Arguably one of the most important things in our lives are our cars. Think about it. What would you do without a car in your life? How would you get to work on time every day? How would you get to the grocery store? How would you go on those cross-country road-trips with your family? We use our cars for so many things that it’s hard to imagine life without them.
So, it’s pretty normal that our cars break down over time. Paint starts to chip, tires start to go flat, and our leather seats start to take a beating. However, the good news is that there are plenty of things you can start doing to make your car shine and look like new again. Even if your car is pretty old, any of the following methods are great to give your car a little facelift.
Make sure to keep the following tips in mind during your regular car washing and maintenance routine if you want your car to keep driving you around for a long time.
1. Regularly Wash Your Car
When you think about keeping the shine on your car and keep it looking great, then regularly washing your car should be the first thing on your mind. But doesn’t this seem pretty common sense? It is, but you would be surprised at the number of people who don’t seem to find the time to clean their car every few weeks. This is probably because it can take a bit of time and effort to get your car really clean on a regular basis.
However, by washing your car every two weeks or so, you’re keeping dust and debris from taking away from the exterior shine or getting into parts of your car that shouldn’t see them. Make sure that you invest in the proper cleaning equipment and set out a regular time to thoroughly clean your car every two weeks.
2. Don’t Forget About Tire Conditioner
When you’re looking at your car, what’s one of the first things that you notice? If you’re like most people, then your answer is probably the tires! And there’s a reason for that. The tires are a pretty tell-tale sign that your car is either in trouble or in great shape. When your tires look old, dry, and dusty, it can make your car look way older than it actually is and can have a detrimental effect on your tires.
After you do your regular car washing, be sure to add a heavy coat of tire conditioner on all of your tires. This mixture will make your tires look as good as new and shine way brighter than those on your neighbor’s cars. This is a pretty easy step to add to your regular cleaning schedule!
3. Use Plastic Sealant
You might think that this is too closely related to applying tire conditioner to your tires, but it’s a separate and really crucial step you need to take if you want to upkeep the condition of your car and keep it shiny and new. Most cars have plastic molding and trim. It’s pretty noticeable after a few years when trim starts looking gray and faded. You probably know what we’re talking about here if you’ve had a car for a time. And this is definitely something that you’ve got to keep an eye on.
And it’s pretty easy to fix! Just put a little bit of plastic sealant on that trim and your car is going to look super shiny and new again.
4. Never Forget to Clean Your Windows
Along with the tires, the windows of your car are probably one of the first things you see when you check out a new car or see your car in the driveway. How many times have you been driving down the highway and saw a car with someone’s handwriting saying “Please wash me!” in big letters? Too many times to count, right?
Well, it’s pretty simple to add window washing to your cleaning schedule. It’d even be good to try to clean them more often than you clean your entire car. Give them a quick wash and you’d be surprised at how good your car looks.
5. Wax, Wax, Wax, And Wax Some More
When you think about washing your car and upkeep, you probably think that wax is one of those “extra” things that is good to do, but not important to the overall health of your vehicle. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. There’s so much more to using wax than making your car shine. Sure, that’s an important part, but there’s a whole lot more going on.
You see, when you add a coat of wax to your car, it acts as a sort of protective barrier against debris and other gross stuff clinging to the paint of your car. And when you clean your car next time, you’ll simply be spraying off the wax that holds all of that debris, instead of them being on your car’s surface, damaging the paint.
6. Don’t Forget About the Detail Spray
Sure, OK, not all of us have the time to clean our entire car after one bird decides to land a bomb on the front window. However, that shouldn’t stop you from cleaning the spots and fingerprints off of your car! It’s a great idea to keep a bottle of detail spray and a high-quality cloth in your trunk for those times when you need to get a spot or two off of the surface of your car.
7. And The Leather Conditioner
OK, so we talked a good bit about the outside of your car. Now, let’s move onto the inside for our last point. It’s super important to not only pay attention to the outside of your car, but the inside, as well. If you have leather seats, nothing says old and broken down like faded and cracked leather seats. That’s why it’s a great idea for you to always use leather conditioner in order to moisturize the leather, help darken it a bit, and protect the seats from UV rays.
There you have it! These are the top tips you need to be following if you hope to keep your car looking shiny and brand new into the future. We’re sure if you implement these into your regular upkeep schedule of your car, you won’t be disappointed with the results!
