There are lots of reasons why people recommend spring cleaning. As the weather gets warmer, it’s a good time to get rid of winter clutter and give your home a thorough clean – and the same goes for your car.
Giving your car some attention ahead of sunnier days and the appearance of bugs and summer deposits will not only make it look shiny and clean, it’ll also help protect the appearance of the paintwork, and will ensure the interior continues to look its best. There’s a safety element to cleaning your car in spring, too, with dangerous sun dazzle causing more of a problem for dirty cars than clean ones. Here are six major benefits for carrying out a spring clean on your car.
1. Get Rid of the Winter Dirt
Shampooing doesn’t just make your car look better, it’s important for the life of the exterior. Dirt, like mud, salt and road grit which builds up in winter, is bad for your paintwork and will cause rust and corrosion, so it’s important to get rid of it in spring.
Use a specially-formulated car shampoo, as water or other household cleaners won’t do the job and can actually hurt your paintwork. Make sure that you wash the whole car, including the wheels and around the bottom of the vehicle where most dirt accumulates.
When shampooing your car, make sure you use the two-bucket wash method. This involves having one bucket for your clean shampoo solution and another for rinsing your sponge in. If you only use one bucket, you risk putting dirt back on your car, which can result in annoying swirl marks or even light scratches.
Rinsing your car with a pressure washer or hose before you start washing with the sponge will get rid of loose dirt and stones. Then use a circular motion to remove dirt and debris and try not to scrub too hard on one spot. Lastly, rinse the car again before drying it with a good quality chamois. This will get rid of annoying watermarks that can be left on the paintwork when it dries naturally.
2. Give Your Car a Shiny Summer Coat
Spring is the perfect time to wax your car, for a few reasons. Firstly, it’ll top up the protective layer of the paintwork, which will have worn away over the winter through exposure to rain, snow, ice, salt and mud. It’ll also help restore your car’s all-over shine, so you can drive into the new season with the shiniest paintwork possible.
A coat of fresh wax will also help protect your car’s paintwork as we move forward into the warmer part of the year. The sun’s powerful UV rays can affect a car’s paintwork over time, and may even cause fading if it’s exposed for long periods. Wax protects the paint from fading, so you can be confident your car is ready for the warm weather.
Use a good long-lasting wax and your car’s paintwork will be protected all summer from things like dead bugs, tree sap and other deposits, as well as the heat of the sun. We’d recommend applying a fresh coat of wax at the start of autumn, so you can be sure your car is protected in time for winter.
You can read more about waxing your car in our beginner’s guide to wax:
3. Improve Your Driver Safety
Cleaning the windscreen and all windows thoroughly, inside and out, can guarantee visibility for you, your passengers and even pedestrians and other road users. Marks and blemishes on the windscreen, in particular, can be dangerous as the glare of the sun can easily catch any slight marks on the windscreen, leading to sun dazzle getting in your eyes and making it hard to see.
Also, it’s important to make sure all your signal lights are completely clear of stains and marks. If your indicator light is even partly covered by a splattering of mud, it may be hard for other road users to understand your intentions as you come to that busy crossroad.
Take a look at our comprehensive guide on cleaning car windows and lights below.
4. Clear Out the Clutter to Save on Fuel
Over winter you might put in a spare coat, cans of de-icer, heavy shoes and other extras which you don’t need to be carrying when it’s warmer. If you drive around with lots of bags, luggage and general rubbish in your car it could be costing you money — with the added weight reducing those all-important MPG figures.
Spring cleaning is all about cutthroat decluttering and freeing up space you genuinely forgot you had — and the same should go for your car. Get rid of everything you don’t need to carry around daily, and you’ll not only save yourself a fair amount of fuel — you won’t be embarrassed when you next need to carry your mum, your mates or a co-worker.
5. Freshen Up Your Interior
Now that you’ve freed up some space in your car, it’s the ideal time to take the vacuum cleaner out into the driveway and give your car’s interior a good clean. Over winter, muddy shoes can mean you end up with dirt ground into the carpets, and streaks of mud across the interior plastics. Use our Upholstery and Carpet cleaner to get stubborn dirt out of fabrics, and our Dash Cleaner to get rid of marks on your interior.
Not only will maintenance ensure these interior features look better, it means they will last longer– potentially saving you some money in the future. It also means your passengers won’t have to tolerate slightly crunchy carpets and smelly upholstery when they settle into their seat.
Keeping the car’s interior clean means that every journey is a little more pleasant for you and your passengers, and that can make all the difference when you’re stuck in gridlock during commuter traffic.
We’ve got lots of helpful interior cleaning guides on our blog, including:
- How to Take Care of Leather Interiors
- How to Look After Car Upholstery
- Interior Maintenance Essentials for 2019
6. And It’ll Be Good for Your Health and Wellbeing, Too
Mess isn’t just a matter of vanity; it can make you more stressed. When you’re late in the morning or getting in the car after a bad day at work, the last thing you need is a cluttered and messy cabin to contend with – as it’ll make your commute so much more stressful and frustrating.
Spring clean the interior of your car, and we guarantee you’ll feel better the next time you drive it, even if you’re stuck in traffic. We’d recommend investing in a good-quality car freshener, and giving your air conditioning a clean to get rid of any stale smells before the hot weather kicks in.
There’s another benefit to cleaning the interior of your car, too, and that’s removing bugs and bacteria. As disgusting as it sounds, car interiors are a breeding ground for all manner of germs, which are brought in on your hands and clothing after being outside. Keeping your dashboard, trim and upholstery clean can help you and your family to stay healthy.
Simoniz can help you keep your motor looking and feeling its best, with our range of car care products. Click here for the full range, keeping your car beautiful – from carpets and upholstery to bumpers and body.