Making your own car wash soap can be cheaper than buying commercially manufactured car shampoo. You can easily make homemade car wash soap meant only for washing the body of the car, as the procedure isn’t as complicated as soap manufacturers would have you believe. Some of the car wash soap ingredients required are a bucket, water, liquid dishwashing detergent, borax and powdered laundry detergent. Many people are of the opinion that it is best to not wash your car with dish soap, but the clear coat of the paint that protects the color coat of the car paint isn’t harmed by liquid dishwashing detergent. Hence, a car wash with dish soap is quite safe for preserving your car’s paint and shine. Always set aside a reserve of best car polish products for your car needs.
How to Make your Own Car Wash Soap:
- Squeeze some liquid dish detergent into a bucket of warm water to make basic car wash soap. This will remove the dirt and won’t affect the car paint or gloss. This is a cheap and easy way of making soap that cleans your car and the process is not time consuming either. Since the clear coat of the car’s paint is quite tough, it’s not harmed by mild soaps such as dishwater detergent.
- If you want to make a soap that can remove grime along with the dirt on your car, you can make a car wash soap that is as effective as commercially manufactured car soap. All you need to do is fill a bucket with warm water, and add a cup of liquid dishwashing detergent and 12 tablespoons of powdered laundry detergent. If your car is very dirty, you might have to make more than 1 bucket of this mixture. You must also remember to rinse the car well and ensure that all the soap is removed to avoid soap streaks.
Another way to avoid streaks is to add borax to the mixture of liquid dishwashing detergent, powdered laundry detergent and water. Borax ensures that soap residue isn’t left on the car’s surface. - When choosing detergents, make sure to buy quality products that produce plenty of suds. You can also think of using biodegradable detergent, as the soapy water will be seeping into your yard and can adversely affect the environment.
- Alkali free soaps should be used, as alkali can take the paint and the dirt off your car. However, if the soap does have alkali, it’s best to wax the car after it’s washed.
- Soaps that have no phosphate or chlorine are a good choice as they are environment friendly. Phosphate can damage the finish of the car’s clear coat apart from damaging the environment. Such soaps are usually vegetable–based oil soaps and should be simply mixed with the warm water in the bucket.
- Alternatively, you can add a cup of liquid dishwashing detergent to a bucket containing warm water and add petroleum based powdered laundry detergent to it to get homemade car wash soap. The advantage of using petroleum based laundry detergent is that it’s free of phosphate and chlorine.
A soap that’s manufactured for cleaning cars is preferred by most people, but a homemade detergent that is free of alkalis and is mild is a convenient and cheap option quite safe for the car’s paint.