As it is Halloween it seems only right to do a detailing nightmares type of post. Now I will say that in the grand scheme of things these are all fixable issues (well scratches are, but costly to fix), but if I called this post “car washing bad habits” it might not have the same Halloween impact…on with the post…
1. Wearing Jewellery
In at one, it’s wearing jewellery. Now you don’t have to be adorned with gold and silver trinkets like an 80’s darts player to damage you cars paint work. A simple watch with a leather strap and metal buckle will leave a nice deep scratch if it catches the paint. I’ve seen a fair few cars with said scratches and they normally appear on the roof. Unless you’ve got a car such as a coupe, or your very tall, your arm will be out at a right angle to your body and moving in an arc while washing the roof. This leads to a good old scratch if you’re not careful. This kind of scratch can often be as a result of using hand car washes. While there are some excellent hand car wash services available many are run by people who, at large wash cars as quickly as possible. Nothing wrong with that if your not bothered about your cars overall paintwork, but if that where the case you would probably wouldn’t of read up to here..moving on..
2. Dropping The Wash Mitt / Sponge On The Floor
Many of us have heard the cringe worthy story of the neighbour’s kid washing a car with a bucket of stones or an old flannel covered in grit. Well while that might be the worst case scenario dropping your wash mitt or sponge on the floor can have a similar result. Just imagine sprinkling grit over a wet car then rubbing a pad against it, your paint will not thank you, oh no. I could also add a comment about sponges being a detailing no no, but a good clean and new sponge used with a decent car shampoo is better than not washing your car at all. However I’d advise you purchase a wash mitt as there only around 2 pounds more.
Using Washing Up Liquid
My final detailing bad habit or nightmare (I’ve started, so I’ll finish) is good old washing up liquid. I’m not sure why people ever started to use washing up liquids on there cars, perhaps it’s because washing up liquid works so well on dishes, but if that was true why not try using head and shoulders to wash the car or use car shampoo to clean the oven? No no, let’s use the proper cleaning agents for each job. Washing up liquid to be fair will wash the dirt of your car, it will even make it look shiny, unfortunately the abrasive salts will also strip of any protective wax and in time work its way through paints clear coat. Some people choose to use fairy liquid over other bespoke car products to strip of old wax and at the same time save money, I just can’t bring my self to clean a car with a bucket of fairy liquid. If you want to remove wax buy the right stuff for the job.
If you have been doing any of the above the good news is that it’s never to late to change. Purchasing a good wash mitt and a wash and wax shampoo will be a great start and your cars paint work will reward you with a better shine, and if you like the look of that why not read some of the wax reviews on here as well.
Any way I wish you all a Happy Halloween – From Car Detailing Junkies.
