We all need from time to time to have our car cleaned. Go back a few years or maybe a few decades and you would see that cleaning performed by hand not machine and with little more than water and good old elbow grease instead of all these new fabulous products.

To be honest, I used to work for more than 6 years, part-time in a shop selling motor accessories and 95% or more of these products are not needed. They are there to convince us all to purchase these goods so that our lives will be easier and better.

These days I only use one product for cleaning my car. A bug and tar remover for around $4.00 per bottle which usually lasts me for 2 or 3 years. I sparingly use this product on a soft dry cloth to remove the road tar and grime. I lightly use the product to polish my car. All of this is performed after a light wash with one or two buckets of water and a soft sponge.

This applies to the car body as well as the mag wheels, exhaust and trim. I do not use a chamois at all to dry the car. I apply my bug and tar remover on to the dry soft cloth and proceed to polish and clean the surface of the car directly after washing. There is no need for expensive cleaning and polishing products.

If your car is very old and the paint surface is blotchy and old and tired looking than maybe you could do with a once-over with a cutting compound. You can buy these in light, medium and heavy cutting compound versions. Think of these as removing layers of paint from your car body. The heavier the cutting compound, the easier it will be to remove several layers of paint with one scrub. It is always recommended to use a lighter compound to start with and see how well this does at removing the tired looking layers of paint.

I must admit that I do have paint protection on the car and it is now over 8 years old, but looks absolutely brand new. Maybe the cleaning products do some harm to the paint layers? Either way I have a fantastic looking car and extra dollars in my pocket using this method.

Note that the wife’s car is the same age with no paint protection and looks just as clean using this same simple method of cleaning.

Detailing the inside of the car, I would always vacuum and clean the windows and dash with a soft cloth. This is all that is needed to clean the car. No special products used here and more money saved for other uses!