Updated at: 13-07-2022 - By: Lucas

If you want to wash your car, you might think that the shampoo you used on your hair will work just as well on your car. Soap is still soap, right? Can you wash your car with shampoo?

You can wash your car with regular shampoo if you need to, but you should use soap made for cars on a regular basis. Most shampoos have mild ingredients that won’t dull your paint job or remove the wax as long as you don’t leave them on your car for too long and rinse it well afterward.

Here’s what else you need to remember when you use shampoo to wash your car!

Wash a Car With Shampoo

Using Shampoo To Wash Car

You can use the bottle of shampoo in your shower to wash your car. This is good news if you don’t have much money or you ran out of your usual car shampoo and don’t have time to go to a big-box store.

But before you start this project, it’s important to keep a few things in mind!

First, shampoo for hair and shampoo for cars may look similar in a lot of ways. Still, not all shampoos are made the same.

Despite what you may think, there is a reason why shampoo for hair is in one section and shampoo for cars is in another.

The shampoo you use on your hair gives it a shine and lustre that you love, but it might not do the same for the paint on your car.

As you might expect, these two kinds of shampoo are made in very different ways. So, something that might be good for your hair could hurt the finish on your car.

Can I Leave My Shampoo on My Car For a Long Time?

Not even close. In fact, if you use your regular shampoo to wash your car, you’ll need to work quickly. If you usually wash your car slowly, you’ll have to move a lot faster if you use your hair shampoo.

Since shampoo for hair and shampoo for cars are made in very different ways, what makes your hair shine could make the paint on your car fade away right in front of your eyes.

If you don’t want to be washing hair shampoo off your car and finding spots where the paint is almost gone, you should put the shampoo on your car’s surface and then rinse it off with water right away.

Can I Use Hair Shampoo On a Sunny Day to Wash My Car?

You can wash your car with hair shampoo on a sunny day, but we find it works best when it is mostly or mostly partly cloudy.

By doing this, the chance that the shampoo will dry on the surface of your car will go down. If this happens, it’s likely that the paint that was under the shampoo is gone for good.

To get the best results, use hair shampoo on your car on a cloudy day and have the garden hose nearby so you can wash it off right away.

Can I Use a Kitchen Sponge with Hair Shampoo when Washing My Car?

Using Shampoo To Wash Car-3

If you use the same kind of sponge to wash your dishes and your car with hair shampoo, you could make a bad situation even worse.

If you leave the hair shampoo on for too long, it could make the paint on your car fade. However, the dishwashing sponge you are using to clean the dirt off your car is likely scratching the paint that is still there.

Shampoo for your hair and shampoo for your car may look the same, but they are very different. A kitchen sponge is made to be more abrasive since it will be used to scrub off food particles from plates and pans.

However, a sponge specifically made for washing a car will be far less abrasive, meaning you can rub it across your car’s surface without the worry of scratching the paint.

Will I Need Lots of Water When Using Hair Shampoo on My Car?

Even though it’s best to try to use as little water as possible when washing your car, you’ll need to use a lot if you use hair shampoo to make it look great.

Since it’s important that the shampoo doesn’t dry on your car’s surface, you’ll have to keep applying it and then quickly rinsing it off. If you leave the shampoo on for too long, it could damage the paint on your car, so you can’t cut back on the amount of water you use to wash it.

If you always use hair shampoo to wash your car, not only will it cost you a lot more to buy the shampoo, but your monthly water bill will also go up a lot.

Can Baby Shampoo be Used to Wash My Car?

Even though baby shampoo is made so that it is safe for babies and small children to use, it is still strong enough that if it is left on your car’s paint for too long during a normal wash, it can do a lot of damage.

Just like with regular shampoo, you should put baby shampoo on the surface of your car and then rinse it off right away with water.

If you just want to touch up your car instead of giving it a full wash, a good trick to remember is to use watered-down baby shampoo.

When you do this, you can usually get tough dirt off your car without worrying about damaging the paint.

What if I Damage My Car with Hair Shampoo?

If you use hair shampoo to wash your car and damage the paint, you may have to pay to fix it.

In many cases, the owner’s manual will tell you how to clean the car the right way. This will often include a list of things not to use. So, if you use shampoo on your car, your car dealer might not feel sorry for you.

If you wash your car with hair shampoo, you do so at your own risk!

We could find a few minutes to go to a big-box store and buy some car shampoo.

Conclusion On Washing A Car With Shampoo

The best thing to do is wash your car with cleaners made just for cars, but if you don’t have any, you can use hair shampoo instead.

Just follow the steps and advice in this article to make sure your car’s paint job is safe, and your car will shine like it’s brand new.