For self-washing the car you will need:
■ plenty of water. Using too little water causes, that dust particles or grains of sand left in the sponge act on the varnish like sandpaper, causing scratches, nothing always visible to the eye;
■ garden hose with a tip that sprays a stream of water. lie you do not have a snake, prepare at least two buckets of water;
■ hose mounted brush. Water flowing through the brush perfectly flushes dust. you are lying down using a sponge or a washing glove, pour water from the hose over the cleaned place constantly;
■ a glove or sponge. They should be carefully rinsed every now and then in a bucket of clean water and squeezed out, to rinse the sand from the pores of the sponge and weaves of the glove fabric;
■ long-handled brush for cleaning wheels and wheel arches;
■ Viscose sponge with large pores;
■ a stiffer sponge to remove insect remains from the windows;
■ a large chamois cloth to dry the body;
■ bucket for water with shampoo or for rinsing the chamois leather.
Next washing steps
1 Close windows and doors tightly. Wet seats are no fun.
2 Start with the most polluted places: the wheel arches, wheels, door sills and frames, so that dirt does not drip onto the washed car.
3 Periodically wash the undercarriage with water or a pressure relief device. In winter, this should be done with each car wash. At least once a year, raise the car in a garage or gas station and check the anti-corrosive properties of the undercarriage.
4 Wheels (rims) steel requires thorough cleaning of dust from friction linings. Sprinkle them with a cleaning agent intended for this purpose. It takes some time to dissolve the contaminants (read the information on the package). Use the mat to collect sediment and wash the wheel clean with water under pressure.
5 Regularly wash light alloy wheels with water and a softener. Aluminum wheels do not tolerate strong cleaning agents. Better to clean them twice a month, to be able to enjoy them for a long time.
6 For wheel care (rims) with a delicate pattern, a toothbrush is most useful. It is also advisable to apply liquid wax on a regular basis; Cladding dust and debris will then not have access to them. Be careful about it, to prevent the wax from getting on the brake discs and pads.
Soak the car before washing
7 Wet the whole car with a not too strong stream of water from a hose. If you use a pressure device in a self-service car wash, select the "rinsing" program.
8 Wash the car thoroughly with a brush, a sponge or a glove, from the roof to the lower edge of the windows. Wash the remaining parts of the car, moving around the vehicle.
9 Rub the shampoo foam lightly with a sponge in circular movements. Wait a while, until the cleaner takes effect.
10 Rinse off foam and dirt with a hose. In the manual car wash, set the program "flush".
11 In the last phase, brush and rinse the cat.
12 After washing, dry the bodywork immediately with a chamois leather. Drying water will form gray, lime coating on the varnish.
13 Before use, the chamois leather should be rinsed in water and wrung out, put it on the car and draw water towards you.
14 Rinse the chamois leather and wring out before each operation. Dry hard-to-reach places with a cotton cloth or an old chamois leather. Save your new chamois leather and don't use it to pick up leftover debris.
Take care of the cleanliness of the windows
15 Finally, clean the outer surfaces of the glass. Do the same, as when washing them from the inside. Check by the way, whether there are any traces of stone chips on the windows, scratches and cracks.
16 Clean the wiper rubbers with a sponge or chamois leather.
17 After cleaning and washing, check the condition of the paintwork, headlamp lenses and front bumper for possible, particularly resistant pollutants. Remnants of insects, bird droppings, plant residues and tar are particularly aggressive and should be removed immediately with special preparations.
18 Tar remover should not be applied to brand new paintwork. The solvents contained in the preparation may damage the varnish coating.