How To Keep Your Auto Paint Looking Great

The first thing that catches the eye when noticing an automobile is its paint job, which is why it's important to keep your auto paint looking great.  It isn't very difficult to maintain a good looking paint job, and the effects are dazzling.  Not only does well maintained paint on a car look good, it helps protect the automobile too! Here's how to keep your car's painting looking nice.

1. The first step in auto paint care is washing.  Ideally, a car parked nightly in a garage should be washed every one to two weeks, and a car always parked outside should be washed weekly.  To wash a car, all that is required is quality car soap, a quality automotive sponge, and a bucket.  It is important to use soap designed for automotive paint, and not a multi-purpose cleaner.  Higher quality automotive soaps lead to a cleaner finished product, so use the best soap available.  Also, never use a kitchen sponge to wash a car, as these can damage the paint.  Special automotive sponges exist for this purpose.
2. Washing a car is a very simple process.  In a bucket, water and soap need to be mixed in the proportions given on the bottle of automotive soap.  The car then needs to be hosed down, starting at the roof all the way to the wheels.  Then, working from top to bottom, each panel needs to have the soapy water mixture applied to it with the sponge and then rinsed off with a hose.  If necessary, contaminants can be scrubbed off with a soapy sponge, but care must be taken not to scratch the paint.  Note that a car must always be washed from top to bottom, so dirty water from the top doesn't contaminate a surface that has just been cleaned.
3. After washing, the car should be dried with a chamois towel.  This prevents water spots from appearing on the car's surface from water evaporating off, as minerals in the water are left on the paint surface if the water is left to evaporate.
4. The next step for stunning auto paint is to protect it with a quality wax.  A wax puts a protective coating on the paint surface, and fills in micro scratches, keeping the paint underneath safe from the elements.  With a coat of wax on the car, any contaminants will land on the wax and not the paint.  The application process varies among waxes, but the general idea is to apply a thin layer of wax on the car surface using little circles with an applicator pad, keeping clear of any plastic or rubber trim.  Then, after allowing 20 minutes for the wax to dry, it should be rubbed completely off with a microfiber towel.  Wax should be reapplied every four to six months.