For all those people who think driving test cars means I never have to clean one, then think again.

Ahead of a photoshoot of an Infiniti Q50 for the September edition of the EDP Norfolk magazine, I was out on my driveway at 6.30am with a bucket of hot, soapy water, a sponge, hose, car brush and drying cloth. Not very glamorous and I bet Jeremy Clarkson does not wash his own test cars ahead of filming for Top Gear!

But while cleaning the car I discovered a couple of things.

The first was that washing it highlights the curves and contours and really makes you appreciate the design (even if getting the muck off the smart alloy wheels is rather fiddly) and the second was how easy my new sponge made it.

My latest microfibre car wash sponge has big bobbles on one side that really hold on to the suds, so you can cover a large area with one soaking, while the mesh on the other side makes light work of getting rid of those squashed bugs splattered and cooked on to the front of the car.

And it should last a long time too – this will not become a habit.