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Washing your car is one of those chores that a lot of us have kept at the back of our minds because, well, we’re not really driving anywhere these days!

But don’t leave your car marinating in dust and dirt for too long because it’s going to take you more time and effort to clean, and you don’t want to speed up the wear and tear process unnecessarily.

Let us walk you through some tips and tricks on how to wash your car like a professional:

Start from the inside out

You want to rummage through all the nooks and crannies and get rid of every piece of trash lying around. Anything that shouldn’t be in the car, toss ‘em out. Then, remove the floor mats and start vacuuming the floor, seats, and crevices.

Now, you can finally start wiping the interior down. Use a water-based car interior dashboard cleaner like IGL Coatings Ecoshine Dash that is safe on all PPF or vinyl surfaces, textile and porous leather, and any type of paintwork on your dashboard. Its formulation is free of toxic fumes and it doesn’t leave a sticky or shiny finish.

Next, attack the seats and carpets to get rid of stains with a stain remover like IGL Coatings Ecoclean Interior, a natural, citrus-scented cleaner that helps tackle stains on leather, textile, carpet, and all upholstery in your car. Since it’s made with a soy-based solvent, and disinfects with aloe vera and green tea extract, this cleaner gently lifts stains without leaving a sticky residue behind.

Don’t forget to wipe the seat belts and clean the insides of the car windows too! Once you’re all done with the interior, start deodorising and sanitising as your final touches. You can get IGL Coatings Ecoclean Air as a powerful and natural odour eliminator that erases foul smells instead of masking them. It works against spoiled food, smoke, pet messes, and more.

Finally, sanitise and disinfect the interior with IGL Coatings Ecoclean Pure that can prevent the spread of up to 99.99% of bacteria, mould, and viruses! Made of cucumber and aloe vera extract, its rinse-free, non-sticky, and quick-drying formula can give you instant results in just a couple of sprays!

Don’t park under the sun

Now that the insides are fresh and clean, you can move on to the exterior of your car. Make sure that you’re parked in the shade before you start cleaning the outsides because direct sunlight or heat can make the soap and water evaporate too quickly, leaving unwanted water spots on your car.

Use the two-bucket system

Prepare two buckets next to you, one for soapy water and another for clean water. After each wipe, rinse out all the dirt and grime on your wash cloth before dunking it back into the soapy water. Try not to skimp too much on clean water and refill a fresh bucket whenever it gets too dirty.

Wipe with a microfiber towel

There’s a reason why microfiber towels are so overly hyped for cleaning. They hold dirt particles well and clean effectively even without chemical products or water. When used dry, the cloth tends to generate static electricity, which can attract and collect dust. So forget your old rags and sponges, and swap them for IGL Coatings Microfiber Towel instead to clean your car. It’s ultra soft yet effective for removing residue without damaging the surface.

Hose the entire car before washing

Water down your whole car, including the tyres and panels behind, to break down the excess dirt and debris as much as possible before applying soap because any dust or grit clinging onto the car can easily scratch the surface. It’s just like wetting your hair and body in the shower before scrubbing shampoo straight away. Give your car a good rinse off too!

Start from top to bottom

Of course, starting at the top of your car is the most obvious way to clean because… gravity. Although it’s easier for you to start from the wheels and move your way up because it’s less tiring, the soap and water will flow downwards as you wipe anyway. You don’t want to be doing double work, do you? So go from the roof, to the hood, rear, upper portion of each side, then lower portion of each side, to the tyres.

Use the right car shampoo

Never use dish washing liquid or any household cleaning product for your car. Cleaning agents like hand soap, dish detergent, and glass cleaner are too harsh. If you overuse them on your car, they can strip the car of its protective wax and shorten the life of the paint.

Use a specific car shampoo product that is milder and designated for automotive paint, like IGL Coatings Ecoclean Blizzard. It’s a high foaming car shampoo that lifts off dirt and impurities adhering on the surface gently. It also comes with a concentrated formula, which gives more coverage with less usage. This saves you a lot of time and money!

There’s also something called a waterless car wash like IGL Coatings Ecoshine Waterless. It’s a spray-on and wipe off cleaner that safely removes contaminants from the surface and leaves your car spotless without any hassle. It’s also designed to eradicate dirt while breaking down grime. You don’t even need to add water to wash your entire car!

Focus on drying

The drying step is just as important as washing because it prevents watermarks on your car and helps you achieve the quality finish you’re looking for. You want to always use a dry microfiber cloth, go from top to bottom, and wipe in one direction to avoid leaving circular spots.

If you encounter light watermarks as you dry, you can use IGL Coatings Ecoclean Delete to remove leftover stains or residue. Its ready-to-use formula works quickly and effectively to give your car that showroom shine. It’s also an efficient road salt remover that gives instant results.

Polish with synthetic wax

Once your car is completely dry, you can now start applying wax to protect the paint and reduce dust build-up. Wax isn’t necessarily a 100% protection against scratches or abrasions, but it keeps dirt and debris away. Start with a pre-wax coating polish like IGL Coatings Ecoclean Precoat to quickly remove grease or contamination that is not visible. This allows for a more perfect finish when you wax.

Then, polish with IGL Coatings Ecoshine Polish F2 for high-quality finish thanks to its diminishing abrasive technology which can break down when exposed to friction, correct paint that is failing, dull, or marred, and improve scratches too! Its unique formulation reduces the amount of dust produced from heavy compounding work.

Use these products together with IGL Coatings Sponge Buffing Pad that instantly cleans, smooths, and increases gloss with a soft and scratch-free texture. Its round shape also makes it easy to hold for cleaning or waxing.

Finish with the glass

Professionals usually leave glass-cleaning as the final step because all the residue and treatment would have ended up on your windscreen and windows by then. Pick IGL Coatings Ecoclean Glass as your water-based window cleaner that efficiently removes stains on glass and light contamination without leaving streaks. It’s also safe to use on tinted and non-tinted windows and glass!

Different set of supplies for the wheels

You’re almost done! You want to use a different set of equipment for your tyres and rims because the cloth or sponge you use tend to collect rough particles and brake dust that may contain tiny shards of metal. You don’t want to rub them all over your car, obviously, unless you want abstract scratches on the paintwork. 

You can clean away the rust on your wheels with IGL Coatings Ecoclean Iron, a water-based iron remover that’s low in odour, acid-free, and pH-balanced. It contains unique chemical ingredients that effectively dissolve the sintered iron by forming a water-soluble iron complex and stopping corrosion.

Use a polishing product made specifically for the tyres, like IGL Coatings Ecoshine Tyre, to protect your wheels with one simple step. Its blend of emollients and waxes can penetrate deep beneath the rubber surface to give your wheels a non-greasy and sling-resistant dressing.

So in case you’ve been partially blind to how dirty your car really is, it’s high time to step outside take an extra look, and whip out your cleaning gear.