As professional vehicle detailers based near Petersfield we know a thing or about car cleaning. We’ve also seen people make mistakes. These can be expensive, causing untold damage to your precious vehicle. So in this article, we wanted to share some of the more common mistakes we’ve witnessed. And in doing so help you to avoid them in the future.
Top 5 Car Cleaning Mistakes and How to Avoid Them:
1: Not Using a Grit Guard Inserts in Your Buckets:
Grit Guard inserts are one of the most critical devices for scratch and swirl mark reduction. They ensure that the dirt and grit that you wash off your car and collect in your wash mitts stay at the bottom of the bucket when you rinse off the wash mitt. If you don’t use a Grit Guard, those particles can be picked up again in your wash instruments. If these are dragged across the paintwork, they can cause scratches.
2: Using a Chamois Leather Cloth to Dry Your Car:
Most people know that improper wash techniques can cause unsightly scratches and swirl marks in the paint. But you can do just as much damage or even more damage if you’re not drying the car properly. The standard drying tool for many years was a Chamois leather. While these are great at soaking up water, they have no “pile” to speak of. This means that any stray piece of dust, dirt or grit is dragged against the paintwork instead of being absorbed into a deep pile where it cannot harm.
The best tool to dry your vehicle is a purpose-made microfiber drying towel. You will find these are super soft and absorbent, with a very deep pile. So, if you happen to come across any dirt or a patch that you missed, the dirt will be picked up into the towel rather than being dragged against the surface of your paintwork.
Here at Black River Details, we use a combination of microfiber drying towels and a purpose-made vehicle air drier.
3: Using a Sponge Instead of a Wash Mitt:
This is another mistake that is still very common. Just like a Chamois leather, sponges don’t allow dirt to penetrate the surface and be kept away from the paintwork. Instead, dirt is dragged and scraped along the surface, which can lead to heavy swirling and marring.
What you should be using is a deep pile microfiber wash mitt. These will safely capture the dirt and grit rather than rub it into the paint.
4: Not Using the 3 Bucket Method:
When we talk to people at our car detailing premises near Petersfield we are often surprised by the number of people that have never heard of the two bucket system. Although it is called a two bucket system, it is actually a three-bucket system. The whole point of this car cleaning procedure is to remove cross contamination. Importantly it also allows you to clean your wash mitts and cleaning tools after every panel or so.
This car cleaning system works by having one bucket with a grit guard dedicated to all your wheel cleaning tools. This bucket and all the tools in it should never be mixed with the other two buckets which are for the paint. The wheel bucket gets filled with water and car shampoo to allow you to rinse out your wheel cleaning tools when needed. This means they don’t get full of dirt and grit and end up scratching your wheel’s finish.
When it comes to the paintwork, have one bucket filled up with your shampoo solution and the other filled up with just plain water. The idea is to wash a panel with your wash mitt, then rinse out the dirt that has collected in it in the plain water bucket. After this wring it out and take soapy water from the other bucket and continue onto washing the next panel. This simple car cleaning procedure ensures that you are removing the dirt from the wash mitt, and not grinding it into the paint.
All three buckets must be equipped with grit guards to give the lowest possible risk of scratching and marring.
5: Not Washing Top to Bottom:
Something that is not often thought about is the order in which we wash all the various areas of our cars.
To give the best results and to reduce the risk of causing swirl marks, we recommend you wash your car from top to bottom. Start with the roof, then all the exterior glass. Follow this with the bonnet, doors, wing mirrors and rear quarter panels. Finally, wash the front bumper, rear bumper and all the lower portions. This prevents transferring dirt from the lower sections which will be covered in far more grime than the top, to areas that don’t have as much dirt on them.
Another little tip is to have two wash mitts, one for the upper portions and one for the lower. This also helps to reduce the risk of swirling the paintwork.
At Black River Details we are professional detailers, so never make car cleaning mistakes. If you want to know the results we can achieve, then drop us an email or give us a call. We’d love to welcome you to our facility near Petersfield.
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