How Often Do You Wash Your Car?

Your car is one of your most prized possessions. Since it is a major investment, you need to spend a ton of money on its maintenance. For instance, you need to change the brake pads and oils regularly. While these are some of the more advanced car maintenance techniques, let’s talk about one of the simplest and easiest ways through which you can manage your car – car washing.

Car washing is a considerable investment, too, as it helps keep your vehicle in top-notch shape. When it comes to car washing, you can either opt for an automated car wash Kissimmee service or just grab a bucket and sponge and do it yourself. Regardless of how you choose to wash your car, car washing is extremely essential for the lifespan of your car.

But how often should you wash your car?

Oftentimes, it is pretty obvious that your vehicle requires some much needed scrubbing; for instance, when you drive your vehicle on a dusty, gravel-covered road or when a bird takes aim at your car when it is parked under a tree.

However, these are just secluded instances. What about your car’s general washing maintenance schedule? There are many reasons to wash your car regularly, besides the obvious ones. Let’s discuss why you should wash your car before determining how often you should wash your car.

Why Should You Wash Your Car?

The first reason to wash your vehicle is to keep it clean. While that is obviously true, there are many other reasons behind the importance of washing your vehicle properly and often.

Here are a few reasons as to why you should wash your car:

Protection

Your car is probably the second-most expensive investment you make after your house. You spend a considerable amount of money to acquire it, and then you spend more on maintaining it over the years by changing its oil, replacing the tires, replacing the transmission fluid and carrying out other repairs. Since you are already investing a hefty chunk of money in your car, you would naturally do anything to protect that investment. So, washing your car is the simplest and easiest way to protect your vehicle from a variety of damaging factors.

To Maintain its Appearance and Resale Value

The appearance of your car is the very first thing that people notice. You can get the best vehicle possible, but if it’s not cleaned and well-maintained, there’s no point! A vehicle covered in rust, faded paint and dirt acts as an indicator that you haven’t been taking care of your car. Washing your car properly and according to the schedule helps protect the paint and minimizes rust, keeping your vehicle in pristine condition for a high resale value.  So, to ensure a high resale value, you need to ensure that your car is washed regularly.

Budget-Friendly

Washing your car on a routine basis is the simple, most effective and inexpensive way to care for your precious vehicle. By washing your vehicle, you offer it the protection it needs. This can considerably lower the chances of damage that you would have to bear later on.

How Often You Should Wash Your Car ?

People say that your car requires a regular wash. But, how regular is regular? How frequently should owners give their precious cars a much-needed scrub-down? It is important to acknowledge that there are certain special circumstances that can increase or decrease the frequency of car washing.

A majority of experts suggest that you should wash your car every two weeks or so throughout the year. Even though this has been established as the general rule of thumb, you may have to wash your car more often:

• If you reside in an area with a lot of salt in the atmosphere, like somewhere near the ocean— salt contains certain properties that can corrode metal and cause it to rust extremely quickly. In such conditions, you should wash your car at least once a week.
• If bird droppings are common in your area. Dead bug splats and bird droppings are not only gross but also ruin your car paint. Due to their acidic nature, they tend to corrode the paint of your car over time. So, you should wash or clean your car every time you see them.
• If you live in the woods and falling tree sap is a common occurrence. Tree sap can cause long-term corrosion. For this purpose, you will have to wash your car more than once every two weeks.
• If you reside in the countryside or spend too much time driving through the backcountry. In this case, you might have to be more affectionate towards you car. This is because there are a lot of environmental hazards present in the area that can damage your vehicle. Under this condition, you should wash your car at least once a week.

You can go for longer without having to wash your car if you don’t drive it every day or keep it locked in the garage. Frequent use of your vehicle or parking it outside poses it to a lot of environmental elements and hazards, but if you keep it locked away from all these elements, your vehicle will remain secure.

A majority of people consider car washes to be a summertime chore. However, this is a common misconception. Your car needs to be washed more frequently during winter. The salt present on the roads during winters is one of the greatest offenders that sticks on to and wreaks havoc on the body of your car. So, visiting the car wash, especially those with pressure wands, can seriously help protect your car during winters.

Washing the Interior of Your Car

Cleaning the interior of your car is just as important as cleaning its exterior. Generally, the interior of your vehicle is exposed to less salt and fewer dead bugs or bird droppings for obvious reasons. However, this doesn’t mean that it isn’t dirty.

If you like taking your dog or children for a drive, you will often find dog hair or bits and pieces of junk food spread around on the seats. So, you can use a vacuum to clear out all these dry bits from the crevices and floor mats.

Moreover, if you come across any stains, you can simply use an upholstery cleaner to get rid of them. Dry seats can also simple be cleaned using luke warm water and a mild detergent. It is recommended to clean the interior of the car along with the exterior after every two weeks or at least once a month. This also usually depends on the usage of your vehicle. However, this rule applies to normal or basic car seats.

Most cars have leather seats, which are easy to maintain but are often prone to disaster. If you have leather seats, you will need to clean and condition them at least every three months to keep the leather from aging or crack. Moreover, if you use your vehicle a lot or if its interior is often exposed to the sun, you will have to wash and clean the leather after every two months.

Is It Bad To Wash Your Car Too Often?

Another question that usually arises in peoples’ minds is whether it is too bad to wash your car too often. While it is important to maintain your car by performing certain car maintenance activities like polishing the paint or scrubbing your fabric, you should avoid overdoing it. Even though you may feel like you are pampering your vehicle, performing any of these tasks too often can damage your vehicle.

You should avoid washing your car if it is visibly clean. This is because there’s a potential risk of you scratching your vehicle too much by scrubbing it. If you ask any professional car washer or detailer, they will probably hit you with a different answer. However, bear in mind that they have a completely different motivation – repeat business.

So, as the owner of the car, make sure that you conduct your own research before you do anything to your vehicle. Most of all, avoid washing it every day.

Conclusion

There are a lot of everyday environmental hazards that pose threats and damage your car significantly over time. Moreover, they also play a major role in lowering the value of your vehicle. Washing your car frequently, by following the above-suggested timeline, is a great and super budget-friendly way to protect your investment. So, make sure that you set some time aside every one or two weeks to take your car to a professional car wash or to scrub it down yourself.