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Car Wash | June 6

weaselwatchr

weaselwatchr

Viva, Las Vegas!
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Apr 13, 2013
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Since the weather is finally nice, I saw many people washing their cars this past weekend. Whether it was in the neighborhood or at the car wash, I saw cars being washed everywhere!

How often do you wash your car? Do you do it yourself or do you go to the car wash? When you do, do you also wax your car?

I am going to be honest. My car is old. I wash it basically once after the winter to wash the salt off of it. I also just run it through the car wash. I am super lazy when it comes to that.
 
Um ... am I suppose to wash my car???

Decades ago my former husband bought me a bumper sticker that said "A CLEAN CAR IS THE SIGN OF A SICK MIND."

I don't think I've ever washed my current 6 y.o. car, other than using a soapy wet rag to remove bird poop, then pour a pitcher of water on the area to remove the soapy residue.
 
I estimate I wash my van maybe almost once a year. Quite randomly. I'm not even sure when the last time was, but I think it might have been almost exactly a year ago, before going on my road trip. I was bringing along a friend so I'm pretty sure I at least vacuumed and wiped the inside.

And yes, I usually use a car wash nowadays but I hand washed plenty of cars living the first 29 years of my life in southern California, a desert.

I have never ever waxed a car.

@Memaw2Wm Your answer made me smile. :D
 
My Spark that I got rid of in March was never washed and it was almost 6 years old. Like @Memaw2Wm I was spot clean areas when needed. The Blazer I had before that I used to take through a car wash since it was at the gas station I would get as at. But the car wash part closed about 8 years ago so that one was not washed the last 2 years I had it.

I offered to pay college students that were children of my neighbors to wash my car but they never took me up on it. Too bad because I would have paid them a nice chunk of money for their time.

The new car is in the garage during bad weather as was the Spark. I don't drive in snow now that I'm retired. So hopefully it will stay clean...
 
We wash our car 2 times a year, right before the tire changes, so April & November.

We always go to the car wash. It's not illegal, but it's not really ok to wash it at home, due to environment reasons.
 
I actually love washing my own car, but our outside water line is currently out of commission. I've been taking mine to the car was about once a month. I love having a white car, it very seldom looks really dirty!

Fun fact: I worked at a full service car wash during the summers when I was in college and I really loved that job!! I would have done it forever if it had paid more lol. I got to drive some really cool cars, even if it was only out of the bay and into a spot haha.
 
We only have our cars washed when we get the oil changed, since it's included for free. We haven't been able to park in our garage since 2014, so the cars are just going to be dirty again within the next few days anyway. :p
 
I only wash my car when it's noticeably dirty. It's white so you'd think I'd have to wash it a lot, but surprisingly it hides the dirt better than our darker colored cars. I usually send my hubby to take it through the car wash. He enjoys the car wash and I don't.
 
We used to have a mustang convertible and would wash it at the car wash. It was a two person job because you had to hold towels up where the top met the vehicle. Water would come in through the seals. Good times
 
I wash my car A LOT... it looks so much better clean! I don't mind handwashing, but there is a local car wash I can use too. The only problem is that I can't go through most washes, since the manual specifically says a "brushless or touchless" wash only due to all the cameras/sensors. I just hand washed last week- and then it rained all week, so needs it done again... lol

My problem with hand washing is it's like when you give a mouse a muffin... then I have to do the wheels & the tire shine, then I have to do the shine on all the other black trim, then I need to vacuum, then I need to wash the windows... etc etc... I have a hard time stopping- so when I do hand wash, it takes a few hours at least. And then the next day or even that afternoon- the kids & dog are back inside & it's already messed up! ;)
 
I also have a white car, so it has to be really dirty before it looks dirty, so I don't wash it very often. I definitely do after the winter though to get the salt off. Michigan cars rusts so fast if you don't get that salt off! I probably wash it every 3-4 months otherwise? I go to the car wash. I have a sticker from them on my window so they scan that and it automatically charges our credit card and we get a discount for using the sticker. It's super easy and quick.
 
Our cars get washed once a month or so. We use rain water from our tanks. Otherwise I do Memaw's bird poop trick.
 
I am not physically able to wash the car anymore. My dad taught me how to wash a car and it was a weekly or bi-weekly thing for me. Start at the top and work your way down, cleaning the lowest panels last and then the tires.

Once I was unable to wash it myself, hubby would do it and now my son does it. For a while, we had a touchless car wash subscription, so I would run through the wash at least once a week. I'd like to do it again as Jay is so overwhelmed with helping me with tons of other stuff, and I'd like to take this off his plate. Daniel will do it, but there has to be cash incentive and he's not a detail oriented as Jay is.

I do keep a microfiber cloth in the car to wipe up dust that accumulates.
 
My hubby likes a clean car so for his Christmas present, I got him a subscription to our new car wash in town. So we can go through that whenever we want. I would say we go at least once a week. We live on a dirt road in the mountains and drive a white van...so it gets dirty fast.

Before we had the subscription I would say it got washed 1x a month on average.
 
i vaccuum the inside more often than i wash it - it was a before roadtrips thing but with the increased rain even with like no roadtrips really since covid, the increase in muddy shoes has meant i'm vaccuuming clumps of dirt (So, ahem, asking for a friend ... how do people in other countries or that are used to this handle it?? i have 'mats' in the footwells which keeps the real floor of the car fairly clean but is there some other trick? do other people's kids take off their shoes before they get in the car?? keep spare shoes in the car?? my kids seem to prefer to walk thru mud than use foot paths! )
 
Depends on the season, weather, dirtiness and where we have traveled.

Winter... Def a few days after a snow storm, when roads are a little more dry. The salt will deteriorate the paint and cause rusting... so that's a must living in NJ.

Summer... cause I am a little vain, and like my car looking pretty and shiny. So, maybe 4-5 times over the whole summer.

Travel.... After heading for a long ride, bugs and their guts need to be removed.

My car is black, his name is Lucifer, Lucy for short... so when he is just plain dirty, he needs a bath. lol!


Oh... and I take it to a place... they do it all - interior, exterior and all the bells and whistles for $17. Or the cheap outside car only which is $5.
 
bellbird said:
i vaccuum the inside more often than i wash it - it was a before roadtrips thing but with the increased rain even with like no roadtrips really since covid, the increase in muddy shoes has meant i'm vaccuuming clumps of dirt (So, ahem, asking for a friend ... how do people in other countries or that are used to this handle it?? i have 'mats' in the footwells which keeps the real floor of the car fairly clean but is there some other trick? do other people's kids take off their shoes before they get in the car?? keep spare shoes in the car?? my kids seem to prefer to walk thru mud than use foot paths! )
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When my kids and grandkids were young and played a lot of sports, I had beach towels and old blankets in the trunk that I could throw over my seats and carpets to protect them from the dirt/mud the kids would drag into my car. I'd also make them take off their muddy shoes/cleats so they wouldn't be kicking their muddy footwear against the back of the front seats dirtying them.
 
Karen said:
I also have a white car, so it has to be really dirty before it looks dirty, so I don't wash it very often. I definitely do after the winter though to get the salt off. Michigan cars rusts so fast if you don't get that salt off! I probably wash it every 3-4 months otherwise? I go to the car wash. I have a sticker from them on my window so they scan that and it automatically charges our credit card and we get a discount for using the sticker. It's super easy and quick.
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Same! Hurray for white cars! DH takes it to the car wash when it gets really dirty. DD is getting ready to order a black SUV and I told her it was a big mistake. I love a black, shiny car, but we live on dirt roads, in the country, and a black car would be dirty all the time. The rest of us all have white - we have a white SUV and the others have white trucks.
 
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