Have you ever thought about how many times you wash your pride and joy and the hours you spend detailing it? Whether it’s the new Camaro that serves as your daily driver or your SS Chevelle that only comes out on weekends and the occasional Sunday drive, we go to great extremes to keep them looking their best. Now did you ever think the process and way you go about it could be causing more damage than you think?

I’ll give you an example of what I’m talking about. My neighbors – two brothers – back in 1971 bought two brand new 340 Dusters at the same time. Everyday, one of the brothers washed his car and put it in the garage right after it had been washed.

Now you can guess what the car looks like in its third year of ownership. The bottoms of both doors, fenders and lower rear quarters were popping with rust from all the water that sat in them from washing it and putting the car away wet in the garage.

The point is that you can “over wash” your car. If it’s a daily driver, it will be a little more work, but if you have to wash it, make sure you blow out all the door and trunk jambs with an air gun to rid them of water that can penetrate into areas and cause rust.

Taking the car for a good blast down the highway will do a good job if you don’t have access to an air compressor. Many companies sell an electric blower you can use to dry off your car before you park it in the garage. And always remember to blow off the car in and around the windshield and rear window moldings as well.

Most of the cars you see in large collections or owned by the most experienced hobbyists very rarely let their cars see water, as they are kept inside and just cleaned with a spray wax like Meguiar’s Quik Detailer, then wiped off. So they never get wet and therefore can’t rust.

Take care when hand washing too; if the surface is really dirty, presoak the car with a strong stream of water to remove gritty debris. Then, use a pail with a grate that lets the dirt fall below it, so the sponge will not be contaminated with dirt.

Always wash the lower panels, rockers, and wheels first because they hold most of the dirt and road grime, then change the water and sponge and finish the rest of the car to avoid scratching your paint. Keeping a good car duster in the trunk will help you cut down the number of times you’ll have to wash the car with water, and it only takes a couple minutes to go over the entire car before you drive away.

When waxing and polishing, use quality soft micro-fiber towels made for polishing, they will not scratch the paint or chrome. If you take the extra time to be really careful when cleaning your car, it will reward you with many more years and look its very best much longer.

Oh, and stay away from those charity car washes, the girls that wash them may be pretty, but the buckets and sponges are loaded with dirt from the many washes before you. They may be okay for your regular car but its a catastrophe waiting to happen, we usually pay them and avoid the wash just to help a charity.