How to get desert sand off your car without damaging the paint

You might have noticed your car has suddenly gone from clean to very mucky-looking in the last few days, even if it hasn’t turned a wheel.

The reason for this is because of a Saharan red dust cloud coming over Western Europe, dropping a fine layer of sand down across much of the UK, and meaning that your house windows, car and any outdoor furniture will now have an orange hue.

But you don’t want to just rub the sand off your car, as it’s essentially grit and could damage the paint in the process. Here’s how to get the desert off your car safely…

Pre-wash is key

You want to get as much sand off the car before you even touch it with a cloth or a wash mitt.

A pressure washer is the best option here, and even if you don’t have one, it’s worth driving to a local drive-in jet wash. Don’t hold the nozzle too close to your car’s paint as it could cause damage, but by spraying it from top to bottom thoroughly, it will help to clear out or loosen some of the sand that might be stuck to your vehicle.

Use a snow foam or cleaner before touching the car

Once you’ve done this, it’s worth doing a second stage to ensure as much as the sand as possible has been rinsed from the car.

For this, if you use your jet wash, there will likely be a ‘pre-rinse’ option that will spray a special cleaner over the car, which you should leave for a few minutes to dwell before washing it off. Don’t be tempted to use the supplied brush, as this will without doubt inflict marks into your paint.

If you’re using a pressure washer at home, you should use a snow foam lance if you have one, and use it in a similar way – spray on, leave to dwell (though not in direct sunlight) and rinse away. If you don’t have this, spraying a car shampoo/water mixture liberally over the car with a pump sprayer will have a similar effect.

Wash mitt time

These two stages should have helped to clear as much of the Sahara away from your car as possible, and make the next step safer – the actual ‘touch’ phase with car shampoo.

Get yourself two buckets and invest in a proper wash mitt – but don’t use a sponge because these leave nowhere for the remaining dirt or grit to go, and you’ll be merely wiping it back into the paint.

Put your car shampoo and water mixture into one bucket, and clean water in the other. The method is to rinse the mitt in the clean water, dunk in the shampoo and then clean the car, and keep repeating in that sequence. Be sure to work in straight lines, and to avoid using circular motions – this will inflict what are known as swirls into the paint, which can dull the paint finish.

Finishing touches

Once you’ve gone around the entire car, rinse it off thoroughly, and it’s a good idea to give it a good towel dry with a microfibre cloth, to avoid any unsightly water marks.

If you want to make your job of cleaning the car easier next time, apply a spray wax once the car is dry – this will help repel any dirt, or Saharan sand if it returns, and make it a simpler job to wash next time.