How to Wash Your Car - The Ultimate Guide

If you’re looking to do a thorough job each time you wash and clean your car, you’ve come to the right place. We all love that new car feeling and, with the right products, you can achieve that showroom finish every time from your own driveway.

To consistently achieve a complete car clean, it’s important to pay attention to four key areas of the vehicle:

• Wheels
• Bodywork
• Tyres
• Interior

The area you choose to clean first will be down to personal preference.

In this guide, we’ll show you the best products for each of these key vehicle areas to ensure you achieve a complete car clean every time.

Cleaning the wheels and tyres

Clean and shiny wheels are easy to achieve with the right products and accessories. The Wonder Wheels Original Alloy Wheel Cleaner will soon get your wheels looking sparkling again. Suitable for use on all wheel types, the cleaning chemicals react by turning the wheel red, breaking down dirt and grime.

To remove any stubborn dirt from your tyres, we recommend pairing your wheel cleaner with the Halfords Alloy Wheel Brush and, for the final finish, the Halfords Barrel Brush will get your tyres looking brand new.

To discover more about cleaning alloy wheels, take a look at our guide.

Washing the car

When it comes to a good old car wash, the award-winning Halfords Wash & Wax is perfect for removing grease and dirt. This go-to product will help you get that superior finish on your bodywork and works best when paired with the Halfords Car Wash Sponge – making for an effortless car clean.

Both these products feature in our Great Value £7 Bucket Deal, so a sparkling clean car needn’t cost a fortune.

Follow our detailed guide on how to wash your car exterior, complete with video how-to

Snow foam fun

Snow Foam is a fun way to keep your car looking fresh! Blasting a thick coat of snow foam lifts dirt and contaminants from your vehicle, keeping your paintwork looking pristine. Work in your snow foam using the Halfords Wash Mitt as the microfibre material helps to remove grime, making for easy cleaning.

Blasting snow foam is a great way to elevate your car cleaning experience. You can even get the kids involved and make your Sundays a #snowfoamsunday! Head online to view our range of the best snow foam products.

Drying and restoring your vehicle

The drying element of the car cleaning process is an area that often gets neglected. Letting your car air dry can often undo your hard work, leading to unsightly water marks. The best way to dry a car is by using a thick pile towel to soak up the water and limit the risk of scratching your vehicle.

If your car does have the odd scratch, we can help you restore your vehicle with a comprehensive range of T Cut products. T Cut has many options that allow you to choose a universal or colour specific match to help perfectly restore your paintwork.

Polishing the car

A good car polish will give your vehicle that final perfect finish. A quality polish will be easy to apply and buff out effortlessly, leaving behind a wax coating. We stock a range of the best car polishes to enhance the look of your car and help protect it from UV Rays, leaving your vehicle looking spotless for longer.

Cleaning the car interior

Keeping a clean car interior may seem like a hassle, but we have everything you need to keep everything looking immaculate. From removing stains on fabric or leather seats to ensuring your dash and trim is in great condition. Our available range offers a wide variety of gloss or matt finishes depending on your preference, giving your interior that flawless look.

If you’re looking for “quick fix” options when it comes to cleaning a car interior, we have a wide range of interior car wipes to help you clean everything from your dashboard to your car seats - a selection of these are also 100% biodegradable.

We also offer a range of car vacuums to help keep your interior dust and dirt free all year round. For removing dirt from upholstery, the Bissell SpotClean Pro is the perfect product. It effortlessly removes stains and spillages from a variety of fabrics, leaving your car interior in perfect condition.

For a more detailed view on cleaning your car interior, follow our guide on interior car cleaning.

And there you have it. By paying attention to each of these key vehicle areas, you should have a car with a showroom-worthy shine both inside and out.

See the full range of Halfords car cleaning products here, or pop into your local store where one of our experts will be happy to help.