# How do you wash your car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642 "2007-09-18T19:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![XaMcQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/f9ae1b/32.png) [@XaMcQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XaMcQ)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/21 "2007-09-18T23:59:03Z")
I go to the car wash once a month. They have free vacuums, and I can choose the $3, $6, $10, or $12 wash. Before this place opened up, my poor car only got washed on a rare afternoon when my time and the weather let me do it in the driveway, or go across town to the hand wash/detailing place about every three or four months, because it was expensive and I was embarrassed to take it in full of the clutter that I tend to let accumulate while driving around. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/22 "2007-09-19T00:19:42Z")
Every two weeks we use the gas station car wash ($7). About every other month my husband washes the car and motorcycle at home and details them. It’s one of the few chores that I never have to participate in, since I make a conscious attempt to be bad at it. 😛 The inside of the car is my job, even though most of the commuter detritus is his. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/23 "2007-09-19T00:22:18Z")
Touchless car wash down the street whenever it seems necessary. In between times, I use a California Duster. Every few months, I get out the [car clay](http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.jsp?searchtext=paint+clay) and get the grit out of the paint, then wax it. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/24 "2007-09-19T00:27:37Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] Dude, there’s chickens next door, a colony of feral cats living under the house behind me, and a couple of free range chihuahuas live down the street. It’s not all that toney. 🙂 [/quote] The sad thing is that the donkey may have been at Green Pastures, which at the time was the closest thing to fine dining in Austin. > [@](#): > > Is it the goat over there near Magnolia? The one that hung out with the German Shepherd on top of the dog house? He’s not there any more? No, that goat died a while back when it bit into an extension cord. The owners bought another one which was against city code. With neighborhood support, the new goat was somehow grandfathered in but I think that they got rid of it a while back. > [@](#): > > Hmmm, so it sounds like I can wash my car in the driveway without committing an egregious faux pas. Truthfully, I haven’t washed my car in probably over five years but my new driveway is situated under some pecan tree branches and I have a mound of brid crud on the hood. I’m embarrassed to drive it and I’d be embarrassed to take it to a car wash that wasn’t a do-it-yourself kinda place. (plus, it’s a 19-year old beater, it doesn’t really need detailing) Just respect the feral cats’ turf and watch out for drive-bys from that chihuahua gang down the street. [/old, paranoid East Side stereotype] ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/25 "2007-09-19T00:38:52Z")
Its small enough, I don’t want it to shrink if I washed it. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/26 "2007-09-19T01:20:41Z")
I go to the local spray wash place- ya know- the kind that takes coins and you use the sprayer/brush to do it up. I usually only use the sprayer- I live in CA so it doesn’t get dirty enough to scrub with the brush. I try to do this every other week. Once or twice a year, I use a clay bar to pull up all the environmental impurities from the paint (you can’t imagine the grime that comes out of it), and then [Klasse](http://www.autopia-carcare.com/kus-kla-10.html) it 'til it gleams. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/27 "2007-09-19T10:42:36Z")
I pretty much don’t wash it. One Halloween a kid egged it and I ran it through a car wash. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/28 "2007-09-19T11:09:51Z")
I hand wash it at home, except in the winter when my water is off. Then I go to touch less car washes. I don’t like car washes because they don’t seem to get the back end of my car very clean. I use a product called [Prima Hydro](http://www.detailersparadise.com/View.asp?Id=N520-Z069015135196-U824-V20060915170815) every time I wash - this stuff is great. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/29 "2007-09-19T12:32:35Z")
Our local supermarket has just recently introduced a roaming team of car washers. For £5 they do a great job, I have mine washed every 2 weeks ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/30 "2007-09-19T12:42:23Z")
Companies love perks that keep you at work. I can park my car in a numbered spot, leave the keys, log on to the company’s car wash site, pay online and tell them what spot my car is in. When I come out in the evening, magical pixies have washed my car inside and out. I also get my hair cut and all of my dental work done (not by the same people) in a van that parks outside, but that’s another story. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/31 "2007-09-19T18:06:06Z")
[QUOTE=Fiveyearlurker] Companies love perks that keep you at work. I can park my car in a numbered spot, leave the keys, log on to the company’s car wash site, pay online and tell them what spot my car is in. When I come out in the evening, magical pixies have washed my car inside and out. I also get my hair cut and all of my dental work done (not by the same people) in a van that parks outside, but that’s another story. [/QUOTE] Wow… that is a cool company (at least, these perks are… I have no idea what kind of slave-driving hellhole your actual job might be hehehe). My previous job had only one thing like that that I knew of; in the winter, when it snowed, they hired a team of guys to come out and shovel the cars out of the company parking lot. They’d also scrape windows with you, and they had various traction aids and whatnot to help get you on your way. So as long as you weren’t totally snowed in at home, the excuse that you didn’t want your car to be snowed in while you worked wasn’t very valid. I thought it was kind of neat for the company to spring for that! ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/32 "2007-09-19T19:16:03Z")
I take mine through the spray-it-yourself carwash when it gets a little dull looking or has stuff splashed up on the side. But you’ve really got to wash it by hand to get it really clean. I used to do that every few days, now it’s lucky to get it once a month. I also try to wax in spring and fall, plus I use carwash soap with wax in it. I park in the shade whenever possible, UV rays fade paint (especially red.) My car is 10 years old and still looks good and shiny. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/33 "2007-09-19T19:24:21Z")
Car wash. I haven’t done the driveway thing since I was a kid. Now? It would strike me as wasteful, inefficient, and something I would just continue to put off. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/34 "2007-09-20T00:47:23Z")
In theory. ---
**Author:** ![Manatee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@Manatee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manatee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/35 "2007-09-20T05:50:21Z")
You have to wash 'em?!? ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/36 "2007-09-20T08:19:22Z")
Every 3-4 weeks, at about midnight when no one else is around, I take my two buckets and various cleaning materials to my local Brown Bear to use the hose in their self-wash ports (my apt. building doesn’t have a car wash area). I don’t use their brush since I don’t know where it’s been. For all I know someone used it in their engine like they’re not supposed to and it’s full of grease and gunk. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/37 "2007-09-20T13:14:19Z")
I usually use the spray it yourself car wash if I’m up early enough to beat the homeless. The ones near me tend to have agressive panhandlers and you’re a captive audience and they know you have change! I’ll sometimes use the one at the gas station if the line isn’t too long. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/38 "2007-09-20T13:29:20Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] The ones near me tend to have agressive panhandlers [/QUOTE] They don’t mind being sprayed? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/39 "2007-09-20T13:37:45Z")
The last time I washed my car, cheerleaders were involved. Yes, it was a fundraising event. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642/40 "2007-09-20T15:45:57Z")
I take it to the carwash every several months. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-wash-your-car/419642.md?page=1)