How to Properly Clean Your Rig After the Beach

Never wash a salty car in the direct Aussie sun. The water evaporates too fast, leaving the salt to bake back onto the paint. Find a shady spot or wait until the arvo.

Give your rotors a chance to cool down before you blast them with cold water. I've seen mates warp their discs because they were too keen to start washing.

Pop the bonnet, open the fuel filler flap, and open the tailgate. Sand gets everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

Before you get anything wet, use an air compressor or leaf blower to blow out the loose sand from the window seals, door shuts, and engine bay. If you wet it first, it just turns into mud and hides in the corners.

Chuck your underbody attachment on the pressure washer. Spend a good 20 minutes here. You want to see the water running clear from the chassis rails. If you don't have a water broom, just use the wand, but get right under there. Use a salt neutraliser in your foam cannon and blast the whole underside.

Don't go nuts with the pressure washer here. Use a damp cloth and some APC (All Purpose Cleaner) to wipe away salt spray from the battery terminals and intake. Be careful of the electrical bits, I learned that the hard way on a modern Hilux once.

Remove the wheels if you're feeling keen, but at least get a brush in there. Scrub the suspension arms and the back of the brake calipers. This is where salt loves to hide and start pitting the metal.

Cover the whole car in a thick layer of foam. Let it dwell for 5-10 minutes (but don't let it dry!). This encapsulates the sand particles so they slide off without scratching your clear coat.

Rinse from the top down. Pay massive attention to the gutters, the snorkel join, and behind the spare tyre if you've got a rear-mounted one.

Now go in with your wash mitt. One bucket for soapy water, one for rinsing your mitt. If you feel even a tiny bit of grit in the mitt, rinse it out immediately. (Your paint will thank you).

Clean the inside of the door frames. Salt spray gets sucked into the door seals while you're driving. If you leave it, it'll rot the bottom of the doors.

I like to do one final pass with a very diluted salt neutraliser over the whole car, then a quick final rinse with fresh water.

Use a dedicated drying towel or that leaf blower again. Getting the water out of the lug nuts and window tracks is the only way to stop those annoying run-lines later.