The Ultimate Driver's Car Cleaning Checklist

If your car is your pride and joy, you’ll understand how important it is to keep everything polished and primed. Even if you aren’t a petrol head, there are still certain things you’ll need to keep on top of in order to ensure that your vehicle performs properly and safely further down the line.

Keeping your windscreen and mirrors clean and clear of debris, for example, is vital to ensure proper visibility and prevent your windscreen wipers from struggling in the future. Here are a few products that every car owner should look for in order to take proper care of their motor.

1. The Right Kind of Body Brush

Chuck away your grubby old sponge - the RAC All-In-One Brush is the way forward when it comes to getting the grime off your paintwork. It's specially designed bristles are perfect for scrubbing off dirt without scratching, and the set also includes a water nozzle, a squeegee and a wheel brush to give your vehicle a comprehensive clean. This product also doubles as the perfect tool to use when washing your home’s windows!

2. The Perfect Power Washer

RAC has also developed the easy-to-use Portable Power Washer, ideal for all kinds of uses and especially great for those who are environmentally conscious; after all, it requires no electricity to work! A simple hand-pump generates all the pressure you need to create a strong jet of water for blasting the muck off your car, and its 8 litre capacity means you can be economical with water while still achieving fantastic results. More compact than a regular jet washer, it’s super easy to use at home or on the move.

3. The Brightest Clean for Your Windscreen

Windscreens are often the worst nightmare of any car owner aiming for sparkling perfection. Driving through all environments in all weathers means that every kind of dirt collects on and around glass, resulting in caked-on specks and oily smears than only get worse the more you attack them with a sponge. Luckily, the answer is simple. Treat yourself to a 50 pack of RAC Windscreen Wipes and polish your windows and mirrors to a high shine in moments. These disposable cloths create a glare and streak free result, and, as the bag is re-sealable, they’re easy to store and can be used for months to the same effect without drying out.

4. The No-Fuss Wheel Brush

Cone-shaped brushes are easily the most effective design for the thorough cleaning and polishing of your wheels, but few are able to display the same user friendliness and spotless results as RAC’s Cone Wheel Brush. With a larger head shaped with superb accessibility and coverage in mind, as well as a non-slip handle for complete control and a gentle and fibrous texture for the best possible clean with no chance of damage, you can be sure that every detail of your vehicle glistens like new.

5. The Wet-or-Dry Chamois

Whether you call it a chamois or a shammy cloth, it’s well known amongst automotive specialists as one of the most effective car cleaning products available. Triplewax’s Genuine Chamois leather works a charm when wet, holding up to six times its own weight in water and rubbing paintwork and glass down perfectly without a smear in sight. Dry, it serves as the ideal polishing cloth, creating a superb sheen.

6. The Just-Like-New Shampoo

You may have all the top notch tools on the market, but if the liquid you use to clean your car is sub-par, they can only get you so far. Triplewax has developed a highly effective car shampoo that cuts through dirt and grease with ease to bring out the gleam that you first fell in love with, with not a single streak in sight.

7. The All-in-One

A one-stop fix that provides fantastic results, the affordable and effective CarPlan Demon Car Cleaning Gift Pack could serve as the perfect treat for the petrol head in your life - but is equally acceptable as a cheeky little present to yourself! The set contains two separate liquids to clean and produce a wonderful shine, a foam shampoo, two specialist sprays for tyres and wheels, a soft and chunky sponge and a microfibre cloth. You can also add the finishing touches by hanging up the classy Mighty Oak air freshener that comes included - in order to make your car smell as great as it looks.

Which car cleaning product has caught your eye? Got any top car cleaning tips of your own? Share your know-how with the B&M Community on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.