10 Car Cleaning Tips 🚗

Hey hey, it's Tuesday! Brandon here! This week my dad is enjoying a much-deserved vaca in Arizona. So I had an idea... (that can be very dangerous 👀) I wanted to bring in my absolute favorite car detailer and fellow Clean Freak, Jessica Tran, to talk about cleaning our cars. She is a MUST follow over on TikTok and Instagram. Now, I am going to hand things over to Jessica. Let's get into it!

1. Keeping a small trash container in your car is a good way to keep a tidy car. Straw wrappers, receipts, and small trash items can go in there to keep clutter contained. Empty it at the end of every week.

2. For interior leather, vegan leather, vinyl, rubber, and plastics; use a designated interior detailer and a microfiber towel to clean. If it's lightly soiled, spray your cleaner onto the towel and then wipe the surface to avoid overspray. If it's heavily soiled, spray the cleaner directly on the surface so that the cleaner can dwell and penetrate for a deeper clean. When shopping for a good interior detailer at the store, avoid ready-to-use wipes and the ArmorAll brand. Wipes tend to carry too much cleaner and the material of the wipe isn't as safe or effective as a microfiber towel. AmorAll uses petroleum-based ingredients that will dry out your interior materials over time and leave a greasy finish.

3. Don't forget to condition your interior! To prevent premature wear, make sure to condition your interior leathers, plastics, and vinyl after cleaning. Think of conditioners as a lotion! If your skin feels dry after washing your hands or taking a shower, your car interior feels the same! Moisturize it!

4. For cleaning head units (radio screens), most of the time, water and a microfiber towel work just fine. Isopropyl alcohol is non-conductive for electronics, it is also very volatile. In chemistry, volatility refers to the rate of evaporation. So the high volatility of isopropyl alcohol is good for cleaning electronic touch screens because it won't dwell and stay on the electronic surface too long. As soon as you wipe away the alcohol you can see it evaporate. Just like the other interior tip, mist your water or isopropyl alcohol onto a microfiber towel first to avoid overspray, and then wipe your touch screen.

PRO TIP: Try Isopropyl alcohol on your phone, tablet, or laptop screen, too, for a perfectly clean screen!

5. When washing your car, hand washing is always best to prevent micro-marring and swirls. Use a two-bucket method and a microfiber wash mitt to do so. One bucket will have your soapy water solution. The second will have just plain water. Dunk your microfiber wash mitt into the soapy water, clean a panel or two (in straight lines!) Then, rinse out the mitt in the plain water bucket before returning it to the soapy water bucket for the next panel.

6. Wheels come first! Wash your wheels first with its own dedicated wheel bucket. Wheels are the dirtiest part of the car, and you don't want all that brake dust and road filth splashing onto your clean paint. Washing wheels last isn't bad, it just means you'll most likely have to double back and re-clean your paint.

7. You should be washing your car in straight line passes, top to bottom. Start with the roof and move down. When drying your car (with a microfiber drying towel) follow the same steps, straight line passes from the top down.

8. For streak-free windows, the trick is in the towel! Waffle weave and diamond weave microfiber towels work best for windows. But my personal favorite is the surgical huck towel.

9. If you're still struggling with streaks after using the proper glass towels, it's probably the heat. Heat coming from your glass or the sun will cause the water from your glass cleaner to evaporate quicker than the solvents, so the streaks you're left with are just leftover solvents from your glass cleaner. To avoid this, just use water! Not only is water-free, but it's actually the preferred glass cleaner for the majority of professional car detailers.

10. For that extra gloss or show car shine, seal your car! Before you do this, though, forget everything you've seen from The Karate Kid! Two things have changed since that film: First, we don't "wax on, wax off" in circular motions anymore. Secondly, we don't use carnauba wax anymore. The circular waxing motion can add extra swirls into your car, so just like washing and drying, use straight line passes. And carnauba wax isn't bad, it's just not the best anymore! Polymer sealants & ceramic infused sealants will last 10x as long as carnauba wax AND it's easier to apply. To apply your sealant you'll need two microfiber towels. Spray the sealant into one towel and apply it to your panel. Apply it with straight line passes, and then follow up by lightly buffing it off with your second microfiber towel. Work in sections or panels to avoid sealant drying. Not only is a well-sealed car nicer to look at, but it's also easier to clean! Sealants contain hydrophobic properties, meaning they'll bead water. So if your car's paint stops beading water, then you're due for some protection. A well-sealed car will repel water, dirt, dust, and other air contaminants meaning your car will stay cleaner longer between washes. Also, you'll be able to feel it. Well-sealed cars are slick and smooth, making the washing experience much more enjoyable.

Bonus Tip: Don't use a shammy! Shammies have a flat knit that will run dirt/dust into your car's paint. Opt for a microfiber towel to dry your car instead. Its longer fibers trap dirt in its weave to keep it away from your car, also microfiber holds more water than a shammy. My personal favorite is the Autofiber Dreadnought XL towel and one is capable of drying your entire car!

Thank you so much again to Jessica for sharing these amazing tips. I seriously learned so much! If you're looking to grab some car cleaning supplies and show some support for all the wonderful videos check out CarSuppliesWarehouse.com and use Jessica's code "JT10" at checkout.

Thanks for reading, sharing, and supporting our newsletter! See you next week! 💚 Brandon & James

P.S. If you're new here and want to catch up on previous editions of the Clean Freak Weekly you can find them here!

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