It’s important to remove any corrosion that builds up on your battery terminals at least once or twice a year to help your car battery stay fully charged and ready to perform its job. By regularly maintaining your car battery, you ensure that starting the car will go without a hitch.

To remove dirt, grime and corrosion from your car battery, we recommend a heavy-duty car wash soap like M.A.X. Power Detergent used at full strength or a powerful, alkaline cleaner like Turtle Wax All Wheel & Tire Cleaner. These formulas are specially designed to neutralize acidic contaminants, so they’re perfect for eliminating corrosion on your battery terminals. You’ll also need steel wool or a wire bristle brush to scrub away any stubborn traces of corrosion on your battery terminals, as well as dielectric grease to protect these electrical components from future buildup and corrosion. You can find brushes designed specifically for this job and dielectric grease at any auto parts shop.

Note: If you aren’t comfortable working around your battery, we recommend taking your car to a service professional. Connecting the wrong terminal at the wrong time can create a loud spark that could damage your vehicle. Also, keep in mind that disconnecting your car battery will erase some of the settings in your car’s systems, including the radio, clock and potentially other electronics.

If you’re using a car wash like M.A.X. Power Detergent, pour a little bit of soap all over your battery. Don’t worry, this won’t short out your system! If you’re using a wheel cleaner like All Wheel & Tire Cleaner, spray your cleaner directly onto the battery terminals and allow your product to dwell for 30 seconds to break down buildup and corrosion.

Use a piece of steel wool or a wire brush to scrub the top of the battery as well as the the terminals and cables to loosen any stubborn soils. Then, rinse your battery thoroughly with a hose and hand dry these surfaces with a folded microfiber towel.

Let’s face it: cleaning your car battery can be a hassle, even if it only takes a few minutes. You don’t want to perform these steps often, so you should protect these surfaces to keep your battery clean for as long as possible!

Using a clean, microfiber cloth, apply a small amount of dielectric grease to your battery terminals and cable connectors. This slick, silicone coating will repel dirt and inhibit corrosion. When you’ve finished, reconnect your cables, reversing the order in which you disconnected them: positive first and then negative.

And just like that, your car battery works like new again! Most car batteries last for around 3-4 years, but with regular cleaning and maintenance, you can extend the life of your battery to 6-7 years, saving you hundreds of dollars in car care expenses and a trip to the auto repair shop!