Well now that’s its spring, it’s time to wash all of the dirt and grime that’s been building up over the winter. The problem with washing your car is trying to do so without scratching your paint in the process. This article will show you the best way to keep your car clean and swirl free.
Now before you get your soap and bucket, you’ll have to clean off your wheels. since you don’t want your car getting water spots after you wash it while your cleaning your wheels, its best to do it before hand. For this you’ll need a soft-haired brush, some wheel cleaner, and a long-handled brush to clean the inside of the wheel. All of these can be found at a local Pep Boys, Advance Auto, and similar stores.
Start to clean the wheel by giving it an initial spray with water to clean off the surface dust before a brush touches the surface. Then spray the wheel and tire with the cleaner of your choice, and clean the wheel with your long-haired brush one spoke at a time. Then move to the inside of the wheel using the brush made for cleaning the inside of the wheel, it also doesn’t hurt to use this brush to clean of your brake caliper while your down there. Then move back to the wheel brush and clean the sidewall of the tire before rinsing the wheel off with water. Its best not to let the wheel acid sit for too long, as it may burn your paint. I also don’t recommend using wheel cleaner on spray painted wheels or plastidiped wheels. For those it is best to use your normal car wash soap. 
Now that your wheels are cleaned and rinsed off, go ahead and grab a clean bucket, sponge or wash mit, your car wash soap of choice, and a soap dispenser. That’s right, to minimize the damage to your cars paint, you can use a soap dispenser to wash and lubricate the surface of the paint before your mit even touches the car, but more on that later. Fill your bucket with water only and place your mit inside. Than take your soap dispenser and fill it half way full of soap, add water and mix.
Then, just like every other wash you’ve done before, star out by rinsing excess dust off your car from the top down. lift up wiper blades and be sure to rinse the under side and in the wheel wells while you’re at it. 
Now you can attach your soap dispenser and spray the whole car down with soap, and make sure that the whole car is nice and soapy.
Now you can grab your mit and wipe down the car starting top to bottom, rinsing the mit out in clean water from time to time. Wipe all painted surfaces on the car, wiping out the fuel door and mirrors makes the most out of the wash. But remember to save the most dirty parts of your car for the end, this helps minimize the amount of scratches that could happen when washing your car.
Now rinse your car off with normal water from the hose, don’t leave any soap behind and don’t let the car dry up before you can wipe it down. When you go to dry off your car, its best to use special microfiber towels made for drying off a car, or use a soft shammy. Always re-wash and dry your towels before using them again. You may even want to check your towels to ensure that they’re clean and won’t scratch your paint.
It’s best to dry your car off starting at the top and working your way down, if you want to help remove water from the surface, spray on wax or detailer spray can be used to help the water bead. After the outside of the car is dried, making sure your windows are spotless, and your paint is streak free, the final part of the wash is to dry down the inside of the door jams, trunk, and wheels. 
Now your done! We here at CarsXHype would love to see your soapy car pics, so be sure to check out our official instagram @carsxhype and tag your car wash pictures with our tags: #carsxhype #cxh. 
This article was written by Brent Conklin and photographs were provided by BNC Photography and Nagy Photography respectively. BNC Photography’s Facebook page is linked here, and flick is linked here. Nagy Photography’s Facebook page is located here, and flick is linked here.
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