Green & Cheap car wash: Wash Drops

photo credit: fortes

I loathe washing the car. Usually I’ll pay $5 for the automated gas station car wash when my car is desperately dirty in the winter months, typically once it starts rubbing off on the kids’ coats (why do they always rub their coats against the car anyway??).

Probably twice a year I’ll spend more on a complete detail of the car. Last summer we found a FANTASTIC place near my parents’ house that was cheap and so, so thorough. They kept it for the day, and removed the stickers from the windows (it happened one day, and I ignored it), cleaned all the carpets, and it looked brand new when they were done.

Hubby has a new car, and has been treating it well until recently with a very busy schedule and carting the kids around. It became a home for crumbs, dirt and coffee spills. Thankfully he put in rubber mats (purchased online for a savings of $300-score) so that mess wasn’t too hard to clean up.

The other weekend while he was busy working on the family room project that never ends, I had time on my hands and energy but needed to be available to the kids so I brought in my high energy helper, Emma, and we worked together to clean Dad’s car from top to bottom as a surprise and thank you for working so hard on the remodeling project.

I just happen to have a cool new product to try out and after seeing Jo Lynne’s post on how easy it was for her, I figured I had to give washing the car a try with Wash Drops. It’s a cool green product. You only need a few capfuls and a gallon of water, a sponge and shammy, and you’re set. That’s right ONE gallon of water. You rub it on with a sponge or cloth and wipe it off with the shammy. It leaves behind a shiny clean surface without having to endlessly rinse or even needing a second wash. It It worked well on his super salty and grimy car, even getting the wheels squeaky clean I’m totally a convert.

Total Savings: About $150/year for both cars getting washed semi irregularly and about $50/year in water saving if you currently wash at home.

The water savings alone makes this product amazing, but add in the fast time it take to wash a car with Wash Drops and you’ll love it too. I also love that you can carry a small bottle in your car for washing anywhere. Would be great to get off the grime and grit of the road whether you’re at home or on the road.

While we’ll still use the car wash near my parents’ house for a detail job once or twice a year, I won’t be washing the car at the automated car wash anymore! This was super easy, fun for the kiddo and me, and saved us a ton of $ on water.

We also detailed the interior of the car by vacuuming, and wiping it down with of my other favorite car care products is ArmorAll Cleaning Wipes. They get out everything including crayon, spilled milk, and more. I speak from experience here, people. They also make some nice leather wipes if you have a swanky leather interior.

Now I’m just waiting for another warmish day (hello, Spring, where are you??) so we wash my car with Wash Drops.

Do have any car care tips or favorite products? Do you think you’ll try Wash Drops?

Kelly

Disclosure: I received samples of Wash Drops to try. I chose to blog about them because they really are worth talking about!

About Kelly

Kelly Whalen is the founder of The Centsible Life, a blog where motherhood and money meet. Her goal is to help readers live well on less. Kelly is a mom to 4, and loves that she can stay at home with her kids, and still pursue her passions for writing, personal finance, and social media. You can often find her on twitter and Facebook talking money and motherhood.