It is perplexing the number of people that don’t know how to properly clean or polish and wax their cars. Many people utilize products that were never meant for their car and other use equipment and products that should only be used by highly trained professionals. Some never also clean or wax their cars. Then they marvel why their car is given a very low value price by the dealer or why their paint is peeling or dull.
For the purpose of this post, we interviewed various professional car dealers and same type of professionals. We asked them what products they used and for tips that consumers can use. They pretty much emerged with the same advice.
Properly clean the car: This is quite vital as the use of rough, non-automotive products can actually damage the finish of your car and make it depreciate faster. Spray the car first and get it wet. Use the water to spray away dirt and other pollutants that will scratch your car if you instantly start using a water and sponge first. Moreover, don’t clean your car on a hot day in the sun. Do ensure you use warm water as it works best to loosen pollutants. After getting your car moist, use an automotive car wash solution and add water in a bucket. Follow the directions on the bottle. After that, wash the car. You will find it simpler if you use a wash brush with a long handle. Make sure to wash and rinse in sections so that the car wash soap doesn’t get dried before being washed off. After that, by using chamois or terry cloth towels, dry the car off. You may also use a squeegee. It is much simpler and faster.
Remove stubborn pollutants: This will remove any remaining stubborn pollutants such as the ground in bug splatter on your painted bumper, bird drop spots, acid rain etching and minor scratches. Use a circular motion, just like in case of wax. Follow the directions for that specific cleaner polish. Do the car one section at a time and use a clean section of cloth to buff it off once dry. Most of the cleaner polishes will dry into a whitish haze. Make sure to buff off all the haze and remaining from the cleaner polish. When done, the car finish will be truly use low rpm’s below 2000 and anything above this you jeopardize burning the paint.
Apply different coats of wax or polish. There is a huge difference between car polish and a car wax. Car wax is generally a mixture of carnauba and other waxes that will provide a deep, moist look and a brand new car luster. In comes in both as a paste and liquid, and it won’t last as long as a car polishes. Car wax is also less efficient in high temperatures and can actually melt on the hot areas such as hood. Car polish is a polymer mixture generally with no wax. Car polishes may last up to a year between coats and is quite a sustainable protection for your paint. If you get an expert car wash in Manukau, they will suggest a car polish with Teflon in it for utmost durability and protection. The experts love the additional, deeper shine from car wax, but all agreed it was better suited for the cars. No matter what you select, they are both applied in the same way. Apply in a circular way and allow it to dry to a haze.
