Worried that dry car washing will scratch your car or produce sub-standard results? As long as you avoid the following 8 mistakes, you’re sure to achieve amazing, long-lasting results every time you use a waterless wash and wax product on your vehicle.
1. Use any old rag to clean your car.
To maximize spray-on-wax and car-wash results, use a 100% cotton terry cloth to wipe up formula after spraying it on your vehicle, then use a microfiber towel to buff away any remaining wax mist. Other types of cloth or rags just don’t work as well.
2. Rubbing too hard
After spraying the waterless wash on your vehicle, gently rub it in a circular motion with a terry cloth. Do not rub too hard as you could end up scratching the surface of your vehicle. For best results, clean and lift.
3. Using waterless cleaning products on an excessively dirty vehicle
If your car is covered in mud or sand, rinse the dirt off first before applying the dry car wash. The waterless wax is effective on light to moderate dirt, but you can’t expect the formula to remove an extremely thick layer of dirt.
4. Not letting the solution absorb long enough
Is there scuff marks, tar, sap or bugs on the surface of your car? Allow the car wax spray to soak into the surface of your car for a few minutes before wiping it clean with a terry cloth.
5. Not changing towels
For best results, keep a few extra terry cloths and microfiber towels on hand in case the ones you’re using get too wet or dirty while you’re working on your vehicle.
6. Not saving your microfiber towels
One of the advantages of using the dry car wash is that you can store the microfiber towels you use to buff up the wax mist in a sealed Ziploc bag. You can reuse the microfiber towels between washes to clean your car and keep it beautiful and shiny.
7. Wash your car once every blue moon.
For best results, you should aim to wash and wax your car once a month. Regular cleaning of your car will protect the paint and prevent it from being damaged by road salt, bird droppings, dead insects and other harmful elements.
Fortunately, washing and waxing your car will only take up to 30 minutes if you use spray car wax that doubles as a waterless cleaner. The more frequently you use a waterless cleaning product on your car, the shinier and stronger its protective coating will be.
8. Use waterless detailing products that do not contain carnauba wax.
There are a variety of waterless wash and wax products out there, and their active ingredients vary widely. For best results, use a dry car wash made with carnauba wax. Carnauba wax is the ingredient of choice among auto detailers because it protects paint, creates a hydrophobic surface, and deepens shine.