Car Wash and Wax DIY

Written By: RPhilMan1

I always wash my car by hand. I love detailing my car myself so I know the job is done well. I definitely think you get better results when you take the time to really do a great job on your car.

I would love to tell you what I use and how I do it. First off, here are the items I use:

Windex for the windows, Turtle Wax Tire Wax to give the tires a good shine, but I am almost out of that so I bought Black Magic Tire Wet, which will also give a good shine, and then Black Magic Wheel Cleaner to get all the brake dust off the wheels, and Armor All Car Wash Concentrate, then the next row is my bucket for the soap, my glove sponge which I use to wash the soap on the car, and two big 100% cotton towels for drying, and the smaller 100% cotton towel for the wax, which is Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Professional Hi-Tech Yellow Wax.

Now for the wax, use the little sponge to get a quarter-size piece of wax and apply it to the area on the car.

Rub in circles and slightly overlap.

After you have the area waxed, you can continue on to another small area so the wax has time to sit for about a minute. I like to work in sections.

Now when you are ready to wipe the wax off, take a towel and carefully start to rub in circular motions like you did when you applied the wax. Continue to rub the area until it becomes extremely smooth.

It should look like this:

And that's how you (or at least I) do it. Remember, sections at a time, all the way around the car. I wash the car basically in the generic fashion... rinse, soap, rinse, dry. Don't forget to use a little wheel cleaner in there, and after drying everything, shine the wheels to make them look sexy. I can't stress enough, don't forget to dry the door sills, foot steps, open the gas cap and get that area, and don't forget the trunk, which holds a lot of water. Try to keep the car stationary for a good half hour so the water can dry, otherwise when you move the car the water drips out and if it dries like that it won't look good. All it takes to keep her looking good is a little time and effort. Good luck.