An at-home car wash and detailing can help you save money and maintain the look of your vehicle.

Use this step-by-step guide to wash, dry, and detail your car for an all-around squeaky-clean vehicletires included.

Keep these things in mind before washing your car.

Soapy car side mirror and door showing how to wash a car at home

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Using dish soap and other household cleaners or chemicals on your car can damage the paint.

It’s best to purchase car-safe cleaning products.

Check the console, underneath seats, between armrests, in pockets, etc.

Close up of someone’s hand cleaning up the empty water bottle and old food containers from the car interior’s consoe

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to thoroughlyclean the car’s interiorand collect long-lost treasures.

Then, use the vacuum hose to suck up the waste.

Move on to the middle console, gearshift, steering wheel, door handles, cupholders, and seats.

Close up of man vacuuming the interior of his car

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Apply an auto-specific interior cleaner to the surfacesskipping the seats (unless they’re leather).

Using a new cloth, wipe again.

Replace Floor Mats

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Replace all floor mats.

Up close of cleaning the dust between the car seat cracks

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You may need a wheel brush to reach smaller spots.

you’re free to also use an old toothbrush to clean between the wheel spokes.

This way, as the water moves down, they won’t rewet areas you just dried.

Close up of person vacuuming the upholstery on the interior of their car

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Doing so will help preserve your car’s paint job and prevent dirt or grime from settling in.

Of course, if you drive through a particularly dirty area (mud, dusty construction site, etc.

), wash your car right away to remove debris.

Person cleaning the interior car dashboard with a green microfiber cloth

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Also, clean up spills immediately to avoid letting the stain set.

Here’s how to remove stains from your car for a truly clean vehicle.

Person cleaning a car window

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Up close of black carpet floor mats

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Up close of hose washing the white car exterior

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Close up of car exterior being scrubbed with a brush

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Close up of car tire being scrubbed with a brush

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Close up of someone’s hand polishing and drying off their car’s exterior with a cloth

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Person polishing car with a red cloth

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Close up of a car headlight

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