Car Cleaning Practices

Keeping your car clean on the inside and out are equally important. When thinking about your car, you know that there are a lot of nooks and crannies where lost belongings, money, and unfortunately dirt find a home in. We are going to go over some common car cleaning habits and provide some Flitz best practices.

Common Car Cleaning Habit: Grabbing any soap for your driveway 

Better Practice: A soap made for the exterior of your car is the better way to ensure you are going to safely clean your car. Do not use dish soaps - these degreasing soaps will remove any wax/protective layers that are already present on your car. Soaps specifically made for you car are safer to use and were formulated for use on your car’s paint job.car wash.

Best Practice: The BEST way to clean your car is to keep it clean and work on creating a protective coating on your car. Washing your car with soaps, including some car wash soaps, can slowly break down and remove the wax put on your car. You are essentially adding layers of protection on your car and removing them by washing your car, only to have to add another protective layer again. Protect your car’s surface by utilizing our Speed Waxx or Flitz Sealant to build up these protective layers. Learn more about the difference between the two products here.

Common Car Cleaning Habit: Grabbing a big towel from your linen closet to dry off your car.

Best Practice: Towels that are not specifically designed for metallic and/or painted surfaces can cause great damage to the surface of your car. Big bath towels or old hand towels can result in hairline scratches in your paint that may only get worse over time. We recommend using a microfiber polishing cloth, like the one we sell for less than $5. You can find our Premium Microfiber Polishing Cloth available on our website. Our cloth is 16”x16” and can absorb up to four times its weight in liquid. Regular cotton fibers that are found on a standard towel only move dirt around. Our wedge-shaped fibers attract and hold dirt & grime like a magnet.

Common Car Cleaning Habit: Not waxing your car enough, waxing your car too much, or not waxing it at all.

Better Practice: If you’re not waxing your car, you should. If you are waxing it too much, you’re simply wasting time and money. If you’re not waxing it enough, that’s why you’re here. When waxing your car, you should always refer to the information that came with your product, however, we want your stuff to shine and we don’t want you wasting effort, money, and time away from your families to keep your car in tip-top shape. Our spray-on and wipe-off Speed Waxx is formulated to fill in swirls and hairline scratches. What sets our auto wax apart from others? Flitz Speed Waxx is a natural, water-based, environmentally friendly product made out of Brazilian Carnauba because we wanted the richest, deepest, most natural shine that you could get. Because of the liquid formula, it’s so quick and easy to use, which is why we named it “Speed Waxx”! We have found that when comparing a natural wax like ours to a synthetic wax, you find that deep, rich, streak-free shine from natural waxes. Synthetic waxes can collect in swirls in your car’s paint and unfortunately highlight the flaws that may be present; the exact opposite of what you want your auto wax to do. Our auto wax does not leave a white residue and provides protection for up to 2 months.

Best Practice: The best way to protect your car is to use car sealant. Unfortunately, even the best wax has natural limitations. The major downside of car wax when comparing to paint sealant is the lack of consistent durability. Waxes like our Speed Waxx, which is made of carnauba wax can stand up to high temperatures, but as the wax sits on the surface of your car, temperatures of the paint surface can reach over the melting point of carnauba wax, which is about 180°F). This will cause the wax to evaporate off of your car, decreasing the longevity of the protective coating on your car. Paint sealants are not naturally occurring products like our Flitz Speed Waxx, but are instead engineered and chemically formulated to provide the best protection for your car’s paint. Our Flitz Sealant was released in 2017 and creates a hydrophobic (water-repelling) ceramic-type shell around your car which completely resist water and protects against extreme heat, UV rays, harsh detergents, and general wear and tear of riding on the road. Compared to our wax that protects for up to 2 months, our Flitz Sealant provides protection for up to 8 months. Again this is not a wax, so please visit our other blog post explaining the differences between two.

Common Car Cleaning Habit: Needing to clean up leftovers and takeout boxes from eating in your car.

Best Practice: If you must eat in your car (let’s face it, we live in a busy world), be sure to take your wrappers, drink cups, and any leftover food with you when you exit your car. Do not store any food or snacks in your car either. This attracts mice and can result in some pretty pricey fixes if they cause any damage under the hood. Things like water bottles, gum wrappers, or old receipts can start to accumulate and lead to a messy car. Keep only the essentials in your car, this includes your trunk space and door pockets!

Common Car Cleaning Habit: Not cleaning up spills in the interior of your car.

Best Practice: The easiest solution to this problem is to not eat or drink in your car. We know that this is nearly impossible in today’s fast-paced lifestyle. The next best solution is to get to these spills instantly. To clean up a freshly spilled beverage or food, do not rub your spill into your car’s interior. This will only force your spill deeper into the seat creating long-lasting stains (and maybe even odors). Dab or blot your spill and use a recommended cleaner for the material your car seats are made of. If you have uncovered an older stain, re-dampen the stain with clean water and proceed as if the stain were new. A simple homemade cleaning solution requires water, baking soda, and vinegar. Always test a small, hidden area before attempting to clean large areas of your car’s upholstery.

Common Car Cleaning Habit: Using bug spray or DIY cleaners to clean your foggy headlights.

Best Practice: Using bug sprays that contain DEET can help reduce the dull and cloudy appearance of your headlights, but the results are only temporary and can return within days of application. DEET can also strip the clear coat and damage your car’s paint job if it comes in contact with your car’s hood or bumper. DIY cleaners such as baking soda and vinegar can help to remove dirt but may not remove the oxidation present within the plastic, resulting in another temporary solution that will need to be continuously repeated. The best solution to cleaning your foggy headlights (or even tail lights!) is to use a headlight restoration kit. The Department of Transportation requires you to operate a motor vehicle with unobscured lamps/reflectors. On a scale of 1 to 10, the violation severity of having foggy headlights or taillights is a 6. These violations stay on your record for 2 years and if found unfit the carrier or driver may not be able to continue to operate until the violations are cleared. The Flitz Headlight Restoration Kit is washable and reusable and removes oxidation, grease, oil, road film, heat discoloration, water stains, bird droppings, scuff marks, and more. Our kit comes with a 3” Buff Ball made of soft, viscose felt separate into “polishing fingers” that will conform to concave, convex, and odd-shaped surface with ease. The kit also comes with Flitz Paste Polish, a 1000 grit Suff Pad, and Flitz Speed Wax. The results of our kit protect your headlights for up to 6 months.

Common Car Cleaning Habit: Cleaning your windshield and windows at the gas station while you fill up your tank.

Best Practice: Use a protective coating on your windows to protect from bugs, bird droppings, water stains, and dirt like  Flitz Speed Waxx or Flitz Sealant. Again, head to our blog post that describes the differences in these two products.

Common Car Cleaning Habit: Using soap and water to clean your rims.

Best Practice: This one relates back to our very first habit about washing your car regularly. The best thing to do for your car is to protect it from damage instead of trying to wash it away. If your wheels are heavily encrusted in corrosion, rust, calcium, lime, grease, oil, or have severe water stains, our  Flitz Metal Pre-Clean will help remove all of these things without dulling or hazing your aluminum or mag rims. Our Pre-Clean is intended for using before polishing and sealing your rims. Spray on the Pre-Clean and wash away with water. Proceed to add a protective layer of our Flitz Paste Polish to remove any additional tarnish, rust, oxidation, bugs, tar, oil, and more. Our Flitz Paste Polish will protect up to 6 months on the road. Finally, finish up with our Flitz Sealant to create that ceramic-type shell on your car’s rims. Always build upon your car’s protective layers instead of washing them away.

Take care of your vehicle. It gets you to and from where you need to go and most of us use our cars every single day on multiple occasions. These are intended to be tips to improve your car care practices. We’d love to hear how you have changed your ways after reading our post. Reach out to us on  Facebook or Instagram with some before and after photos of your Flitz projects. When using Flitz products, always remember less is more; a little product goes a long way!