How Often Should My Car Be Washed? [SEASON GUIDE]

This article will explore the different environmental and weather conditions that dictate how often you should clean your car. 

On most occasions, though,

The majority of experts advocate washing your vehicle about every two weeks throughout the entire year. Salt can corrode metal and promote rust, so if you live in a region with a lot of salt, whether from the ocean or salt trucks on the roads in the winter, you should wash your vehicle more often.

How Often Should I Wash A Car In Summer?

For summers, following the twice-a-month rule for washing your car is usually a good idea. 

If you live somewhere exceptionally hot and dusty such as Arizona, you may wash every week, but that might be unnecessary; a 10-day wash routine sits perfectly. 

The sun permanently burns any bird droppings or road grime onto the paint if left too long. This can erode the paintwork and be expensive to repair.

If the weather is humid and wet, bugs and mud splatter can mean you may have to cut the period down between washes to once a week.

If you store your vehicle in a garage or undercover overnight, you may be able to cut back and wash your car every three weeks or so. 

Once again, a visual check will tell you if it could do with a wash.

How Often Should I Wash A Car In Winter?

During the fall and winter, your washing priorities should change. 

As with the summer, it depends on your usage and the climate in your state. If it generally does not snow, the two-week rule still applies and can be increased or decreased depending on how dirty the car gets. 

When it’s cold, most people tend to wash their cars less. Who wants to be outside on the drive with a bucket and sponge-washing a car in the cold? The winter, though, is a season that a car would benefit from regular washing.

Automatic car washes can also become frozen, adding to the difficulty of cleaning your car.

Your car will come across salt grime and more mud. Salt combined with humidity (water) can produce rust on cars – although this has become less of a problem on more modern cars. 

How to Get Your Car Out of Mud by Yourself – 5 Methods

In these environments,  washing your car once a week is a good idea if you can get the enthusiasm to go outside and start washing.

Road salt and mud badly affect the undercarriage, and wheel wells, so wash them well. 

Ten days should suffice with a good wash if you do not commute or experience light snow. 

Washing in winter can cause ice to form on your car as you wash it, damaging the paint. So only wash when the temperature is above 40 degrees Fahrenheit and not likely to drop much before you get a chance to dry your car off.,

Is It Bad To Wash a Car Too Much?

Washing a car too much will generally not damage the paintwork.

Washing a car is usually bad only when you do it incorrectly. However, rust could form with excessive washing if the car is never dried thoroughly. This is more likely in areas that collect water. 

A new car may be your pride and joy, but while washing every other day would not damage the car, it is a waste of water, time, and energy. 

If your car frequently splatters bugs on the windshield or grill, wiping them down with a damp towel cloth should suffice.

Hand Washing or Automatic Car Washes. What’s Best?

Automatic car washes are very convenient.

But it does not mean they’re better. From a shiny new car to a muddy jeep, automatic car washes are used by pretty much everyone. This can leave all sorts of dirt and debris in the washer. Most operators will regularly clean their washers, but you never know for sure. 

Good luck getting compensation if it does scratch your car, as there will be damage disclaimer signs all around.

Imagine this: A muddy, dusty Jeep goes through the car wash, and all the tiny rocks, mud, and dirt particles get stuck to the brushes. 

Then you take your shiny pride and joy; all the brushes rub against your paint and ultimately scrub the debris and dirt particles into your paint. 

These leave tiny scratches and swirls in your paintwork, which worsen and get very visible over time. Hence automatic washers are not a good idea. 

Once you’re used to it, hand washing takes no more than an hour for a thorough wash and dry.

It gets better with the right products: A pressure washer, two buckets, clean towel cloths, a sponge, and car cleaning products. 

How Often Should I Wax My Car? The Advantages of Waxing

Waxing your car helps keep the paint fresh, protects, and retains a new car look for longer.

It protects your paint’s clear coat from snow, bugs, water spots, and heat. 

Waxing your car once a month, right after washing and drying, is a good plan. 

Most waxes last 3-4 washes, so you could go around two months without waxing your car in average conditions.  – not excessively dusty or wet, or your car being driven on rough tracks.

How Often Should I Clean My Interior?

It’s a good idea to clean your interior when you clean the bodywork. There is no expensive paintwork to maintain inside your car, so keeping the inside as clean as the outside is not as important. It’s more of a personal pride situation.

Car mats can become muddy in wet weather, but it’s best to let the mud dry than to try and get it off when wet. Carpet-type mats may need a vacuum, while rubber mats usually need a wash to clean again.

If you have children who drop food crumbs, cleaning up the same day is always good. Any fizzy drink spills should be dried up quickly too.

In summer or dessert states all year – Ants and other bugs often find their way into a car when they smell or taste food and drink. Once inside your car, they can be tough to get rid of. Prevention is better than cure.

Benefits of Washing Your Car Regularly (and what happens if you don’t)

A clean car gives the impression of a caring, accurate personality. People judge each other based on how ‘together’ they are, whether their personal appearance or the appearance of their car.

Since the car paintwork will remain in good condition, it also holds its value better. So you’ll get more money to put down on your next one when you come to sell.

If you let your car get very dirty, it’ll take longer to clean when you decide to do it and doesn’t save much time overall.

In Conclusion

It is safe to wash your car as often as you want but every two weeks – unless the weather or environment at the time is extreme – is a reasonable timescale to go for.

Hand washes are better than automatic car washes as there is less chance of damage to the paintwork by brushes that haven’t been cleaned off appropriately by the operator from the previous user.

What color is your car? Here we discuss Which cars are more difficult to keep clean than others.