Every driver knows that keeping the body clean is an essential part of car maintenance. The things, however, start to become a bit more muddled if you ask drivers why that is so and how often the car should be washed. Actually, if we put aside the fact that, after we are done, the car looks a lot better, we don’t really know all that much about washing and what it truly means for our vehicles.
So, let us try to right these wrongs and see how often you should wash your car and why you should do that in the first place.
Why is it so important to keep the car clean?
Let us start with the most important question – aside from making it look good, what else does regular washing do for your car? Well, the answer is rather simple – when you are driving, your car picks up all sorts of contaminants like pollen, bird droppings, dust, bug splatter, and salt. If you let these pests sit exposed to damaging UV rays, they can permanently ruin the paintwork and produce spicy expenses.
In the case of salt, this kind of negligence can even cause severe corrosion and damage the body. This does not only kill the market price of your favorite four-wheeler but it also has a tremendous impact on the overall road safety.
Is there any way to protect your vehicle?
As we all know, prevention makes every task easier. So, is there any way to protect your car from dirt, grime and other things you pick up on the road? The short answer is yes.
For instance, waxing will provide your ride with a reasonable level of protection for about six months. However, if you truly want to protect the paint and make the body of your vehicle slippery and hydrophobic, we suggest that you check the best DIY ceramic coating kits and go with this type of treatment. Ceramic coating also features much greater durability so you will get at least one solid year of top-tier performance.
These types of protective layers don’t really affect the intervals in which you need to clean the car, but they are keeping the vehicle safe until you drive it to the car wash.
How often is enough then?
Much like with any other topic in the world, the opinions about this one are split, and the whole issue is not really helped by the fact that the factors affecting the washing frequency are quite plentiful. Some of the most important things we need to take into consideration are as follows:
- Location – Large cities traditionally feature a higher level of pollution. Countryside, on the other hand, exposes the car to insects, bird droppings, and fallen leaves and twigs.
- Where you store the car – The cars that are parked outside are more exposed to hazards than the ones stored in a garage.
- Daily driving habits – Spending hours behind the wheel is not the same as running small errands.
- Weather – Wet areas naturally feature more rain and mud. If you live in an industrialized area, these rains probably feature a certain level of acidity.
When all these things are taken into consideration, you should wash your car once a week or once every two weeks.
When should you wash the car every week?
In normal circumstances, washing your car every week would be an overkill. But, if you are experiencing excessive rain, heat or you are driving long distances, you should wash your car every week. Also, bug splatter, bird droppings, and twigs should be removed as soon as possible. Otherwise, you will need to restore the car’s paint sooner than later. You don’t have to wash the whole body for this, though.
When should you wash the car every two weeks or monthly?
This frequency falls more into the field of regular maintenance. You should wash the car every two weeks if neither of the factors we have listed above is excessive enough to warrant the change. If you keep your car safely stored and drive it only when necessary, you can even wash it once per month.
Don’t forget the interior and internal systems
Of course, your maintenance duties shouldn’t be reserved only for the frame of the vehicle. If you want to preserve the vehicle’s market price and keep it safe for driving, taking care of the interior is a must. Upholstery cleaners and leather conditioners should help you along the way. Also, doing a couple of upgrades that improve the vehicle’s performance like, for instance, installing a new exhaust system will go a long way in improving the efficiency of internal systems and make them free of clutter.
We hope these few considerations gave you some general idea about the ways to keep your favorite ride clean. When doing the maintenance, we are often so focused on the systems we consider critical that we ignore the red flags right under our nose. Don’t make such an obvious mistake and give your car all the love and care it most definitely deserves.