How to wash a car – and should you bother?

For thousands of motorists, washing their car is a pleasure rather than a chore. Wielding a bucket and sponge gives them time to check over their pride and joy while making it look better and protecting its value.

For many others though it’s a real slog. They’ll leave it until it is truly necessary and then entrust it to an automated machine or a hand car wash at the supermarket carpark or in a disused petrol station.

But are these bad for your car? What’s the cost difference, and is there a ‘correct’ way to wash a car according to the experts?

Does washing a car add to its value?

Anyone buying a car is clearly going to find it more attractive if it’s clean – inside and out. As most adverts these days are online, buyers will expect to see plenty of pictures and they will make assumptions about how it has been looked after from even the smallest snaps.

“If you see an advert and the car is full of dog hair or the ashtray is spilling over, you can pretty much imagine how it will smell,” says Jim Ronan, an auctioneer who has been selling cars for more than 30 years. “We get a lot of cars which have had no preparation at all and it limits the market. In an auction they will typically sell for around 5-10% less than a car which is clean.”

That means it’s worth investing some time or a few quid on a wash. But what’s the best way to keep your car looking clean?

Does an automated car wash do a good job?

Your car might come out of the wash looking shiny, but the reality is that the rotating brushes are likely to miss some parts of your car, leaving dirty ‘shadows’ under spoilers and behind the door mirrors. They are also likely to only reach the outer faces of your wheels, leaving the inner parts of your spokes dirty.

But worse than this is the imperceptible damage they can do to your paint. Dust and grit from your car and the previous customers’ will become imbedded in the bristles of the brushes and then thrashed against your bodywork. These ‘micro scratches’ might not be visible at first, but can be seen when shining a light on the surface, or in bright sunlight. They will look like fine swirls and will make the surface look duller over time.

There’s also the risk of the brushes doing bigger and more obvious damage to spoilers, aerials and mirror casings. Make sure you leave the ignition on too, so automated power bootlids don’t mistake the brushes for a gestured instruction to open the tailgate. Try and turn the wipers off the automatic setting too, or – even better – see if there’s a ‘car wash’ setting in the infotainment menu. Otherwise you might find your car damaged, filled with foam and see your mishaps on a TikTok video.

What can I do to get rid of swirls in my paint?

Yes, if they are not too deep. A cutting paste – commonly known as T-Cut because it is the best-known brand – has fine abrasives to wear away at the top layer of paint, making bringing down the surface to a uniform flat layer which looks shiny again.

Depending on the depth of the scratches this might involve a lot of work and it is possible to wear through the paint, so you might want to leave it to a professional who can machine polish the panels.

Car wash by hand – is it better?

Yes – having humans cleaning your car rather than a machine should ensure they don’t miss dirty bits hidden behind spoilers or only clean the face of the wheel. But the cloths, sponges and wash mitts they use will have been over hundreds of cars a week and in some locations the water will be reused too. This could introduce the same sort of swirls as the mechanical wash, although they are unlikely to be as bad.

There is also another peril from the hand car wash – tyre gloop fling. The operatives will inevitably apply some sort of tyre finishing liquid to the rubber on your car which makes it look black and new. This looks great while you are stationary at the exit of the wash and handing over your money, but as soon as you drive off and get up to speed it is flung off the rubber and sprayed up the side of your car.

What’s the best way to wash the car by hand?

To find out the best way to clean your car we asked the man who is widely regarded as the world’s best. Richard Tipper has been valeting and detailing cars for 35 years and is entrusted to clean the most valuable cars in the world to award-winning standards.

These are his tips for keeping your car clean without breaking the bank.

The essential equipment

Tipper’s van is packed with gadgets, tools and potions. But he says the enthusiastic amateur just needs a few basics to do the job properly. You could buy most of them for less than the cost of a clean at a decent hand car wash.

Hose (preferably with a pressure washer): Tipper says: “Washing a car properly requires a considerable amount of water, and you’re soon going to get tired of using a watering can or running to the kitchen sink with a bucket. A pressure washer will make it easier still and allow you to use snow foam.”

Snow foam is a thick blanket of suds which clings to the bodywork, softening up dirt and loosening it so it can be rinsed away. It makes the job of cleaning much easier, it the same way you might soak a roasting tin before doing the washing up. The easiest way to apply it is with a pressure washer attachment, but it can also be done with a dedicated hand sprayer if you are patient.

Tipper says: “If your car only has a light layer of dirt or dust, snow foaming means you might be able to get away without actually touching the paint with a wash mitt. Every contact you make can cause swirls and tiny scratches so you want to avoid it if possible”

A bucket (or two) and wash mitt: Inevitably you will have to get hands on with the car at some point, so you want to minimise the damage done by the dirt as you rub the panels.

A wash mitt is often like a microfibre mitten and is better than a sponge as it follows the contours of a panel and are a lot kinder to the paint, says Tipper, because the dirt gets absorbed into it rather than staying on the surface. You are also less likely to drop it as you’re wearing it, rather than just holding it.

You’ll also need a bucket, or preferably two, he says. “The gold standard is to have two buckets, each with a false bottom called a grit guard which stops the wash mitt falling into the dirt which collects at the bottom. You use one bucket for the clean, soapy water and the other to rinse after you’ve wiped the car.

“Buckets are only a quid each so it makes sense to get two, but you can do without the grit guard if you are careful. Just never let the mitt sink to the bottom of dirty water and rinse it well. Be very careful not to drop it on the ground too!”

Car shampoo (and NOT washing up liquid): “A lot of people just fill a bucket and then splash in washing up liquid,” says Tipper. “This is a bad because these household detergents are designed to remove grease. That’s good for your dirty pans but it will strip the wax which is protecting your car’s paint. What you really need is a dedicated car shampoo which will be pH neutral. Invest a few quid in the proper stuff and your car will be grateful.”

Wheel cleaning brush: As wheels tend to be the dirtiest part of the car, you might want to use a separate brush or mitt to clean them, so you don’t contaminate the rest of the car with the nasties you find there. Dedicated brushes will make it easier to reach between spokes.

Drying cloth: “Times and technology have moved on from the chamois,” says Tipper. He prefers to use a jet of air to dry the car as it doesn’t touch the paint, but will use a dedicated drying cloth if necessary. These are essentially very large microfibre cloths; you can use a ‘normal’ household size one but it will take longer as it will absorb less water.

How do I clean my headlights?

For general cleaning, washing your headlights is no different to any other part of your car. But almost all modern lenses are made of plastic which is easy to scratch, and it will they will also become sun damaged over time. This will make them go cloudy and feel rough to the touch.

This makes it especially important to clean car headlights carefully – for example don’t be tempted to just wipe them with a bit of tissue by the side of the road if they are covered in road grime. Not only will it introduce scratches, but it will also wear away the UV protective coating which helps protect the plastic from the sun.

If you’re lenses do become cloudy it will make the car look scruffy, reduce the light output and will eventually lead to an MoT failure.

There are kits which will restore the surface by polishing them, but they can be hard work. Professional valeters will offer a service too but check the cost doesn’t outweigh the price of new headlamps.

Prevention is better than the cure, so consider protecting the lenses with a good quality wax or ceramic coating once you have cleaned them.

Car washing by hand – the method

1) Try and find a shady spot, and make sure the car is cool to prevent it drying too quickly. Give yourself enough time and make sure it won’t be dark before you finish or your car might look half-clean the next morning.

2) Pre-wash: “You want to get as much of the dirt off as possible before we actually touch the car, so that means rinsing and soaking, preferably using a snow foam.” If there are baked on insects or bird droppings, soak them thoroughly by placing a wet cloth over them until they wipe away. Avoid scrubbing.

3) Get round to the wheels: Tipper says: “I always do the wheels before anything else for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you might be using some pretty aggressive chemicals to help clean your alloys and you don’t want them drifting in the wind across to the panels you’ve just cleaned.

“The second reason is more psychological. Cleaning wheels is hard work, so if you have done them first it seems like much less of a chore than doing them last when you’ll be tired.”

4) The mitt bit: Getting hands on, start at the top of the car and work your way down using the mitt. Work in straight lines, rather than rubbing in circles. Tipper explains: “Circles seems easier, but that’s how fine swirls are introduced. Straight lines don’t reflect the light in the same way so won’t be as noticeable.”

Before the mitt gets too dirty, rinse it in your second bucket or under a tap before dipping it in the clean soapy water. You’ll need to do this more often if the car is particularly grubby or you are cleaning near the bottom of the car where it is muddier.

In summer you’ll need to be rinsing more often before the soap dries. “You don’t want the car to dry at this stage as it just creates more work for you,” says Tipper.

5) Drying hard: In hard water areas, the droplets will leave watermarks so you need to wipe them away before they dry. Tipper will use filtered water to prevent the marks, but if you need to use a cloth he advises to always move in straight lines and constantly rinse the cloth to keep it clean, before wringing it dry. When you think you have finished, check for ‘after drips’ from sneaky areas like the fuel filler, door handles and mirrors.

6) Trim bling: With the car’s paint looking good, you might want to finish off the tyres and trim with a dressing. Use one which is meant for the job rather than cooking oils – especially peanut-based products which can cause an allergic reaction from a passer-by. If you are using a tyre gel, make sure it is dry before bring off, or the centrifugal force will fling it over your clean car.

7) Final polish: If you are not worn out, consider some more treatments, such as a polish or wax coating. These treatments don’t need to be done after every wash but will make the task or cleaning easier as the coatings will stop dirt sticking to the paint.

8) Curse the birds: Once you have finished, it will inevitably start raining or a flock of incontinent seagulls will fly overhead. So go inside for a cup of tea and sigh heavily.