Keeping Your Pride and Joy Mint: A Real-World Guide to Car Care (Mar 2026)

Never, ever wash your car in direct sunlight if you can help it. The water and soap will dry too fast, leaving nasty spots. If you've got no shade, do it early morning or late arvo.

Make sure the panels are cool to the touch. If you've just come off the highway, let the brakes and bonnet cool down for 20 minutes.

Fill one with water and the correct dose of soap, and the other with just plain water for rinsing.

Always start with the wheels. They're the dirtiest part. If you do them last, you'll splash brake dust back onto your clean car. Use a dedicated wheel cleaner (like Autoglym Custom Wheel Cleaner) and a brush to get into the barrels.

Give the whole car a good hose down. You want to knock off as much loose grit, dust, and bird droppings as possible before you actually touch the paint.

Dunk your mitt in the soapy bucket, wash a panel, then rinse the mitt in the plain water bucket to get the dirt off. Then go back to the soapy bucket. This keeps your wash water clean.

Start with the roof, then the glass, then the bonnet and boot. Do the lower half of the doors and the bumpers last, as that's where the heaviest road grime sits.

Don't let the soap dry on the car. Rinse each section as you finish it. I learned this the hard way on a black Commodore once, the soap dried in the sun and I had to polish the whole thing to get the streaks out.

While the car is still wet, run a clay mitt gently over the paint using some soapy water as lube. It'll pick up embedded stuff like rail dust and tree sap. Your paint will feel smooth as glass.

Give it one last go with the hose. If you can, take the nozzle off and let the water 'sheet' off the panels, it'll leave less water behind to dry.

Lay your large microfibre towel across a panel and just pat or pull it across. Don't scrub. You want to soak up the water, not rub it in.

Apply your sealant or wax. If you're using a spray sealant, it's dead easy, spray on, wipe off. This is what stops the UV rays from killing your paint.

Clean the windows last. For the tyres, use a water-based dressing. Avoid the cheap 'super shine' stuff from the servo; it's usually silicone-based and will sling black grease all over your clean doors the moment you drive off.