoring_news_logo_g-e1765846726493.webp","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/smart-motoring_news_logo_g-e1765846726493.webp","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/5-Things-Not-To-Do-When-Washing-Your-Car-feature.jpg","url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/5-Things-Not-To-Do-When-Washing-Your-Car-feature.jpg","height":520,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/smart-motoring.com\/blog\/5-things-not-to-do-when-washing-your-car\/","about":["BLOG","Cars","LATEST CAR NEWS"],"wordCount":1070,"keywords":["car washing tips","Washing your car"],"articleBody":"Major car-wash DON\u2019Ts that you must avoid If you happen to care about your car\u2019s paintfinish down to the finest detail, you\u2019ll want to be a little more careful nexttime you go at it with a sponge and bucket. When the sun finally comes out,we\u2019re often quick to start scrubbing at our cars, yet so many of us are makingmistakes that will leave our beloved motors with small scratch and swirl marks,rather than the spotless shine we\u2019re all hoping to achieve. Here are somecommon car-washing mistakes that you certainly should not be making! Don\u2019t just use one bucketOne of the first things auto detailers learnis the \u2018two bucket\u2019 method, which surprisingly, is exactly what it sounds like.One bucket is filled with soap, the other is filled with clean water. The ideais to never put a dirty sponge into your soap bucket and instead, rinse off thedirt in the bucket with clean water in it. This will prevent you from washing your carwith a dirty sponge, reducing the chances of you dragging a debris-laden spongeacross your pool ol\u2019 car\u2019s painted surfaces. If you look closely at your car\u2019spaint, you\u2019ll probably see tiny swirl marks and minute scratches. These marksare likely the product of previous owners or car washes that don\u2019t use the twobucket method, or something similar. When restricting yourself to just onebucket, you\u2019re allowing your sponge to soak up all the dirt particles and tinydebris that you just wiped off of your car, then proceeding to wipe your carwith a rough sponge filled with all that debris. Never use one bucket!Don\u2019t use a dropped cloth or spongeIf you\u2019re using any kind of wipe, sponge orother tool, dropping it on the floor is often an inevitability. It\u2019s not aquestion of if you\u2019ll drop the sponge, but rather a question of when you\u2019lldrop it. Once you\u2019ve dropped that sponge, don\u2019t pick it up and keep using it! Following the same logic of the two bucketmethod, you should now know that debris and dirt is the enemy of the perfectwash. Even if your dropped sponge appears completely clean, don\u2019t trust it.Either wash it incredibly thoroughly or use a new one. Dirt particulates can bevirtually invisible but that doesn\u2019t mean they won\u2019t scratch up your car whenusing a dirty cleaning tool. Don\u2019t use a sponge at all!You won\u2019t find many professional car detailersusing an old fashioned sponge. Instead, a mixture of lambswool\/microfibre washmitts and jet washers are employed. The pros will often use a snow foam toloosen debris and dirt, then follow up with a jet wash to safely remove thedirt, then follow up with a fine wash mitt to clean the remaining dirt off.Using a sponge is not inherently wrong, it\u2019s just riskier as it\u2019s easier fordirt to get trapped and wiped across your vehicle. For optimum results, you want your cleaning tool,whether it be hand mitt or otherwise, to glide effortlessly across your car\u2019svarious surfaces because friction is certainly not a good thing. Wash mitts areworn on your hand making them harder to drop on the floor and easier to use ingeneral. The same goes for pressure washers; you can cover a wider area muchquicker and there\u2019s no risk of wiping dirt across your paintwork. Don\u2019t use an automatic car washIf you get lazy and decide one weekend youjust can\u2019t be bothered to wash your car yourself (we all do at some point) thenjust make sure you don\u2019t head on over to one of those dreaded automatic carwashes. As is the running theme here, the main problem with these spinningbristles is that they carry loads of dirt and debris from all the other carsthat have been washed. The bristles themselves are made to be soft enough tonot damage paint, but the paint is still being damaged by all the dirtparticulates that are being wiped across your car like sandpaper. The only acceptable automatic car washes are the ones that use several pressure washer jets in place of the big blue fuzzy corn-on-the-cobs. Hand car washes can be just as bad if the people that wash your car use bad practices and dirty tools, so be careful when choosing a car wash and avoid the auto car wash!Don\u2019t scrub hard!As simple as it sounds, don\u2019t brush off thisimportant tip as it\u2019s probably the worst thing to do out of all of our otherno-nos. If you come across a particularly stubborn piece of muck on your car,whether it be week-old bird poop or a hardened sport of mud, whatever you do,don\u2019t scrub at it hard. Here at Motor-Vision we\u2019ve personally made thismistake, leaving us with visible scratches on our beloved autos. Scrubbingharder may help remove the dirt, but at what cost?Here\u2019s what you do, get some very warm (butnot boiling) soapy water and pour it over the muck. Preferably, you should beusing a proper car soap that can effectively loosen dirt while not harming thepaint. Once you\u2019ve let the soap loosen the dirt, use a jet washer to shoot awaythe dirt rather than scrubbing it with anything. If you don\u2019t have access to ajet washer, then using a cloth is fine as long as you don\u2019t scrub. Wipe themuck away, one wipe at a time, making sure that you\u2019re folding\/replacing yourcloth along the way to avoid wiping the dirt back over your car. Wipe in aslow, methodical manner and remove the dirt with each swipe. Don\u2019t press hardand don\u2019t scrub back and forth and you should be fine! This is a mistake that so many people make andif you scrub too hard, you have a good chance of leaving your car with deep,fine scratch marks which can be a pain to hide!Wash your car the right way this year! Let us know any other tips you have in the comments. 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