A simple weekend car care routine can help your car keep its good-as-new showroom finish for longer. We’ve put together a few simple but essential tips which can become the cornerstone of your car care routine.

1. Maintain Your Alloys

Driving through dust, dirt and puddles, alloys are exposed to the elements and often show it. No matter how carefully you drive, you’re guaranteed to kick up at least a little dirt and debris onto your wheels.

The Simoniz Ultracare Alloy Cleaner has been developed to clear grime, debris and brake dust. This product doesn’t just keep your alloys retain their deeply beautiful finish.

Take a look at our full guide on taking care of your alloy wheels.

2. Bodywork Care

Take time every fortnight to check your car over for small scratches and scuffs, and to carry out any necessary bodywork care. The Simoniz range has been developed to remove small scratches in the bodywork of cars and is suitable for all types of paintwork and car finishes.

Preventing rust is an important part of bodywork maintenance. To avoid rust appearing on your car’s body, you should wash your car often, particularly if it’s come into contact with salt or tree sap (more on that later) and wax it regularly (we have shared our waxing tips below).

There are two main areas that you need to check for rust: the undercarriage, and the external paintwork, before applying these steps:

• Fix problems with your paintwork quickly.
• Tackle any existing rust on the underside of your car.
• Treat any visible rust promptly.

Wax vs Polish

Car novices get car polish and car wax confused often – in fact, they are very different. Polish is a product that uses a mildly abrasive action to remove the very top layer of your paintwork’s top coat protection. This flattens it out and results in a highly polished look.

Wax, on the other hand, is a used for protection. Paint contains oils which help to prevent oxidation, a naturally occurring process which dulls the finish of paintwork. But over time these oils dwindle and this exposes car paintwork to damage. Waxing restores the oils and adds a protective layer to keep your car looking shiny and new.

3. Keep it Clean, Inside and Out

Give your car a regular clean inside and out to keep it looking tip top. This is a great activity to get your kids involved with – though equally, if you’re hankering after a bit of “me time” it’s a very useful chore!

Follow these 10 steps to give your car a brilliant clean inside and out:

1. Start by hosing down to remove dirt and grit, which can damage your paintwork.
2. Get a sponge and bucket of water, and wash your car thoroughly from top to bottom with Simoniz Shampoo and Wax – then rinse off again with the hose.
3. Clean your wheels (use Ultracare Alloy Cleaner if you have alloy wheels). Use a Wheel Brush to get stubborn dirt from hard-to-reach areas and hose down.
4. A chamois leather is ideal for drying off your car and leaving a streak-free shine.
5. Apply wax, such as Diamond Wax, and give your car a thorough buff to make the exterior  shine.
6. Remove any rubbish from the interior.
7. Clean the interior windows with our Anti-Glare Glass Cleaner.
8. Use an upholstery/leather cleaner on the seats, depending on what material they have.
9. Finally, give the car a vacuum, making sure to remove and shake out the mats.

It’s also important to regularly clean the car’s interior so smells don’t enter into the upholstery and ruin the pleasure of driving for you and your passengers.