Letchworth, 17 July 2025: In response to the introduction of hosepipe bans across large parts of the UK, Autoglym – the UK’s leading car care brand, has outlined 10 simple tips to help consumers keep their automotive pride and joy clean and protected while the restrictions remain in place.
Four separate water authorities – Yorkshire Water, South East Water, Thames Water and Southern Water – have so far introduced bans that take effect from this month, affecting over seven million households. Anyone flouting the ban could be hit with a fine of up to £1,000. With warm conditions set to continue, more water authorities are expected to introduce their own restrictions very soon.
The following tips have been devised by Autoglym’s UK-based R&D department, working closely with the company’s Technical Services Team who clean thousands of cars each year in all weathers.
Top tips for hosepipe-free car care
- Rise and shine! Wash the car in the shade when the paintwork is cool; early mornings are ideal
- Use a dedicated pre-wash spray to loosen the worst of the dirt, then rinse thoroughly
- Wash using the two-bucket method – one filled with soapy water, one with clean water so you can rinse your mitt and avoid reapplying dirt to the car after cleaning each section
- Use lots of soapy water, clean one panel at a time and never scrub! Use specialist detergents if you encounter stubborn stains like tar or bird lime
- Rinse and repeat – wash in sections and rinse from the bottom up so you can see where the suds remain
- To clear soapy water from nooks and crannies, notably within the wheels, use an empty pump sprayer filled with clean water
- Watch out for water spotting – dry the car before the sun does by using a clean microfibre
- Between washes, deploy a detailing spray to avoid having to do a full clean so frequently
- If you don’t have time for a full hosepipe-free car wash, consider a quick clean of the glass and light units to maintain good visibility and keep the car looking presentable
- Apply protection to your paintwork to resist the grime, making the next clean much easier to perform
Tips in detail
1. Rise and shine! Wash the car first thing in the morning, when the car is cool
Wherever possible, complete the full wash and protect process out of direct sunlight and ensure the surfaces are cool to the touch – mornings are often ideal. This ensures cleaning solutions have more time to attack the grime without drying out.
2. Use a dedicated pre-wash spray to loosen the worst of the dirt
Hosepipes and pressure washers are great for removing the bulk of the dirt before you start the ‘contact wash’ with a mitt or sponge. However, the hosepipe ban doesn’t mean you have to skip this essential pre-wash stage. You can still apply a dedicated pre-wash spray such as Autoglym’s All-Purpose Cleaner to loosen the worst of the dirt, notably on the lower panels. Dead bugs on the front of the car and on the windscreen will be very difficult to shift through conventional washing, so use a specialist product like Autoglym’s Active Insect Remover to soften and loosen the remains. Then rinse thoroughly using a watering can, ideally with a rose fitted to spread the flow, working from the bottom up.
3. Wash using the two-bucket method – one with soapy water, one to rinse your mitt
Once the car is pre-washed and well rinsed, start the contact wash using two buckets – one with the soapy water and another with clean water. Once you have washed a panel, dip your mitt or sponge in the separate bucket of clean water to rinse away the dirty suds. This ensures you don’t contaminate the soapy water and avoids you reapplying any dirt to the car – particularly important if you have to skip the pre-wash stage (tip 2). Work from the top of the car down, as the lower sections are likely to be dirtier and prolonged exposure to suds descending from the upper areas could be beneficial. Use a car-specific product, such as Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner, which is low foaming so easier to rinse away.
4. Use lots of soapy water, clean one panel at a time and never scrub!
Load your mitt or sponge with lots of soapy water to flood the surface at each pass, working on small sections of the car at a time. Using greater quantities of soapy water will help to loosen baked-on grit and grime; Autoglym’s Microfibre Wash Mitt is ideal for applying lots of soapy suds with each pass. Always avoid rubbing away at any stubborn dirt. Instead, do repeated passes with the soapy water, applying gentle pressure. If the dirt residues remain, revisit the area with the pre-wash spray or insect remover, which have active ingredients that help lift the grime. Tar residues which are more of a problem when the sun softens the road surface, can be easily wiped away with a dedicated product like Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover.
5. Rinse and repeat – wash in sections and rinse from the bottom up
Flood the soapy surface with rinse water to prevent the suds from drying out. As it will take longer to rinse the whole car, it’s best to wash and rinse one section of the car at a time. Work from the bottom upwards, so you can more easily see where you have washed and where the rinse water is needed most. Autoglym Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner is an ideal cleaning agent because it also leaves a water repellent film that makes rinsing much easier.
6. Rinse the suds from nooks and crannies using a pump sprayer
When attending to the wheels (using a dedicated product such as Autoglym Advanced All Wheel Cleaner) and other intricate areas, it can be difficult to fully rinse the cleaning product away afterward without access to a hose, especially around the brake calliper and within the wheel ‘barrel’. First use a watering can to rinse the face of the wheel, and then use a clean pump spray bottle such as Autoglym’s Easy Sprayer filled with water to rinse wheel cleaner from all the nooks and crannies. Just make sure the sprayer doesn’t have any chemical left in it from previous use.
7. Watch out for water spotting – dry the car before the sun does
Letting the car dry out in the warm ambient temperature might seem like a good way of avoiding having to dry the car yourself, but this approach is likely to lead to streaks and water spots that can be just as hard to remove as road grime. As soon as you’ve finished rinsing the car, quickly dry the surfaces using a suitable microfibre product such as Autoglym Ultra-Soft Drying Towel. If you see any residual water spots, use a detailing spray (see next tip) to lift and remove straight away or, if they have been left for a while and are particularly difficult to shift, apply a quality polish such as Autoglym Super Resin Polish.
8. Between washes deploy a detailing spray to avoid having to do a full clean
Between washes, you can remove light coatings of dust or dirt on the car with a detailing product such as Autoglym Rapid Detailer. Apply the product liberally to safely lift grime away. Be sure to fold and turn the cloth into quarters, as this will effectively give you eight sections of clean cloth to use, which stops you spreading collected dirt and contaminants across the surface. Use multiple cloths if you see too much dirt building up. Bird droppings could be harder to remove, especially if they bake onto the surface in the sunshine, but a handy box of Autoglym Bird Dripping Wipes can be used to quickly wipe them away – ideally when fresh.
9. Cleanse the glass, if nothing else
If you aren’t able to wash the car or don’t want to do battle with the grime in the midday sun, consider using a specialist glass cleaner such as Autoglym Fast Glass to quickly and easily remove dirt and bug splatter from windows, windscreen and lights. No need for a hosepipe; just spray and wipe to safeguard visibility and leave a streak-free shine.
10. Apply protection to resist the grime
Giving the car an essential layer of protection – with a quality wax, polish or a fast-acting ceramic sealant such as Autoglym Rapid Ceramic Spray – will help to resist dirt and reduce the amount of water and cleaning agent needed the next time you wash the vehicle. You can even simplify the dry and protect stages outlined above using a product like Autoglym Rapid Aqua Wax, which is applied to a wet car before drying with a microfibre.
To view and purchase Autoglym products, visit Autoglym.com, Halfords in-store or online (www.halfords.com/motoring/car-cleaning/autoglym), Amazon (Amazon.co.uk/Autoglym), or independent car care retailers.