HOW TO WASH YOUR CAR

Don't put your pride and joy through a mindless mechanical scratching machine (car wash).
There is only one way to wash your car, and that is by hand.
Make sure your car is parked in the shade, otherwise water droplets will leave dry rings on your paintwork before you get a chance to remove them.

I do not recommend the use of pressure washers for anything other than cleaning the mud out from under your wheel arches and the underside of your car in general. These high pressure devises force water into places you don't want it to reach.

My preferred method is to use a normal hose to wet the car down and loosen the dirt. I then fill a bucket with cold water (hot water will soften your wax) and add a very small amount of a dedicated car shampoo.
Do not use household washing liquids, as these will strip the wax off your car. I then take my wash mitt and work in straight lines (front to rear) from the roof down. If you want to use a sponge, that's fine, but you do have more chance of scratching your car because sharp dirt particles easily get trapped between the sponge and your precious paintwork.

When you get gown to the waistline of your car, it's time to change over to your dirty mitt or sponge. With this I do the inner lip of the wheel arches, all the lower sections and finally the wheels. A great way to clean wheels of an intricate design - such as BBS, is to use one of those brushes that go on the end of your hose. But be warned they do scratch paint, so if your wheels are in really nice condition, don't use one. And never use one of these brushes on any part of your paintwork, except for under the sills, etc. When you have finished washing your car, give it one more rinse-off with the hose.

There are various ways of drying your car, I like start with a flexi blade to remove the bulk of the water. These soft silicone rubbery tools are very affective at removing water fast, and do not scratch your paint. I then finish off with a quality synthetic chamois. Many of my friends swear by a real chamois leather - while I agree with them in that they work really well, the downside is that they have to be cleaned out and dried after use. It's also vital that you store them in a really dry place. Synthetic chamois leathers come with a convenient plastic tube, and can be stored wet without rotting. One note of caution though - if you do decide to go down the synthetic chamois route, don't be tempted to buy cheap ones!

As with the wash mitt, I don't risk getting my chamois dirty by using it to do the lower parts of the car as they can get really filthy. For these areas, I use a 100% cotton towel - I then use it to do the door jams, sill kick plates and bonnet and boot water channels.