How to wash your car.

Washing your car seems like a simple task. Soap, water, scrub and rinse. Well that might be great for dishes, silverware and even yourself. But it can leave a cars finish looking worn, damaged and unprotected.

* Tools of the job. 2 wash mitts, 2 large buckets, a few towels, and some car soap.

* Your wash mitts and towels should be 100% pure cotton. Poly blends in towels feel softer to the skin but can cause fine scratches to a cars finish. Many people will use wool mitts, brushes, and micro-fiber towels. But those tend to be unnecessary, overpriced, and harder to maintain. Cotton mitts and towels can easily be used, thrown in the washer machine with liquid soap, and dried (with no softeners or dryer sheets). One wash mitt will be your clean mitt and one will be your dirty mitt.

* Your car soap can be any brand, but avoid using overly harsh chemicals. Dish soap is a strong detergent that removes oils, waxes and grease. Its fine for a car wash when you plan to wax your car immediately afterwards, but can be too harsh for in between washes. Try to find a brand that lathers easily (which helps keep removed dirt from resettling on your car) and avoid car soaps that claim to wash and wax at the same time.

* Put soap in one bucket and fill to the top with water, being sure to create a large lather. Fill the second bucket with pure clean water.

* Soak vehicle thoroughly being sure to spend extra time wetting caked on dirt with a steady low pressure stream.

* Using your clean wash mitt, start from the top of the vehicle. Get as much water and lather onto your mitt as possible. Wash the roof and windows of your car using straight line motions, going from the front of your car to the rear. A very soft brush should be used for canvas and convertible tops to avoid lint sticking to the roof. Use very little pressure and as few strokes as possible for plastic or vinyl windows. Never use circular motions, as this causes circular scratches (swirls), which are noticeable from every angle. After washing one section of the car, rinse your wash mitt in the clean water bucket thoroughly before putting back into the soap bucket. Rinse washed section with water and wet the entire car again (important to keep the car wet at all times to avoid water spots).

* Continue washing your car in this method moving from section to section, front to back, reserving only your wheels, tires, and exhaust tips. If at any time your soap bucket loses its lather, replace with a fresh bucket of soapy water. Same goes if the rinse bucket becomes excessively dirty, replace with clean water.

* Using your dirty wash mitt, wash and rinse your tires, wheels, and exhaust tips. As well as any under portion of your car you wish to clean. These areas will typically be very dirty and greasy, requiring the separate wash mitt. This mitt should never be used on any painted, plastic, or glass surface of your car.

* Once your car is thoroughly washed and rinsed, you should dry your vehicle. Lifting, opening and moving parts of your car can remove hidden trapped water. Open and close your doors, hood, trunk, wipers, and mirrors. This keeps dirty water from dripping onto your car after drying. Using the same front to back motions you used to wash your car, use your clean cotton towels and gently dry your car. Reserve one towel to be your dirty towel for drying your wheels, tires, and exhaust. Remember to use very gentle pressure on plastic and vinyl windows during drying as these parts are very soft and scratch easily. On convertible tops do not use a wiping motion as it will leave lint behind. Use a soft dabbing to pick up extra water.

After washing your car, be sure to spend a little extra time to protect your car. Have a good glass cleaner around and a soft glass cleaning towel especially for your windows or glass headlights. Plastic cleaner is important to keep your head lights, tail lights, plastic trim, plastic windows, and vinyl windows from fading, drying, cracking or discoloring.