 6th October 2018, 21:40 | #1 |
| anjan_c2007 Distinguished - BHPian
Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 8,494 Thanked: 21,665 Times View My Garage | Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! 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. Last edited by anjan_c2007 : 6th October 2018 at 21:43. |
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| 6th October 2018, 22:37 | #2 |
| pjbiju Senior - BHPian
Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 1,367 Thanked: 1,106 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! 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. |
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| 6th October 2018, 22:45 | #3 |
| sandman_30 BHPian Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Bangalore/Noida Posts: 39 Thanked: 78 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! The only time my car goes for a complete bath is when she's at the service Centre. |
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| 6th October 2018, 22:55 | #4 |
| avisidhu BHPian
Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: CA Posts: 747 Thanked: 850 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! 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. Last edited by avisidhu : 6th October 2018 at 22:57. |
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| 6th October 2018, 23:09 | #5 |
| Doge BHPian
Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: NCR/Turin Posts: 687 Thanked: 1,697 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! Washing a car often not only causes water wastage but is also not the best for the paint. |
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| 6th October 2018, 23:20 | #6 |
| sumeethaldankar Senior - BHPian
Join Date: May 2007 Location: Mumbai Posts: 3,986 Thanked: 3,443 Times View My Garage | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! 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. Last edited by sumeethaldankar : 6th October 2018 at 23:22. |
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| 6th October 2018, 23:24 | #7 |
| for_cars1 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,311 Thanked: 3,190 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! Quote: Originally Posted by Doge Washing a car often not only causes water wastage but is also not the best for the paint. 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. Have been washing the car sparingly and it has worked wonders on the paint. If it rains, I don't even wash the car even once in 10 days. Last edited by for_cars1 : 6th October 2018 at 23:44. |
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| 7th October 2018, 09:08 | #8 |
| Brishti BHPian
Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Pune Posts: 359 Thanked: 551 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! 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. |
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| 7th October 2018, 09:18 | #9 |
| roy_libran Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: DNCR Posts: 1,666 Thanked: 3,538 Times View My Garage | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! Good thread and hope people adopt the suggestion. |
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| 7th October 2018, 09:54 | #10 |
| dhanushs Distinguished - BHPian
Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 4,364 Thanked: 10,617 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! 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. |
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| 7th October 2018, 15:15 | #11 |
| lurker Senior - BHPian
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Tura Posts: 1,600 Thanked: 1,437 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! Quote: Originally Posted by Brishti 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. 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. |
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| 7th October 2018, 16:03 | #12 |
| Brishti BHPian
Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Pune Posts: 359 Thanked: 551 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! Quote: Originally Posted by lurker 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. |
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| 7th October 2018, 16:06 | #13 |
| SCORPION BHPian
Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Coimbatore Posts: 483 Thanked: 2,002 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! Quote: Originally Posted by Brishti 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. 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. Quote: Originally Posted by Brishti 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. 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. Last edited by SCORPION : 7th October 2018 at 16:32. |
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| 7th October 2018, 16:28 | #14 |
| Yieldway17 BHPian Join Date: May 2017 Location: Tamil Nadu Posts: 662 Thanked: 1,892 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! 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. Last edited by Yieldway17 : 7th October 2018 at 16:30. |
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| 8th October 2018, 08:25 | #15 |
| manjunag BHPian
Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 39 Thanked: 256 Times | re: Avoid washing your car too often; wash only when required! Quote: Originally Posted by roy_libran With my most recent purchase, I have also moved away from the regular washing of my cars. 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. |
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