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-   -   Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/202511-avoid-washing-your-car-too-often-wash-only-when-required.html)

The graphics below shows the precarious situation regarding per capita water availability @ around 1500 cubic metres(cu. m) per year, in India as in 2018. This is categorised as a "water stressed" situation vis -a -vis the 1000 cu. m per year alarm level, that is the most precarious category termed as "water scarce". The per capita figure was 5178 cu. m per year in 1951 in India, that has now fallen down to below one third this value, as of now.

It calls for an immediate introspection by all of us, to totally avoid wasting water.

Washing our cars and two wheelers, sometimes after every few days has become a norm for many. We are selling more than 3 million cars per annum (we rank as the world's 5th in production) and the car population in India is estimated at 60-70 million. Even if 10 % of these are washed every third or fourth day, the statistics will be alarming, as each car needs a minimum of 30-40 litres or more of water for one single wash.

There are other classes of automobiles like three wheelers, trucks, buses and the like, that also are estimated to be in millions.

Alternative devices to dry clean cars like good, branded dusters, soft cloth and the like need to be preferred rather than frequent, avoidable washing, with the sole aim to conserve water. We as teambhpians always lead be it road safety, road manners, car upkeep and in many other arenas. Hence, it was thought that we can make a good beginning by spreading awareness here, not to waste water.

Foresight and action are needed or else our ex_ PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous quip "the third world war will be for water" may turn out to be factual.

I do not have any person to wash my car. This rainy season, my son persuaded me not to wash the car till the end of the rainy season. So I did not wash my car for nearly 3 months. Yes it had a lot mud plastered around the lower panels. During every heavy rain either my wife or me drove the car around my society to give it a natural wash. That would clean up the top part of the car. During other seasons, I wash my car about once in two or three weeks. And usually that means using around 20 litres of water.

The only time my car goes for a complete bath is when she's at the service Centre.
She gets a wipe treatment every other day and a sponge bath every Sunday that takes about 3-4 liters of water.

It's the whole ecosystem of car washing people in most localities and societies, combined with our proclivity to think of such chores as beneath us that is at the root of it all.

Although it must also be said that most car wash guys don't use 30-40 liters per car, they probably would wash 5 cars with that much water on an average day. My point being, if I stop using the daily car wash and rather take my car for a proper wash twice a month, am I really saving any water? For a large number of people, this issue needs to be understood at a deeper level in order to have any meaningful impact.

But yes, high time this conversation is now started at the earnest and some smart, meaningful solutions figured at least in clusters where hundreds of cars are washed daily. Heck, even government intervention might not be so unwelcome if that's what it would take.

Washing a car often not only causes water wastage but is also not the best for the paint.
It is best to use a cloth like a microfiber one and dust the car off everyday, instead of washing.
Plus, I am a fan of dirty cars, muddy body suits my blue car and makes me feel like I just got through Dakar rally.

Good thread. I recently let go of my car washer. The swirl marks were a testimony to this unnecessary activity. I noticed if the car is used daily it doesn't get dusty much so does not much cleaning especially in the dry season. Also if the car is going to be unused for long duration then its best to cover and keep. A Jopasu duster and a damp micro fibre cloth is all I use to clean the car now.

The previous two cars that I've used were washed daily by the cleaning guy. In both cases, the bonnet had to be repainted over time to address the scratches and paint fading.

It dawned on me that the more a car is washed, the more the paint wears out faster and it starts looking dull.
So 4 years back I decided that henceforth I would wash the car myself once in 10 days and using the two bucket method using just about 15 litres of water.

Have been washing the car sparingly and it has worked wonders on the paint.
I just ensure the following:
1. To never ever wipe the car with a dry cloth using hands, doing this will cause swirls marks and micro scratches.
2. Dust lightly every day with a Jopaso duster.
3. Splash water over the paint to unsettle dust before wiping with a wet microfibre cloth. (See the two bucket method on youtube, over time you can master the art of splashing just half a bucket of water on a large car)
4. It best to avoid using a car cover, the cover gets dirty over time and has a sandpaper effect on the paint. Also a lingering wet cover is a catalyst for rusting. Leaving the car uncovered is best for the paint, keeps it dry and scratch free.

If it rains, I don't even wash the car even once in 10 days.

I got a pressure washer since it consumes less water than the car wash guy and is much more effective. It does have one negative tough and that is the pressure can make the water penetrate inside headlights and also its a big no-no for under body cleaning.

Good thread and hope people adopt the suggestion.
With my most recent purchase, I have also moved away from regular washing of my cars.
I got a ceramic treatment done, and now only dust it with a Jopasu duster everyday, and get it pressure washed once a month or more.
It’s adequate!

It’s not only about water. Washing cars too often is the main contributing factor to the dirty swirls and fade on the paint.

I make sure that I wash the car only if absolutely required.

what are you talking ? Just do not hold pressure washer wand pointed at any particular spot for more than a couple of seconds at the same time.

Skoda has advised me twice not to pressure wash the under body and the disk brakes with my home bosch pressure washer. Instead they advised to use wet towels to clean under the car.

The directed pressure in areas like headlights cause the compound between the headlight plastic and frame to tear apart resulting in a foggy headlights.

May be there is something wrong with the way you are using it or you have to get your car checked for corrosion damage, beading damage etc. Most pressure washers have a jet and spray mode at the nozzle tip. You should be using the spray mode. Spray mode should cause no harm to a car or its under body and is sufficient to wash a car thoroughly. Even a quick sweep within the engine bay should cause no harm to the car if everything is in order.
Water service stations use industrial grade pressure washers which are more powerful than domestic pressure washers and yet cause no harm to a car.
I find this advice very hard to digest. Engine bay, okay understood. Underbody? I can imagine a pediatrician saying this to prevent rashes on a baby's soft bottoms. But clean a car under body with a wet towel? Really? And how? Crawl under the car? They do make cars with ultra soft bottoms then. In that case, you also have to stop driving in the rains and tip toe through puddles. Shows how much confidence they have in their cars.

I wash my car every six months when it goes for service. Otherwise it gets dusted by Jopasu every 3 days. In rainy seasons when it gets plastered with mud, I just let it be until it rains again when it is parked so it's cleaned a bit.

Same with me too. Had a Silver Esteem that was washed by the car wash guy, who used an old cloth to wash 5 cars in our lane. Whatever Gyan & microfibre cloths that were given didn't help either & there were more swirls & scratches everywhere on the car. As the car was old, never cared.
Got rid of him after we purchased the blue Nexon & got ceramic coated in the second week of buying. It is only me who does the cleaning of my car. Now my maintenance is just using Jopasu duster & driving for a week. Am using rinseless from Proklear once a week & my car goes for a pressure wash once in 2months. Ceramic coating, Jopasu & rinseless have greatly helped in the daily maintenance of my car, in turn reducing the water wastage of atleast 2 buckets daily.