Cleaning Your Car on this Bank Holiday? Here’s a Startin Guide.

Date Posted: 22 May 2025

As the bank holiday weekend nears, countless individuals will be making the most of the added day off by washing and cleaning their vehicles. Are you one of them? Then this blog is just the right piece of information for you.

Below is a guide by Startin Group to assist you in washing your car efficiently and effectively.

What Do You Need?

Obtain your supplies—you'll require the following for a full clean:

A Bucket (Or Two!)
Pressure Washer (If You Have Access To One If Not Don't Fret!)
Specialised Car Wash Shampoo
A Hose
Microfibres
Wash Mitt Or Sponge
Drying Towel
Car Polish

Follow these steps:

Wheels: Always begin a wash by beginning with the dirty part first. Make sure your wheels are cool to the touch. Clean each wheel separately by applying plenty of an 'Iron'-removing wheel cleaner liberally to the face and barrel; this picks up the heavy iron deposits, making the cleaning a smoother procedure.

After a few minutes of the product 'reacting' (some products turn a different colour to signal this) simply rinse it off. You can then go in with a wheel brush and wheel cleaner/or a soap solution to break down the solutions further. Rinsing and repeating on all 4 corners.

Pre-wash: You can buy these products, which you can apply prior to rinsing the car, which loosens and lifts the dirt off the surface so the rinse-down is much more effective. Apply liberally to the entire body of the car (primarily the dirtiest area i.e. lower half) rinse off with your hose or pressure washer.

The Wash: Personally, we prefer to do this using a two-bucket system (1 can be utilized if preferred). Fill the bucket/s with water and put the amount of car shampoo specified in one of the buckets (with a swift whisk so that it froths up). Take your wash mitt/sponge and get stuck in, beginning from the roof and working downwards, focusing on small areas at a time.

When returning for additional shampoo solution, wash the wash mitt off in the bucket of plain water so as not to pollute the shampoo mix (it also prevents you from rubbing dirty old back into the paintwork!).

Last rinse: Clean the car using a hose or pressure washer to wipe off the soap. Make sure that all gaps, grills, wheels, and barrels are soap-free before proceeding and drying the car.

Dry the car: Dry the car using a soft, absorbent towel from top to bottom. Allowing a car to air dry can create a streaked finish or watermarks, so make sure to dry areas in proper sections using a microfibre cloth or a towel.

Polishing or if preferred, waxing: An optional process for any car wash is to protect the paintwork further in the future. Polishing your car once washed will make your paintwork silky and smooth, providing it with added protection from extreme weather.

Applying wax, once you've polished, simply provides a seal of protection to the car's paint and leaves it with an overall shinier finish, also keeping the car safe for longer (i.e., fewer future washes!).

By just doing these simple steps, you can get your car sparkling clean and shiny in a jiffy.

FAQ

As a means to prevent paint, or even deeper metal, from being damaged by the likes of road salt, you should have it washed no less than every other couple of weeks!

It is a lot, but it does protect your car. Polishing and waxing your car at the end of a wash usually keeps your car cleaner longer. That is less washing.

YES! But there are always some risks, particularly with older cars.

A pressure washer provides an easier clean in the majority of instances; the water pressure assists in rubbing off the mud and dirt with hardly any effort from you.

Be careful when holding a pressure washer close to the surface since it causes paint imperfections.

You might think that a hot, sunny afternoon would be the ideal time to start a car clean, but this is not so.

Direct sunlight, or excessive heat, will dry out the soap before you have had a chance to rinse the car down. This will result in water spotting and a streaky finish. If it happens to be hot weather, then it is very strongly advised that you wash your car early in the morning or later in the evening to avoid this (and get you out of doing the same job twice!).

No, paintwork swirl marks are really very normal. These blemishes shouldn't be a lasting feature anywhere on your vehicle. The majority of light swirl marks can be taken away by utilising a basic cutting compound polish and a machine polisher! (If in doubt, pop it over to us at Startin Group and our technicians can guide you further!)

We would recommend after thoroughly cleaning your vehicle and having it dry, then apply a metal polish to the exhaust pipe(s). This will strip away the carbon deposits, bringing it back to a stainless steel, polished appearance again.

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Cleaning Your Car on this Bank Holiday? Here’s a Startin Guide.

FAQ

How frequently do I wash my car?

Is the use of a pressure wash safe?

What is the best time to wash a car?

Are swirling marks permanent?

How do I remove the carbon deposit in my exhaust?

Happy washing from the team at Startin Group.

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