Hand washing a car exterior needs to be done with care and the right products. As car experts, we recommend following this step-by-step guide to hand washing your car without causing scratches as a car wash does.

Before beginning, we want to recommend making sure you have the products from the What you will need list. We cannot stress enough how important it is never to dry wipe and when it comes to removing particles stuck to the exterior to remove it with the correct soaps, brushes, and mitts. If you dry wipe you will damage the topcoat by rubbing the particles such as salt, dirt, or dust into the exterior and therefore damage the exterior as well as the Ceramic Coating (if you have applied one).

First begin with washing down the entire car, including wheels, with a hose.  that couldn´t be completely removed before. Hose the foam off. Optional: lather the exterior is foam soap to assist in removing any other contaminants

Then proceed with washing the wheels and tires. This prevents any particles on the wheels from water splashing onto the car exterior. Make sure to use a separate wash and rinse bucket for the wheels and car. When it comes to washing the wheels, check out this blog article to our top tips and techniques.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

-A hose

-Foam soap (optional)

–Microfiber mitt 

-2 buckets

-A leaf blower (optional)

1. Fill one bucket with water and soap and the other will plain water. Place Microfiber mitt into the bucket with soap and water.

2. Start washing from top to bottom, beginning with the hood. 

Most of the particles and debris will be on the bottom of the car, this is one of the motivations for using the top to bottom technique.

Begin with washing one side of the car, front to back, then later move onto the second half. Grab your microfiber mitt and do not scrub or apply too much pressure. Simply use the weight of the mitt and rub lightly on the surface.

3. Flip the mitt over and begin to wash from the windshield to the roof of the car moving to the back

PRO TIP: After washing a section, rinse the mitt off to remove collected dirt and debris

4. Dry the exterior 

We highly suggest that when drying the exterior with a microfiber towel that you lubricate it with car wax, or Ceramic Coating spray to ensure that you do not leave any swirl marks, and also give an extra layer of protection to the surface.

One way to ensure that the car is completely dry is using two towels for this process. One towel is used to soak up all the excess water and the other is used to double-check, making sure the surface is perfectly dry.

Our top tip when it comes to drying the exterior without leaving watermarks or droplets is to use a leaf blower to blow dry the car.