Taking care of your vehicle is just as important as brushing your teeth. If you fail to do so, it will degrade and become damaged over time. One part of vehicle maintenance that many people like to do themselves is cleaning the interior and exterior of your car. When washing the exterior of the vehicle, people sometimes forget to clean underneath the car, or the undercarriage. Dirt, salt, mud, grease and other unwanted materials can end up being stuck underneath your car. You’ll want to remove all of that gunk every now and then to keep your undercarriage as clean as possible.
Things You’ll Need
- Garden hose
- Sprayer attachment
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Attach a sprayer nozzle to your garden hose, and turn on the water. Starting at the front of the vehicle, hold the end of the hose underneath the car and spray upward. Use the highest water pressure possible to remove debris from the undercarriage.
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Work your way to the back of the vehicle, spraying the undercarriage with the sprayer. Make sure you reach under the vehicle enough to spray the entire undercarriage with water.
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Spray the water into cracks and crevices, as debris and dirt can easily build up in these areas.
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Finish at the fenders and wheels and turn off the hose. If you are not satisfied with the results, take the vehicle to an automatic car wash. Car washes have special sprayers that are designed to clean the undercarriage of vehicles.
Tips & Warnings
- If possible, position your vehicle on drive-on ramps or a jack and jack stands to get a better view of the undercarriage. While this isn’t necessary, it helps to show you the dirtiest areas of the underside of the vehicle.
- Some sprayer nozzles have the option to add soap to the water. If you have one of these special sprayers, add the soap and wash the undercarriage a second time before rinsing it with plain water again.
- Never go underneath a vehicle that isn’t properly parked with the parking brake engaged and chocks under the tires.