Wash your car like a pro: safe wash tips

What is a safe wash?

The aim of a safe wash is to clean your car thoroughly while minimising the risk of inflicting fine scratches — often called swirls — in the paint. Over time those swirls build up until the paint loses its shine and clarity and starts to look flat and dull.

Almost all the swirls you see on car paint are inflicted during the wash process. You can't completely eliminate the risk, but you can greatly reduce it, which keeps your paint looking its best for longer and helps you avoid the cost of a paint correction.

What causes scratches and swirls?

Paint may seem hard, but it marks surprisingly easily — even wiping dust off with a dry cloth can cause serious swirls. Automatic car washes and the brushes at self-service jet wash stations are far too harsh: the bristles scratch, and they rub dirt and grit all over the paint. The effect is like sandpapering your car.

Start with the wheels

Wheels are always my first step. If you don't clean your alloys regularly with a dedicated wheel cleaner, brake dust builds up until it becomes very hard to remove and can damage the finish. Prevention is always better than the cure.

• —Spray on your wheel cleaner of choice, coating the wheel thoroughly
• —Leave it to dwell for a couple of minutes — follow the manufacturer's instructions, as some cleaners cause damage if they dry on
• —Pressure rinse off
• —Repeat if necessary, using brushes to agitate the brake dust before rinsing thoroughly

Pre-wash and snow foam

The single most important step. Rinse the car down, then cover it in snow foam and let it dwell. The foam lifts and carries away the loose dirt and grit that would otherwise be dragged across the paint by your wash mitt. Rinse thoroughly from the top down.

The two bucket method

One bucket holds your shampoo solution, the other clean rinse water. Both should have grit guards in the bottom. Load the mitt from the shampoo bucket, wash a panel, then rinse the mitt in the rinse bucket before reloading. That way the dirt stays in the rinse bucket instead of going back onto your paint.

• —Use a soft microfibre or lambswool mitt, never a sponge
• —Work top down, doing the dirtiest areas last
• —Use straight lines rather than circles, with no pressure — let the shampoo do the work
• —Rinse the panel as you go so shampoo doesn't dry on

Drying

Drying causes as many swirls as washing. Use a large, plush microfibre drying towel and pat or gently draw it across the paint, or better still blow the water out of the panel gaps and off the paint with a dedicated blower. Never use a chamois or an old bath towel.

Protect

Finish by topping up your protection — a spray sealant or detailer takes minutes, adds gloss and keeps the water beading. If your car is ceramic coated, use a coating-safe maintenance spray.

Do this every time and your paint will stay looking its best for years. If it's already marked and you'd like it corrected, get in touch and I'll take a look.

David Knight