I’m a professional car cleaner and you’ve been cleaning your car all wrong

TO foam or not to foam? That is the question many drivers ask themselves when it comes to washing their car. 

We spoke to professional car valet Harry Loveday about the common mistakes that drivers make when it comes to cleaning their vehicle. 

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The 21-year-old takes a lot of pride in his work. “Every day I get the satisfaction of bringing the love back to my client’s vehicles and maintaining that perfection,” says Harry. 

“There’s many mistakes that I see people committing when washing their cars and it kills me to watch, I’d be here for hours listing them all but that doesn’t make for good reading so I’ll share a few key ones.”

He says the most common mistake is the first step. 

“People tend not to use a pre-wash or snow foam agent which is used to lift and remove any embedded dirt and abrasives before contacting the paint work.”

By doing this simple step, Harry says it can save your vehicle from defects and marring (swirling & scratches). He adds for every vehicle he works on, it takes at least 30 minutes before he even touches the paint work.

He says another simple mistake is the type of sponge or “wash accessory” used to clean the car. 

“A sponge will actually pick up grit that is on your vehicle and ruin your paint work and it’s just the same as washing your car with sand paper. 

“You need to be using a microfibre wash mitt and washing with straight lines and no circular motions alongside a three bucket wash method (Wheels/Wash/Rinse) to allow for no cross contamination and the cleanest shampoo bucket possible.”

Another tip is to invest in some soft bristle detailing brushes to reach the intricate areas a mitt can’t.

“Just like make-up brushes, the type of brush you use on cars is important.”

By doing the pre-wash step, Harry says he can guarantee at the end of the process your car will shine.

“The vehicle will have the greatest gloss levels as the sun can reflect off perfectly into the eye without any swirling or abrasions in the way.” 

And just like the cleaning routine you do to your face, with cars there is a specific order to follow. 

Don’t do the tyres last! Obviously the dirtiest part of the car, clean the tyres first in order to let the dirt residue and grime run away.

Washing your car wrong is not the only faux pas drivers make on a regular basis.

We’ve looked at one common mistake that could cost you £1,000 and why using a sat nav could get you into trouble.

Plus, here are the four most frequent parking mistakes you’re making.

There are also six new motoring laws and rule changes coming 2022 that all drivers need to know about.