Half of all motorists admit to using washing-up liquid to clean their car – a potentially costly shortcut that could cause thousands of pounds of damage to paintwork.

While washing-up liquid is ideal for removing grease and burnt-on food, it strips away the protective layers of paint on a car’s body panels. This leaves it vulnerable to airborne and waterborne contaminants, along with damage from ultraviolet light.

According to a survey by Autoglym, 48 percent of drivers have used washing-up liquid to clean their vehicle, rising to 56 percent among those aged between 55 and 64 years old.

A third (34 percent) also admitted they have used dishcloths, which can leave behind minor scratches due to their tough fibres. And 12 percent have used a scrubbing brush for car cleaning, while 19 percent have simply used an item of clothing.

A costly error to repair

According to Autoglym, repainting a family car can cost up to £5,000, so only use dedicated car care products to wash or polish your vehicle. 

“None of these household products have been developed with car cleaning in mind, and some of the scouring pads and brushes could even be causing lasting damage. The good news is that consumers can quickly rebuild essential layers of protection by using products specially formulated to be used on cars,” said Laura Fippen, head of technical services at Autoglym. 

Of course there’s an agenda here, given what Autoglym sells, but Fippen has a point – and now that the weather is (finally) warming up, it now might be time to give your car a spring clean.

Tips for cleaning your car

Start by using a hose or pressure washer to remove the grime and salt from the underside of the car. Road salt will have a corrosive effect, so should be removed as soon as possible.

Use the pressure washer to blast away all the mud and salt that will have built up under the wheelarches, along with in the sills and around the bumpers.

Clean the alloy wheels using a specialist wheel cleaner, removing the build-up of brake dust with the help of a wheel brush or even a soft-bristle toothbrush. Once clean and dry, adding a layer of wax will help keep your wheels cleaner for longer – and make them easier to wash in the future. 

Taking note of the following points will help make your car look beautiful again, too:

1. Don’t use washing-up liquid. This contains a small amount of salt, which can damage your car’s paintwork.

2. Use a car shampoo. This comes down to personal preference, but a car shampoo will always be preferable to washing-up liquid.

3. Avoid using a traditional sponge. Tiny pieces of dirt and grit will get stuck in the sponge, which will be spread across the paint as you wash it. This will leave little scratches and swirl marks.

4. Use a wash mitt. These have been specifically developed to get around the problem associated with sponges by absorbing the pieces of grit, keeping them away from the paintwork.

5. Use the two-bucket method. Sorry, but you’re going to need a second bucket. One bucket should contain the washing solution, and the other only fresh water. Soak the mitt in the first bucket and wash the car. Then rinse it out in the fresh water, before dunking it in the wash liquid again.

Motoring Research has compiled a seven-step guide on how to clean the interior of your car, which can be found can be found here. 

To give your car a thorough interior valet, you’ll need a free afternoon, plus the following products: a vacuum cleaner (with the appropriate nozzles), quality microfibre cloths (ideally 300g/m), an all-purpose cleaner spray, plastic brushes, window cleaning fluid and plastic cleaning liquid.

If your car has leather seats, a pH-neutral leather cleaner and leather feed will also help. Good luck!

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As drivers increasingly opt for automatic gearboxes, the number of new cars available with three pedals has decreased dramatically. 

Could manual gearboxes become extinct in the coming years? That question has been posed after research found the number of new cars available with a stick shift has more than halved in the past decade.

According to used car marketplace CarGurus, which analysed data from the leading 30 car brands in the UK, 89 new models are available with a manual gearbox in 2024. That is down from 197 cars in 2016.

A rapid decline for manual

Interestingly, the number of new cars with a manual transmission remained virtually constant between 2014 and 2018, varying by no more than four percent.

However, the decline became noticeable after 2018. And in the past year alone, there has been an 18 percent decrease in new models available with a manual ‘box

Among the manufacturers who no longer offer any new cars with a manual gearbox are Volvo, Mercedes, Jaguar, and Lexus.

New drivers switch to automatics

It seems car makers are merely following market trends. There has been a large increase in the number of UK drivers taking automatic-only driving tests, according to Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) data.

During the 2012-2013 period, there were 87,844 automatic-only driving tests. A decade later in 2022-2023, this had increased to 324,064.

However, drivers taking automatic-only tests are ‘potentially missing out on opportunities for savings,’ said CarGurus. It claims buyers can save £3,466 on average if they choose a used car with a manual gearbox over an automatic option.

“Between the increasing consumer demand for cars with an automatic gearbox and the rapid expansion of new EV models coming to market, we could be approaching the end of the road for the manual gearbox,” said Chris Knapman, editorial director at CarGurus UK. 

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Why do lorries collide with railway bridges? The reasons include the UK not imposing height restrictions, bridge heights being displayed in imperial units, and a lack of cheaply available data displaying how tall structures are.

That’s according to transport consultant, Tom Reddy. In a widely-shared post on X (the social network formerly known as Twitter), Reddy pointed out several flaws in the law and driver training protocols that lead to lorries damaging railway infrastructure on a daily basis.

“There is no legal maximum height in the UK. You can run as high as you like, just don’t hit anything,” he explained. “So we got greedy with height. Europe has a four-metre maximum.” 

£12 million cost of rail delays

Network Rail data shows that in the 2021-2022 financial year, a total of 1,833 bridge strikes were recorded, costing the publicly-owned infrastructure firm £12 million in delay and cancellation fees alone.

Reddy said there is a legal requirement for all vehicles over three metres tall to have a sign in the cab displaying the vehicle height, but “most drivers don’t adjust it.”

The Stonea Road bridge on the B1098 in Cambridgeshire has the unflattering title of the most bashed bridge in Britain. Drivers struck it 33 times in the year ending March 2022. This amounted to £10,526 in ‘unnecessary train delay and cancellation costs’, said Network Rail.

“Legally speaking, in the UK, it is only a requirement to display the bridge height in feet and inches. In reality, most bridges will now display both, but it is not unusual to find imperial only” Reddy said. Potentially, this could cause conversion problems for overseas drivers.

Don’t be a bridge basher

Reddy also blamed the demise of truck-specific maps and the rise of sat-navs for drivers hitting bridges.

“Know your height? Plan your route. But few do that because for the last 20 years, sat-nav has been doing that for us. Paper maps are gone. They saw this coming of course and designed HGV sat-navs, but they are still prohibitively expensive (£300+) so most drivers don’t use them,” Reddy claimed.

Network Rail chairman Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill said: “Bridge bashers cause serious safety issues on the transport network, for both road and rail users. Every incident can delay tens of thousands of passengers while we inspect the bridge and repair any damage – creating a huge cost from public funds.”

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