I wash my car once a month normally.During rains I need to do it more frequently. I have seen it in one of the youtube videos where the person was of the view washing your vehicle too often is bad. I want to know is it correct? Driving your vehicle with with road side mud stuck to under car's body ok? How often should i wash my car? And what are general tips for maintaining a car/bike during rains.
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4If your rubbing paint off, it's too much. If the other half states, "You spend more time washing your car than with me", it's too much. If a fender falls off it's too much. If the only way you get exercise is by washing your car, it's too much. Really, what is too much? :-)– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦Commented Sep 8, 2017 at 11:19
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I do not do any of these things :) but want to know is washing a car bad for it?– DhKoCommented Sep 8, 2017 at 11:39
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Unless you use abrasive cleaners or cloths then wash it as much as you like.– GdDCommented Sep 8, 2017 at 11:44
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4See also: Do I really need to wash the outside of my car?– Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦Commented Sep 8, 2017 at 12:28
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1Dang, I wash my car about once every 2 years ... is that not enough? :P– user428517Commented Sep 8, 2017 at 15:39
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2 Answers
Washing your car once a month is acceptable. It is not too much. What is more important is the technique and materials used (nonabrasive soap and sponge, drying towel, and wax). There are plenty of sites with tips on proper car care to cover this.
Washing your car is a good thing because, not only does it keep it looking nice, it helps prevent corrosion as well. Removing dirt and other filth prevents damage to the paint's surface.
Bird poop, tree sap, and other material that lands on your car can harm the paint if left. Heat and the sun intensify the effect. So, washing is preventative maintenance.
From what I have read, there seems to be a "rule of thumb" to wash your car every two weeks, depending on your environment. Those who live in dirtier environments more, others who garage their car and drive it little will obviously need to wash it less.
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3Good answer, although my personal rule of thumb is to wash every 3 months (more often if it gets really dirty). Every two weeks would make me feel as though I'm wasting water. Commented Sep 8, 2017 at 12:55
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I'll chime in with a totally different angle: Once or twice a year is fine unless it's getting covered in something nasty like tree sap or excessive bird poop.
More important is washing stuff off the underside (where you can't see, and most corrosion starts) and fixing paint chips and other damage - again, underneath is more prone and very few people ever go there.
My reason? I live in a country where the roads are salted in winter, and I drive 4x4's off-road, so cleaning all the abrasive & corrosive / moisture-retaining mud off the mechanicals & chassis is far higher importance to the health of the vehicle than the smooth sealed and resilient paint job on the top, which these days shrugs off almost anything unless it's damaged.
Chassis / subframes, driveshafts, ball joints, and other moving parts, sills, nooks and crannies that trap dirt & moisture, drain/vent holes that get blocked are all usually not touched by people who wash the shiny side only as they're hidden from view.
Also, there's better things to do with your life than polish your car every Sunday. Go out and drive it, for example...
I just pay the small amount it costs for an automated car wash, saves me time and effort and does as good a job on the "shiny side" as I could.
Edit to add: As our roads are saltier than our fish & chips at the first sign of a mild chill, I wash my daily driver more often during winter to keep the salt minimally crusty, but only the cheapest automated wash that includes the under-body wash. I'm doing 100 miles/day so it builds up quick.
Also, any time I'm doing maintenance under the vehicle I get busy with a can of Dinitrol underbody wax on anything within reach before I pack the tools away, it seals stuff up, stops corrosion and sheds water & crud. You don't have to be very tidy with it underneath, just squirt it around as cheap insurance.
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4Agreed, "wash every two weeks" sounds like a line from carwash owners and soap manufacturers to drum up more business. I generally wash my car before and after winter, with maybe one or two additional times depending if something out of the ordinary gets splattered on my car. Commented Sep 8, 2017 at 17:17
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I am not particularly vain about my vehicles, but even my high-end vehicle I only was two to three times a year regularly. But the post-winter wash and the undercarriage point is absolutely correct. I spend a lot of time washing the underside of my car, even built a undercarriage spray rack like they have at the auto washes to rinse away every salt molecule.– RomaHCommented Sep 8, 2017 at 20:12
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@Our_Benefactors Actually, my "every two weeks" was from a number of service centers and auto collision sites, not car wash businesses. Of course, how one values their car will also determine how they treat it. So, it is all subjective to the individual. Commented Sep 11, 2017 at 12:37
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@CharlieRB The implication that washing my car infrequently means I don't value it is incorrect. Increasing the frequency of washing will have rapidly diminishing returns. Commented Sep 11, 2017 at 17:14
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@Our_Benefactors SO SORRY! That is not how I intended that to be taken. Commented Sep 12, 2017 at 11:34