During lockdown it came to light that as many as 1 in 5 of us rarely clean our cars. 22% said they clean their cars less than once every 6 months and a shocking 6% said they never bother cleaning their cars at all. In fact, more than 1 in 10 Brits only wash their car if a passerby writes “clean me” on its body.
The survey also found that 30% of Brits do not consider cleaning their cars to be a priority and with most of us travelling no further than our local supermarket, this comes as no surprise.
Working from home has meant that a large proportion of the population are driving less. Unfortunately, this may similarly mean dirtier cars, as a comparable survey unveiled a correlation between car cleanliness and travelling to work. With full time workers cleaning their car once every 2-3 months or once every 6 months.
Not only is having a dirty car bad hygiene and potentially bad for your health, but it could also be bad for your love life. Over half (51%) of those polled would even end a first date early if their date showed up with a dirty car and 23% have even ended a relationship with someone because of their filthy vehicle.
Although some may think keeping their car clean is purely aesthetic, washing and cleaning can pay off financially in the long run. Autoglym conducted an experiment and added £2000 to the appraised value of a BMW using off the shelf products. The guide below will guide you through the steps we think you should be taking to lock value into your vehicle.
The Body Beautiful
After taking time to thoroughly rinse off your car’s bodywork with a briskly-flowing hose or pressure wash, you’re ready to break out a fresh sponge or clean wash mitt and apply a little shampoo. Using a clean, grit-free bucket, add a couple of capfuls of Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner – and you’re off and running. Keep dunking that wash mitt to keep plenty of lather between you and the bodywork and work from the top of the car downwards, taking your time to do each panel methodically. If you’re out there in the heat and things are drying quickly, it’s worth rinsing each clean panel immediately after you’ve done it to stop the lather turning into soap spots as it quickly dries.
Once you’ve rinsed off, it’s time to dry off with our super-fast Hi-tech Microfibre Drying Towel, or if you really want fast results, try the aptly-named Instadry cloth. You’ll never go back to the ‘old fashioned’ ways again!
Hands Free Cleaning
If your budget stretches a little higher, and you have a pressure wash as part of your cleaning kit, have a look at our Polar Range and Polar Blaster. If you’ve ever seen the Pro Valeters cover the car in thick, luxurious foam before cleaning, this is the kit that will allow you to achieve the same professional-level results at home. It’s also a massive amount of fun to use, too!
Inside Job
We’ve all become obsessed with cleaning everything these days. Our hands, our surfaces and our homes. So why leave your interior out? After a judicious vacuum cleaning, use our Interior Shampoo on all soft surfaces in order to get things scrupulously clean. For those of you lucky devils with leather seats, you can get yours looking ‘as new’ and germ-free with a session of our Leather Clean and Protect Kit. This latter job also has the benefit of making your interior smell utterly wonderful, too!
So, we’re looking sharp, then. On we go with the finishing details. All of the screens and dash can be cleaned too, making sure that every surface is perfect. Screens can be carefully cleaned with a small spray of Fast Glass onto a microfibre cloth, before carefully wiping their surfaces when turned off. Use this product on all of the car’s exterior and interior glass, too. You’ll be literally ‘squeaky’ clean when you’ve done that.
Vinyl and Rubber Care can also be used on many other parts of the interior and exterior too. Not only to get a perfect, subtle sheen on all plastic and rubber surfaces, but also to add in an element of UV protection going forward. A little bit of instant gratification and a bit of sensible forward planning? Don’t mind if we do…
Seal the Deal
Nothing quite seals in all of your hard work like a durable layer of ceramic protection to keep the shine in and the elements out! Our brand new Rapid Ceramic Spray is both fast and easy to apply, and has to be one of the most best smelling products available today. With an easy spray on, buff off action, there is no easier way to complete the job and provide up to 3 months of protection.
And it really is as easy as that! Over on our YouTube channel, we’ve added detailing how-to videos for all of our products to help you to use them for the first time, and most importantly of all, have fun while you’re doing it.