You might think that washing your car is enough. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you have a nice car, detailing it is very important. You need to keep up that paint and letting it get dirty will negatively impact both the body and the color. You should take care of the car in the best way that you can. If you don’t take care of the outside of the car, the value will depreciate. Even if you do detail your car, you should make sure to do it correctly. Below are five musts for detailing your car.

Water Quality

Believe it or not, the water quality is paramount when you are washing and detailing your car. The water needs to be soft enough not to harm the paint but hard enough to thoroughly clean the car. The best car washes use something like a commercial reverse osmosis system to filter their water before it ever touches your car’s paint job. This type of water treatment filters out small, dissolved solids and other impurities in the liquid. When you are washing and detailing your vehicle at home, you should try to use the purest water possible as well.

Use Soap Every Two Weeks or So

While you shouldn’t wash the car every other day, using soap on your car every two weeks or so is about the right rate to wash it. You can rinse it off more often, especially if you get it dirty, but using soap every fortnight will keep the paint up and avoid blemishes in the body. It might seem like too often to wash a car, but if you have a beautiful and expensive vehicle, you should keep it up. Whether you’re washing it yourself or not, using soap every two weeks is necessary.

Dry in Two Directions

After you wash the car, you should dry it in two directions. To avoid streaks in the paint from the water, you should dry it back and forth to get rid of any water and make the car shine. Another tip is to dry the glass in one direction, horizontal for example, and dry the body in the other direction. This will reveal the differences in the drying process, and you will be able to fix it easily. Drying in two directions will enable you to dry the car better and get rid of those pesky streaks. When you are drying it, you should use a soft towel to get off the water.

Wax Frequently

Beyond washing with filtered water and soap every two weeks, you should also wax frequently. You don’t need to do it every time you wash, but every other time will help you keep up the paint and body of your vehicle. You will also make your car shine. It will look better, but it will also keep up the body and paint for longer. You won’t need to paint as often as you would if you don’t wash, dry, and wax frequently. You could use a power buffer, but don’t take the wax off with it. It’s an important thing not to skip. Waxing may seem luxurious, but if you have a decent vehicle, it’s simply an investment to keep up the car.

Mind the Trim, Polish, and Finish

Finally, you should take care of the trim around the car, including the plastic and other materials that can fall off or tear. Then you should polish your car after waxing it and finish it. There are plenty of finishing products. Do a little research to find the right polish for your car model and make.

Detailing your car may seem unnecessary, but it’s not. Sure if you have a cheap car you might not care, it won’t depreciate as much, but if you have a car you love—whether it’s expensive or not—you should take care to wash it every two weeks or so with soap and filtered water, dry it in two directions with a soft towel, wax it with a buffer, and finish it off with trim, polish, and finish. Not only will your car look better, but you will also be keeping up your body and paint, avoiding further diminishing returns in the vehicle. It is necessary!