How to avoid a life of grime

Seven tips to help keep your car clean in January

K eeping a car clean during the winter might seem like an impossibility at times, and there can be temptation not to bother giving it a good scrub until the temperatures start to warm up again. But colder weather means gritted roads – and you don’t want to leave this salt on your car for extended periods of time, as it can lead to corrosion over the years.

So if you’re looking to keep your car in the best state over winter, here are the tips we recommend following…

1 GET A PRESSURE WASHER

While you might think a regular hose will do the job just fine, if you’re able to, we recommend a pressure washer to clean your car. They offer more power when cleaning – especially when it comes to areas such as the wheel arches. Good pressure washers cost under £100, and while this might seem a bit pricey at first, you’ll soon find they come in handy for all sorts of tasks.

2 DON’T SKIP THE PRE-WASH

Giving your car a pre-wash is important at the best of times, but even more so in winter.

There are various ways you can do this – including using snowfoam, which helps to loosen dirt. But our chosen method is using what’s known as an all-purpose cleaner or citrus cleaner. It’s best to wet the car before spraying these cleaners on, which can usually be heavily diluted and still pack impressive cleaning power. Always check the i dilution ratios before using. Leave the cleaner on the car for around five minutes before pressure washing the dirt off – you’ll be surprised by how much it removes.

3 DITCH THE SPONGE

For years, a sponge has been thought of as the ultimate tool for cleaning a car, but these can actually cause damage to your car. Even after a prewash, there will still be dirt on your car, and when using a sponge, these dirt particles have nowhere to go – so essentially you’ll be rubbing grit on the car, which could cause marks to be inflicted. Instead, use a deep pile wash mitt, which helps to sort the issue.

4 USE TWO BUCKETS AND A CAR SHAMPOO

While it can be tempting to grab the mop bucket and fill it with washing up liquid, this couldn’t be further from what we recommend. Washing up liquid contains ingredients that are designed to strip grease from pans, but on a car’s paint this can degrade the finish if used on a regular basis. For that reason, a dedicated car shampoo should always be used, and good products can be picked up for as little as a fiver. Following this, we recommend using two buckets – one containing the car shampoo mixture and the second nothing but clean water. We’ll explain why shortly.

5. CLEAN TOP TO BOTTOM

While it can be tempting to just rub around in circles, this can cause what’s known as swirls, which ruin the way your car looks. Instead, aim to clean in straight lines, whether that’s up and down, or side to side.

You should also work from top to bottom – the roof and bonnet of your car being far less likely to have dirt on them than the lower panels. Once you’ve cleaned all panels, rinse thoroughly.

6 LAY DOWN SOME PROTECTION

It’s important to lay down some protection on your car, which will help to repel any dirt and also make future washing cleaner. While you can use a dedicated spray wax or paste wax for this, one of the quickest ways of doing this is to use a spray wax that you apply while the vehicle is wet after washing it. Spray this on the clean wet panels, before rinsing off straight away.

7. DRY OFF THE CAR

Once you’ve rinsed off your motor, it can be tempting to just leave it, but we always recommend drying off your vehicle. Use a microfibre towel, which is able to soak up an impressive amount of water. If you just leave the water on your car to air-dry, it can leave water spots.