A lot of people detail or clean their car for aesthetic reasons and that is all very well, but there are far more important reasons for detailing one's car. Most individuals spend roughly the same percentage of their money on a car. I mean that as they get a better job, they tend to buy a better car. Therefore a car is a sizable investment for most drivers.
It makes sense to safeguard one's investments and even if you cannot make your car grow in value, you can at least take every measure in your power to reduce the speed of its depreciation. One of the foremost ways of doing this is by frequent maintenance and detailing a car ought to be regarded as part of your regular maintenance programme.
Car detailing as part of a maintenance programme also has a safety aspect. You assume that if your brakes are not serviced in the correct manner that there is a greater chance that they may fail one day and you ought to expect that if you do not take proper care of your car's bodywork that it might rust and be less protective in case of a crash.
So having said that here are a couple of pointers to help you protect your investment and maybe even your life.
Windscreen wipers should be kept clean and unworn at all times. Have you ever sat in a car with bad windscreen wipers while it is raining? It is very frightening. If it has not rained for a while, then you might not have noticed the dust and grit building up under the windscreen wiper blades.
This abrasive dirt will soon scratch your windscreen, especially if someone accidentally switches them on when it is not raining. A scratched windscreen is bad enough, but if the blades are tatty, they will not wipe away the rain sufficiently for you to see clearly either.
You should make a point or regularly lifting the blades from the windscreen and inspecting and cleaning them. You will soon see if the rubber is starting to perish or fray and you will also see a line of solidified dust (or worse) on the glass. Wet both the wipers and the glass before trying to wash them in order to soften up the dirt.
Use a sponge or chamois leather on the glass, but use an old rag on the rubber blades, because they can devastate a new sponge or costly chamois leather. Keep this rag for cleaning other abrasive parts of the car like the wheels, registration plates and bumpers.
When you are cleaning the windows of your car, it is a good idea to get into the practice of finishing the cleaning of the outside with vertical strokes and the inside with horizontal ones (or vice versa, if you like). This way you will know which side those maddening, and frequently distracting, smears are.
While we are on the topic, it is not a good idea to obstruct your vision by having furry dice or anything else hanging from your rear-view mirror. These symbols are meant to bring good luck and safety, but they are the precise opposite. Similarly nodding dogs and large speakers on the rear shelf are obtrusive and window stickers of any size are silly. Transparent glass is meant to be looked through not looked at.
It makes sense to safeguard one's investments and even if you cannot make your car grow in value, you can at least take every measure in your power to reduce the speed of its depreciation. One of the foremost ways of doing this is by frequent maintenance and detailing a car ought to be regarded as part of your regular maintenance programme.
Car detailing as part of a maintenance programme also has a safety aspect. You assume that if your brakes are not serviced in the correct manner that there is a greater chance that they may fail one day and you ought to expect that if you do not take proper care of your car's bodywork that it might rust and be less protective in case of a crash.
So having said that here are a couple of pointers to help you protect your investment and maybe even your life.
Windscreen wipers should be kept clean and unworn at all times. Have you ever sat in a car with bad windscreen wipers while it is raining? It is very frightening. If it has not rained for a while, then you might not have noticed the dust and grit building up under the windscreen wiper blades.
This abrasive dirt will soon scratch your windscreen, especially if someone accidentally switches them on when it is not raining. A scratched windscreen is bad enough, but if the blades are tatty, they will not wipe away the rain sufficiently for you to see clearly either.
You should make a point or regularly lifting the blades from the windscreen and inspecting and cleaning them. You will soon see if the rubber is starting to perish or fray and you will also see a line of solidified dust (or worse) on the glass. Wet both the wipers and the glass before trying to wash them in order to soften up the dirt.
Use a sponge or chamois leather on the glass, but use an old rag on the rubber blades, because they can devastate a new sponge or costly chamois leather. Keep this rag for cleaning other abrasive parts of the car like the wheels, registration plates and bumpers.
When you are cleaning the windows of your car, it is a good idea to get into the practice of finishing the cleaning of the outside with vertical strokes and the inside with horizontal ones (or vice versa, if you like). This way you will know which side those maddening, and frequently distracting, smears are.
While we are on the topic, it is not a good idea to obstruct your vision by having furry dice or anything else hanging from your rear-view mirror. These symbols are meant to bring good luck and safety, but they are the precise opposite. Similarly nodding dogs and large speakers on the rear shelf are obtrusive and window stickers of any size are silly. Transparent glass is meant to be looked through not looked at.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on lots of topics, but is at present concerned with auto interior detailing. If you want some suggestions on detailing cars come over to our website now at Detailing Car Interiors.
