Washing a Car With Dish Soap Removes Wax

Dish soap will strip the wax off your car, and dull the paint.

Dish soap is designed to remove grease and other substances from dishes. The wax on your car is not that different from grease - yes, dish soap will remove wax from your car. If you only wax once or twice a year (like most of us!) the dish soap you use to wash the car also removes all the wax you worked so hard to put on.

Your best bet is to wash your car at a professional self service car wash. Car washes use highly specialized soaps that are designed to specifically remove the dirt and film that adheres to cars, without damaging your wax or clear coat finish. Self service car wash soaps are diluted to the ideal concentration, and are biodegradable.

If you prefer to wash at home, a quality car wash detergent costs less than 10 bucks and will last you a couple years. I use Mothers California Gold.

	Mothers California Gold Car Wash Concentrate, Available at Amazon.com and local auto supply stores.
	Armor All Car Wash Concentrate, Available at Amazon.com and local auto supply stores.

There is one reason I can think of to use dish soap to wash your car - if you actually want to strip the wax off your car. This is done in preparation for claying, polishing, and then hand waxing; steps often taken by professional detailers and people who enjoy spending a lot of time taking care of their car's finish. But for most of us, stripping the wax off our cars is a bad thing.

Thanks for reading, I hope this article was useful to you!
...Paul