Weekend Car Wash

The weekend seemed like a perfect time for people to wash their cars. Everyone was going out with sponges and buckets of water and making their cars look nice and clean. It seemed like a good idea to spend the weekend washing cars, and Lina couldn't agree more. It was great to have a car, but it was also a big responsibility. Lina knew that she couldn't just drive around with her car, but she also had to take care of it. After all, cars were vehicles, not toys for people to play with. 
Lina's car was old, but it was perfect for hitting the road and going wherever she wanted to go. But right now, it was so dirty, that she wouldn't be able to see the road. So, she decided that the weekend might be a good time for a cleanup. Yesterday, she drove through a ton of mud in the middle of a rainstorm, so that seemed like a good reason to get her car washed. 
As she examined her car, she saw a lot of caked-on muck on each and every side of it, and the windshield was covered in grime and had streaks left from the wipers. As far as she could tell, the car was really in need of a good wash. 
There was one problem, though. Lina couldn't go to the local car wash today, because it could be crowded with everyone else having the same idea to get their vehicles freshened up. Lina didn't want to waste so much time in a crowded car wash, so she decided to clean her car at home. She always preferred washing the car by hand, because it helped her save money and give special attention to the especially dirty areas of her car. Someone told her that public car washes used abrasive materials that could scratch or damage a car's paint, so Lina decided that washing her car by hand would keep its paint job in pristine condition. 
With all the mud and grime covering her car, Lina knew that it was going to take a whole afternoon to get it cleaned up, and there were some places that she was unable to reach. Sometimes, when she finished washing her car, some random bird picked its moment to use that nice, clean car for target practice. It was a dirty job and a little frustrating, but someone had to do it. Without hesitation, she decided to get ready to wash her dirty old car. 
She got out the essentials that she needed to wash her car. She got out buckets, soap, sponges, towels, the garden hose, and some wax. She didn't mind getting wet and dirty, so she decided to change into some clean clothes after she finished cleaning her car. 
As she got her things ready, she made sure that she didn't forget anything, the buckets were ready to be filled, and that the hose was plugged in. She tied her hair back and brought out her radio to play music while she worked, because she knew that listening to music would help her pass the time as she cleaned her car. The weather was nice, so she understood why everyone was in a big rush to wash their cars. 
Lina nodded. Everything was set, and she was ready to go. 
First thing was first, so Lina filled two buckets with water and soap, and a third bucket with plain water so she could rinse the car later. 
Now it was time to start washing the car. Lina turned on the hose and sprayed water on the car to loosen and soften the dirt. She examined the car, looking for a part that would be easy to wash. She decided to start with the wheels, since they were the dirtiest part and were covered in more mud than anywhere else on the car. Using her wheel-brush, she cleaned the openings of the wheels, hosed off the extra dirt, she used a sponge to clean them off. 
Before she began scrubbing the surface of the car, she soaked a sponge into the bucket of soapy water, being certain to wash out any dirt in it, and began applying it to the car. She washed the car section by section, starting at the top. Circling around the car several times, Lina washed each area with each round she took. Her car was covered in mud, so she let the soap and water do the work. It was a lot more work than Lina expected, and the muck was kind if difficult to clean off.
Lina heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed her forehead. How was she supposed to know that driving during a heavy rainstorm the day before was a bad idea? The mud was a little harder to clean than she thought. 
But someone had to clean her car so that there wasn't a single patch of mud in sight. Lina wasn't a neat freak, but she was concerned about keeping her car in top condition. As she circled around her car a few more times, she used the soap and water to clean the mud off of the car. 
After she was certain that she cleaned off all of the mud from top to bottom, it was time to scrub off some dead bugs that were splattered across the windshield. She knew that bird droppings and bugs could damage the car's paint job, and she needed to remove those bugs from the windshield with extra care. She softened the bugs by carefully dabbing them with a sponge loaded with warm water, and once the water soaked in, she scrubbed the bugs off. Lina knew that she needed to scrape the bugs carefully, or her windshield would be scratched. She thought to herself that a few stubborn bits of dirt looked better than scrapes. 
After the dirt and bugs were cleaned off, Lina made sure to keep her sponges and wash mitts clean. She rinsed the dirt out of the wash mitts in the bucket of plain water to prevent the grime from building up. She didn't want to scrape or damage the car's paint. She rinsed the mitts regularly in the rinsing bucket, and when the water in the bucket was opaque and gritty, she made sure to throw that water out and refilled the bucket with clean water. 
After she was done washing, it was time for some rinsing. She made sure to rinse each section of the car with the hose. She didn't want the soap to dry on the car and stain it. As she rinsed the car, she followed the same top-to-bottom pattern she used to wash the actions of the car. She made sure to wash the door shuts, surrounds, and the bottom underside of the doors. She didn't want to step into a sparkling clean car with dirty door shuts. 
As Lina progressed from one section to the next, she knew that she needed to use the hose to keep the entire car wet to prevent droplets from drying on the paint and leaving water spots. She wanted to be able to dry the car with towels before it air dried. 
After she scrubbed the top and middle sections of the car, she began to scrub the lower body and wheels, for they were the dirtiest, grittiest parts. Lina was clever enough to use a sponge on the bottom, because she was more likely to end up with a completely soiled wash mitt from the bottom part of the car alone.
With a plastic brush, Lina began to clean the tire sidewalls. Her tires had absorbed grime from the roads she drove on, so she wasn't able to successfully clean them using only a sponge or a wash mitt. She knew that using a plastic brush with stiff bristles worked best when cleaning the muck from her tire sidewalls. Since she had plastic conditioner with her, she conditioned the dark-colored parts of the tires. 
After that was taken are of, she sprayed the hose over the bottom of her car. Since she washed the majority of her car's surfaces, she used the spray from the hose to rinse the bottom of the car, from various angles. 
Lina, now relieved that she was almost finished, got ready to dry and wax the car.
Using some fresh towels, she fully wiped down all surfaces she washed in order to prevent rust from building up. She made sure not to leave any water standing on her car once it was dried, as it could tarnish the paint and cause rust. Lina knew microfiber towels worked best for drying all car surfaces, because she could toss them into the washing machine once she was done. 
Once the car was dried, Lina was ready to wax it. She applied the wax to her clean, dry car. She knew that wax protected the car's paint from the sun so it wouldn't fade or deteriorate. It also protected the finish from the flying grit kicked up by the vehicles in front of hers when she was on the highway. 
After she was done waxing, she checked to make sure if there was any paint damage or rust. So far, there wasn't any significant damage or a speck of rust in sight. Lina was relieved that she was washing the car with very good care.
Lina knew that she was almost done now. The only thing left to do was to apply water repellent to the windows. She applied the water-repellent treatment to the clean, dry glass to get rid of some extra water and improve visibility. She reapplied the repellent when the water no longer formed small beads. She repelled water from each and ever car window, both front and back. She also made sure to repel the windshield, from which the wipers tended to rub off. She used glass cleaner to make the windows a little clearer and dried them with microfiber towels. She made sure to clean both the insides and outsides of the windows. Then she used baby wipes to wipe the windshield free of any dirt.
After Lina finished drying and waxing, she was done. The car was all clean and free of mud and grime. All she had to do now was check to make sure she didn't miss any spots.
Lina paced and inspected the car once again, making sure she cleaned it all up and got rid of every last speck of mud. While she was fairly sure she'd cleaned the car from top to bottom, she had to be certain. She checked, double checked, and re-checked just to make sure. 
Proudly, Lina thought to herself that she had spent a weekend afternoon washing her car, and all that hard work was worth it. The car was all clean and ready for another ride.
Category:Original Stories
Category:Stories
Category:Short Story
Category:Shorts