Developing a DIY car wash regimen can be both satisfying and rewarding. Not only does it allow you to give special attention to every little detail of your car, it helps you save money that otherwise would have been spent.

Most commercial car washes in Nigeria on a normal day use detergents that are really harmful for car paints.

So? This DIY car wash guide by Naijacarnews.com will teach you how to wash your car by yourself. For a meticulously clean car with pristinely maintained car paint, follow these 5 simple steps.

1. Assess how dirty your car really is

The very first thing to do before you start to wash that car is to assess how dirty the car is.

Not all cars should be washed in the same way

In assessing the amount of dirt your car has acquired, you may follow these two rules of thumb.

• Is mud caked on the rockers and mud flaps?
• Is it just covered in fine dust?

After you have answered these two questions, you will realize you might just need a simple cleaning technique to get your car looking meticulously clean again.

2. Research your car wash product

Remember, laundry detergents are bad for cars. You should never use the same detergent you use for clothes as a car wash product. Also, liquid detergents and dish cleaners can strip away the wax and damage the paint.

Here is why you should never use laundry detergent to wash your car.

Among hundred types of detergents, choose wisely!

Laundry detergents contain powerful degreasers and other chemicals designed to attack oil stains on clothing. If you wash your car using a laundry detergent it will not only affect the shine of the car but also dull out the colour with time.

For best results, use a car wash product specifically designed for car wash. Use a soft sponge or a car wash mitt to do the washing. However, use a separate sponge to wash the car wheels and tires. A mild soap and water may just serve for this purpose.

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3. Follow the three-bucket system

The ultimate goal of every car wash activity is to remove dirt accumulated on the car. If you end up reintroducing the same dirt that you have washed off, you see that the goal of washing in the first place has been defeated.

This is exactly where the three-bucket system is very helpful.

Buy you 3 buckets for DIY car wash; otherwise, go to the car wash shop!

To begin, get two buckets filled up with clean soapy water. Have another bucket filled with just clean water, no soaps.

The just water bucket is for you to rinse out your washing sponge or mitt before soaking it back into the soapy water bucket for washing. The other bucket filled with soapy water is exclusively for washing the tires and wheels.

4. Wash your car

By now, you are already getting comfortable with the idea of washing your own car.

First, before you start attacking your car paint with a sponge, remember to rinse down the car first with water only. That is a very important step on how to wash your car. Doing this will remove deposits of dirt such as tiny stones or sharp sands on the body of the car. Failure to do this could leave you with unwitting scratches, no one likes that.

You can do this with a hose but in a situation where you do not have access to a hose, you can use a bucket of water and a sizeable bowl to perform this task. This will also serve as your rinsing bucket.

Using a hose will save you much time when washing your car at home

Wash the wheels first. Since the wheels of your car are usually the dirtiest, it’s a sensible thing to wash them first. The idea is so that dirt rinsed off from the wheels do not splash back on an already washed part of the car. Use a wheel-brush to wash the wheel openings.

If peradventure the wheels are not so dirty, use a sponge or wash cloth to wash them just as you would the car body after hosing off or rinsing off the large deposits of dirt on it.

After you have performed this task, you can now continue the business of the day with the other soapy water bucket.

For a more judicious use of time and a more productive result, wash the body of the car section by section, starting with the top and working your way to the bottom while circling the car with each swirl of the wash mitt.

Starting from the top down allows the soapy water to drip over lower parts of the car while you are washing the higher parts. This will help you avoid washing a particular section twice.

Ultimately, remember to rinse as you go. Do not wait until you have washed all the sections before you start the rinse job as leaving soapy water for long will leave streaks on the body of the car.

Once your car is washed and rinsed, the next step in your DIY car wash is to maintain the shine.

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5. Shine to shine

This might be the last step but it is also a very important step on how to wash your car. Remember that after you have washed and rinsed your car, you must not allow it to dry out on its own.

Follow the steps & you can make your car outshine the neighbor's

A soft piece of cloth is needed to rub and shine it to perfection. Leaving your car to dry out on its own might leave streaks on the body of the car.

Finally, developing a regular car wash regimen will make your car cleaning task a lot easier. A car glass cleaner can also come in handy in removing streaks from your car windows and mirrors.

>>> Naijacarnews.com updates Naija car owners or drivers with the best car care & safe driving tips! Check out!