Updated at: 10-06-2022 - By: Lucas

Good car care isn’t just about keeping the inside of your car in good shape. Fluid checks and tune-ups should be done regularly, but it’s just as important to take care of the outside of your car as it is to take care of what’s under the hood. In the end, how often you wash your car depends on a number of things, such as where you park it, the weather and environment, and even how far you drive to get to work.

Benefits Of Regular Car Washes

often wash car

Keeping your car clean is good in many ways. When you wash your car the right way, you get rid of things like tree sap, salt, dust, pollen, bird poop, bug splatter, and air pollutants. These contaminants are bad for your car’s paint and finish. Leaving them on the car for too long can cause the paint to fade, rust and corrode, get ugly stains, paint chips, and change colour.

If you park your car outside, where it is exposed to bugs and the weather, or under a tree, where bird droppings and tree sap can fall on the car, you may want to wash it once or twice a week to protect the paint and finish and keep it from getting stained or discoloured.

Tree sap and bird droppings are bad for your car because they can cause the paint to chip and even eat away at the paint if they stay there for too long. Too much heat may also make these problems worse; think of it as if you were baking these things onto your car.

Rain doesn’t mean your car is clean, either, because rain water can trap dirt on your car and cause rust. If you live in an area with a lot of pollution that causes acid rain, that will hurt your car more than help it.

Also, if you drive long distances often, cleaning your car once a week will get rid of many of the things above that you come across on your commute. Lastly, if you’re worried about your car’s resale value, washing it regularly will keep it looking as good as the day you drove it off the lot.

How Often Is Enough?

If you are looking for a general rule of thumb, you should know that experts say you should wash your car every two weeks. Yes, that happens all year. Depending on other things, you may need to do it less or more than that.

People who park their cars in a garage and store them more than they drive them and people who live in areas with mild weather will benefit from washing their cars once or twice a month to keep the paint in good shape, since they aren’t exposed to the elements and other pollutants as much.

If you live near the beach or go there sometimes, where there is more salt in the air, washing your car once a week, especially the undercarriage, will help keep it from rusting too quickly.

Yes, you should wash the car more often in the winter because you get road salt on it from driving on the snowy roads. Of course, if you don’t drive your car often, you might be able to keep to your normal schedule for washing it.

Don’t Forget The Interior!

often wash car

If you’re going to take the time to clean the outside of your car, you might as well clean the inside at the same time.

Even though you don’t get tree sap or bird poop in your car, it still gets dirty from other kinds of dirt. This is especially important if you have pets or little kids in the car.

You can clean the floor and the cracks in the seats with a vacuum with a hose. And yes, if your car is anything like mine, you might find some old french fries.

If the seats have any spots or stains, you should clean them with an upholstery cleaner as well. Whether your seats are made of cloth or leather, you can find the right cleaner for them. And don’t forget that every three months you should use a leather conditioner on those leather seats.

Also, don’t forget that you can get the car detailed so that the inside is as clean as the day you bought it.

What About Waxing?

The professionals say that you should wax your car at least twice a year. And yes, you should clean the outside of the car before you wax it.

Make washing your car a regular part of how you take care of it. Take the time to figure out what you need based on how you store your car, where it stays, and the other things we’ve talked about. The outside of your car is just as important as the engine and transmission, especially if you want to get a good price when you sell it. Whether you use a good soap or take your car to a car wash, the point of washing your car is to keep the paint clean and free of scratches. And after you clean your car, don’t forget to wax it!

1 thought on “How Often Should You Wash Your Car?”

Troy Blackburn is a 30 January 2017, 9:43 a.m. That’s really cool that the right way to wash a car gets rid of things like tree sap, salt, dust, pollen, bird droppings, bug splatter, and air pollutants. I’ve heard that if you wash your car at least twice a month, you can extend the life of the paint on the outside of your car by at least 5 years. So, it makes sense to wash it. I just bought a new car and want to keep it in good shape, so I’ll have to remember this information.

That’s really cool that the right way to wash a car gets rid of things like tree sap, salt, dust, pollen, bird droppings, bug splatter, and air pollutants. I’ve heard that if you wash your car at least twice a month, you can extend the life of the paint on the outside of your car by at least 5 years. So, it makes sense to wash it. I just bought a new car and want to keep it in good shape, so I’ll have to remember this information.