Keeping Your White Car Bright and Stain-Free

I cannot stress this enough. If you try to do a deep clean on a white car in the 2pm sun, your chemicals will dry instantly and leave nasty streaks. Get under a carport or wait until the arvo when the sun's lower.

Always start with the wheels. If you do them last, you'll splash brake dust and grime onto your clean paint. Just common sense, really.

Give it a proper heavy rinse. You want to knock off all that loose grit and red dust before you even think about touching the paint with a mitt.

This is the most important step for a white car. Spray your iron remover over the dry (or slightly damp) paint. On white, you'll see it start to 'bleed' purple. That's the chemical reacting with the metal shards from brake dust and rail lines. Let it dwell for 3-5 minutes, but don't let it dry!

Use the two-bucket method. One bucket with your soapy suds, one with plain water to rinse your mitt. Go from the roof down. If you've got a mate helping, make sure they aren't using the bucket you just rinsed the muddy side skirts in.

Even after washing, the paint will probably feel like sandpaper if you run your hand over it. Use a clay mitt with plenty of soapy water as lube. This pulls out the stubborn bits of tree sap and 'overland' red dust that a wash won't touch. (I learned this the hard way on a black Commodore once, didn't use enough lube and marred the hell out of it. On white, you won't see the scratches as much, but do it right anyway.)

Rinse it thoroughly to get all the clay residue off. Dry it with your big microfibre towel. Open the doors and boot, white cars love to hide water in the seals that'll drip out later and leave streaks.

Take a clean microfibre and some Isopropyl Alcohol (diluted) or a dedicated prep spray. Wipe down the panels. This removes any leftover oils or soaps so your protection actually sticks to the paint, not the dirt.

Grab your sealant or ceramic spray. If you're using something like Bowden's Bead Machine or a Gyeon product, apply it to one panel at a time. A little goes a long way. Buff it off immediately with a fresh cloth.

White paint looks 'cheap' if the black plastics are faded and grey. Hit the trim with a dedicated restorer. It makes the white pop like you wouldn't believe.

Clean the glass last. Use a dedicated glass cleaner and two towels (one to wipe, one to buff). Put some tyre shine on, but don't go overboard, nobody likes 'tyre sling' all up the side of their freshly cleaned white doors.