Car Wash

Driving with a greasy windscreen gave me a fright recently when the autumn sun, slanting through the trees, hit me full in the eye and I couldn’t see a thing for a few seconds.  So that weekend I washed the car.

 

I have always enjoyed washing my car, right from my first old wreck. It’s one of my simple pleasures (see previous post). As I dipped my sponge into the warm soapy water, I pondered how much it was costing me.

 

A sponge lasts about a year and costs a pound. If I wash the car once a month (and my husband does his too) that’s around 4p per wash. Two gallons of hot water in my bucket – well I don’t know really, perhaps a few pence. A generous squirt of Fairy Liquid hardly counts at 0.2p. That’s probably 7p altogether, plus half an hour of mild exercise bending, stretching and rubbing and a dose of fresh air and sunshine (OK, no guarantee of sunshine).

 

Car wash prices vary depending on whether you want to include the wheels, wax, drying, high pressure cleaning, the under-chassis etc. Here are a few examples with the yearly equivalent if you go once a month:

 

 

Basic                                         £2.95              £35.40 a year

Standard                                  £4.95              £59.40 a year

Delux                                        £6.95              £83.40 a year

 

Hand wash while you shop       £5                   £60 a year

That compares to my hand wash     7p            less than £1 a year

 

Oh, and the sponge is kinder to your paintwork; look at that shine!