How often should a daily driver be washed?

[imported_RedlineIRL]

Ok this may sound like a totally dumb question, but what is a good schedule to follow for washing a daily driven car? I almost always wash my car once every week, and wax it every couple months. I also do a full claybar, polish, seal, wax ever 4 months. Since it seems to always rain out of nowhere the next day or two whenever I wash my car, I`m going to hold off a couple days before washing again. Rain is being called for this weekend. Is the longer I leave dirt on my car, the more it`ll hurt my paint finish? Or should I be fine with proper wash techniques. It`s not like I have mud and bugs on my car, just some trails from rainwater on the lower sides and dust on it from being outside. I hate to not wash my like I normally do, but it almost seems like a waste to wash if the car is only going to be clean for a day or two.

[imported_themightytimmah]

A couple of day`s worth of road dirt won`t hurt anything - unless you`ve got bird poop, sap, or salt on your car, you could leave it for months and it would wash right back to perfect. I wash my car 3-4 times a week during the summer, but once I move into the dorms in the school year, it is lucky to see one wash a week - and yet it`s still cleaner than 99.5% of the cars on campus :).

[imported_RedlineIRL]

A couple of day`s worth of road dirt won`t hurt anything - unless you`ve got bird poop, sap, or salt on your car, you could leave it for months and it would wash right back to perfect. I wash my car 3-4 times a week during the summer, but once I move into the dorms in the school year, it is lucky to see one wash a week - and yet it`s still cleaner than 99.5% of the cars on campus :).

Oh no, I definately don`t leave bird crap or bugs on. I`ll quick detail them off or wash if it`s bad enough. I wish I had the time to wash my car 3 or 4 times a week, but I go all out when I do it once a week.



I guess my main concern is if the longer normal road dirt and grimes sits, is it going to be that much harder to take off and increase the chances for marring? With what I have done to protect my car, should I be ok for a little while?

[toml]

You should be fine. I try to wash my daily driver once a week, and it sits outside 24/7. Given my schedule, I may only have one day of the week to wash it, and if it`s raining, it has to wait until the following week. That`s just the way it goes. I don`t know about you, but the cleanliness of my car, while important to me, isn`t my top priority. That said, my car is cleaner than a lot of folks around me, and my landlord`s son thought I had traded in my car and bought another new one because it looked so good. And ... I`ve been known to get up at 6 AM to wash my car before work. :)



So, for me the whole thing is moderation. I do what I can. I clay and polish the car twice a year, wax it 3 maybe 4 times if I`m lucky. If I could do more, would I? Dunno ... there`s other things in life worthy of pursuit too.

[POPPAJ]

For my DD, a 03 Mercury Marauder with 112000 on the clock. a wash every other day. Just a quickie, water only at the 25 cent, it blows off all the dirt, dry with a ww,followed by QD. Full detail,clay,clean, polish,sealant,wax every 4 months more or less.

[stiffdogg06]

There`s no "certain" time to wash a DD. If you got the time and want to do it; then I guess it`s time to wash it.

[JDK]

I use ONR,Original No Rinse, almost daily. A few cap fulls in a bucket of water, saturate a MF cloth and slop it on, wipe off with a MF towel and you`re done. Takes me about 10 minutes total and my car looks great. No hoses, no rinsing and a lot faster than a QD.

[imported_smprince1]

Depends a lot on your environment and quite simply how dirty your car gets and how quickly.



Sometimes I use a product like PB`s S&W every few days or once a week and it seems like you don`t need to do a full blown wash.



If you don`t own a product like that I suppose a product like ONR or QEW every week or two would keep your vehicle looking good and it`s quicker than using a hose and buckets.



Sometimes I go a month before I can find time, but then I do drag out the hose and buckets and give it a good thorough shampoo.



Everybody has different priorities and amounts of time to clean their car. To each his own I suppose. There is no one correct answer IMO,

[Patman]

My 98 Corvette is my daily driver and I think I`ve only given it a full wash maybe 6 times this entire summer! I`ve been lucky that it hasn`t rained very often, and a lot of times when it did, my car was safely in the garage at home or in the underground garage at work.



So the only time I did actually give my car a full wash was when it was driven in the rain. The rest of the time I`ve been doing my usual daily routine (more often than not twice daily actually) of removing the dust with a california duster, then going over the finish with a microfiber towel and detailing spray (to clean up the slightly waxy residue the CCD leaves behind-I swear that thing is never going to stop doing that, even after 3 years and many hours of it sitting on newspapers to soak up the excess)

[imported_DieselMDX]

i wash my DD once a week including wheels and interior.



LSP once a month

[DaGonz]

As often as necessary... or in medical terms.. PRN!

[Julian Fera]

wow im serioulsy nuts then....i like to wax every couple of weeks and before i wax i like to clay bar my car also./......i was reading the clay bar article and it is true that clay barring to often can damage my paint....i hope not because even after 2 weeks the paint does not feel as soft as silk. but after the clay bay man oh man does it feel awsome

[littlemissGTO]

I wash my DD at least once a week. Sometimes more often than that. You just can`t keep a Black car clean...LOL

[cgage]

Maybe once or twice a month for me. But since I work in sales, my car only gets driven a few times a month. I park in valet at the airport, and i swear the little f****** wash it. Because it always looks clean when I pick it up. Either that or opti-seal actively repels dust and rain.

[itb76]

The answer depends largely on how far you drive every day and where you park it. My commute is 45 miles each way, and I park under oak trees at night. I`ll wash every weekend, and it usually looks quite dirty at the end of the week. Wintertime I`m lucky if it stays clean for a day sometimes.