1. Always wash your vehicle in a shaded area. Your vehicle’s surface should be cool. If the car’s hot, the soap suds will dry too quickly, staining the surface and requiring another wash or possibly damaging your paint.

2. Pre-soak your vehicle to remove heavy contaminants like bird poop and bugs, and heavy dirt. This will help minimize the possibility of scratching your paint and chrome.

3. Use mild liquid soap made for washing cars, do not use dish detergent,  and a made for car-wash mitt or sponge, or microfiber cloth; use plenty of  water.

4. Start at the top of the vehicle. Wash one section at a time, and then rinse it off. Start with the roof of the car or truck , then proceed to the hood and the rear. Next, clean the upper sections of the sides, and then, finally, clean the lower areas, including the rocker panels, which usually  have the most dirt.    If you clean the lower sections first, you’ll wash the dirt from the top of the car back down onto the lower parts. But, more importantly, you run the risk of having small pieces of debris adhere to the mitt or sponge, and could scratch the vehicle.

5. Always hose off your mitt or sponge before putting it back in the wash bucket to re-soap. In other words, start with a bucket of clean soap-- and end with a bucket of clean soap.

6. Rinse your vehicle thoroughly. When you think you're done rinsing—that’s when you give it one more heavy and final rinse!

7. Use a different mitt or brush to clean the tires and rims. Using a separate utensil  for the wheels will reduce the chance that you’ll scratch the car’s paint with brake dust and dirt you pick up from the rims.

8. Be very cautious when cleaning wheels, especially if you’re using a spray-on wheel cleaner. This is not just for your car’s health, but for yours as well. Wheels can be extremely hot if the car has just been driven. This is especially likely with wheels that use high-performance brakes. When you spray wheel cleaning chemicals on hot metal, the chemicals will vaporize, and you’ll inhale them, which can cause reparatory problems.

9. Forget the pricey automotive cleaners. Instead, use a mild, liquid soap that's well diluted. That’ll do everything you need, such as removing dirt, grease, and films without damaging plastics or other materials. Plus, it’s a lot cheaper than the aggressively marketed, fancy products.

10. Dry your vehicle immediately, to prevent water spots. Chamois work well.

Exterior Care: The Wax

1. Your car or truck must be clean, see washing instructions above.

2. Know that some waxes contain abrasives, which can damage clear-coat and lacquer finishes, and may be harmful to dark-colored paint jobs. When in doubt, use a nonabrasive wax.

3. Park the car in a cool, shady spot. If you don't have access to a shady spot, wax one section at a time so the sun doesn't bake the wax onto your car. Avoid waxing if it's very hot or very cold outside.

4. Dip a damp wax sponge into the car wax, getting a half-dollar-size clump on your sponge.

5. Rub the wax onto the car using small circles. Avoid getting wax into seams and jambs, if this happens, use an old, very soft toothbrush to remove it.

6. Working on a section at a time, cover your car's entire surface, remembering the path you took. By the time you have finished, the wax will be ready to remove.

7. Using soft terry cloth towels, cotton diaper (or, better yet, microfiber cloth), wipe off the wax in the same order in which it was applied.