About cars, cleanliness isn’t always in the eyes of the person holding the bucket. There are myths even in car cleaning, things that aren’t true but lots of people believe them anyway.
Here are some proven car cleaning myths.
- Myth 1: It is safe to wash your car using dishwashing soap
Some say that dishwashing soap or liquid is just as good for cleaning your car as the next car soap. But most dishwashing soap products are formulated to remove all foreign substances it comes in contact with, including polish and paint from the car surface. In this case, you don’t want your car “squeaky clean”.
- Myth 2: Cleaning and washing are the same
Cleaning is removing blemishes, stubborn stains, and bonded contaminants. A bonded contaminant is anything that has stuck on the surface and won’t peel off so easily. Washing is about removing loose contaminants only. Enough said.
- Myth 3: No need to clean if the car looks shiny
In this case, to see is something you don’t want to believe. The car looks polished and shiny. But lay your hand over the surface and you’ll easily see the difference. A clean surface is shiny and smooth; a character that needs washing feels rough and grainy on the skin, like sandpaper.
- Myth 4: Wax removes swirl marks
Swirl marks won’t come off even if you apply wax on them. If anything, wax makes swirl marks even more visible from afar. There are various products designed to remove swirl marks from the surface of a car, some of which are formulated to work differently depending on how deep the scratch is. Just don’t use wax. Period.
- Myth 5: Waxing and polishing are the same
It isn’t just cleaning and washing; waxing and polishing are different, too. What polishing does for a car is create a high-gloss surface. Waxing protects that shiny finish by coating it with silicones and resins. Sorry to bust anyone’s bubble, but this means that wax will not make a dull surface look shiny.
- Myth 6: Wax protection lasts for a year
Some product labels promise up to one year of protection with just a single application. But given the nature of capitalism, these advertisers will say anything to sell their product. Different factors—use of road salt, weather, general climate, etc.—affect how long the last application of wax will last on your car. The trick is to observe the wax still on your car and maintain it accordingly.
- Myth 7: Paste wax is better than liquid wax
Some decades ago, there used to be a time when this was true. But that is no longer the case now. Modern technology has even the odds a little. So now it’s safe to say that liquid wax is just as good as any paste wax product.