Hand wash vs. car wash

Many car enthusiasts swear by handwashing their car and there are reasons for that. The car wash is also called a “scratch facility”. The car wash uses aggressive cleaners and large brushes that are NOT cleaned before your car wash. This means that the dirt and small stones from the previous car are still in the brushes. This causes micro scratches in the paint and also in the rims. There is also a big environmental aspect in favor of hand washing. A car wash requires around 600 liters of water per wash cycle, while hand washing requires around 150 liters and is also much gentler on the paintwork.

Utensils needed for optimal hand washing:

• 2x 10 liter buckets
• A wash mitt or car sponge
• Car shampoo
• Microfiber drying cloth
• Rim cleaner & rim brush

How do I properly wash my car by hand?

Step 1:

We only wash our cars at self-service wash boxes with high-pressure cleaners - the brushes that are offered for the car alongside the high-pressure cleaner are taboo without a cover! Otherwise we would prefer the car wash effect.

Step 2 – Prewash:

Now we throw the first coin into the ATM of the high-pressure cleaner and rinse the car with clean water. Washing program: final rinse
It is important to ensure that the car is freed from any coarse dirt that we otherwise drag across the paintwork when washing.

Step 3 – Rim cleaning:

After we have cleaned our vehicle of coarse dirt with the high-pressure cleaner, we start with the rims.
The rims should still be slightly damp from pre-washing. We grab the rim cleaner and our washing sponge or rim brush.
It is important that we do not use the same sponge that we use for the paint on the car.

The rims are wetted all over with the rim cleaner. Now let the cleaner work on the rims for 2 minutes. Then we take the rim brush or car sponge and remove the brake dust from the rims and foam up the cleaner. This step is taken for each rim.
We then use the high-pressure cleaner again and wash the cleaner off the rims.

Step 4 – Car Wash:

Now our rims shine again and we concentrate on the paint. Fill one bucket with plain water and the second with the car shampoo mixture. Now dip the microfiber glove into the shampoo water and work your way over the paint from top to bottom . Very important: Wash the glove again and again in clean water . No dirt should get caught in the fibers. Otherwise you'll rub it over the paint - scratch alert! The rule of thumb is to rinse out the detergent once per component and not to use too much pressure.

Step 5 – Rinse:

After we have foamed component by component of the car, we rinse the vehicle.
The car is rinsed from top to bottom with clear water from the high-pressure cleaner. Please do not come closer than 20 cm to the paint with the high-pressure cleaner, otherwise damage to the paint or tires could occur.

Step 6 – Drying:

Our car is now completely cleaned from the outside, but still wet. If the excess water is not removed from the car, white water spots and streaks will appear. Make sure to only use clean drying towels without any dirt residue.
Spread the cloth out and slowly pull it over the surfaces. Work your way from top to bottom. Always pull the cloth in the same direction instead of wiping back and forth.

The car should now shine like new and you should probably have even achieved a better result than the car wash.