Hi

I got a black 2011 v6 Mustang and i want to clean my car in a car wash but i fear some scratches from the car-wash on my car.
Does anyone can tell me some experiences if there is no problem or if i better don t do it .

Thanks for the comments

 

DO NOT USE A CAR WASH WITH BRUSHES. If you use a car wash with brushes you will end up with the spider swirls you always see in black paint jobs.
Go and spray it off or use a drive thru with only spray and no brushes or even cloth strips.

 

The only way to avoid Scratches is to Hand Wash your Car with Clean Cloths or Sponges, washing from top to bottom, and keeping the cloth or sponge rinsed out between sections, even then Small scratches can form. Black is pretty, but a Chore to keep clean and beautiful.

 

Definitely hand wash your car yourself if your concerned about scratches. Machine car washes will almost guarantee scratches and swirls. I personally don't even trust touch free car washes. A good set of microfiber products, and good wash products will reward you with years of swirl free paint.

 

I've never taken my car through a car wash, I have always hand washed it myself, I use only Cobra micro fiber towels, and the two bucket method with grit guards. Guess what? I still have some micro marring. I've come to the conclusion that it's inevitable.

 

I am with you on this...I hand wash using nothing but a premium micro fiber mitt with the 2 bucket method (and grit guards) and dry w/ micro fiber towels...still, I find scratches all the time on the finish...

 

I found out recently by a professional detailer that my swirls and fine scratches is coming from the shammy. Apparently a lot of people are now using leaf blowers and then microfiber towels or some kind of new waffleweave towels. Damage is already done so just gonna pay someone to do some buffer work and start back from scratch.

 

It's been my experience that Waffleweave or MFs can still cause micro scratches, especially in black colored cars. It's mostly about technique when it comes to avoiding micro scratches. There are whole websites dedicated to detailing. Some pointers I've picked up.

1. Use two buckets, one for soapy water and one to rinse your sponge out in.
2. Do a final rinse of the car first, using a hose with no sprayer on it to "sheet" the water off.
3. If you use a chamois, lay it flat and pat-dry the car. Try to avoid dragging it.

 

+1 to all these things.

I'll add that 'touchless' washers do not do anything to a car with a lot of road grime on it either.

I have a black car and I use the 2 bucket system, I also own a foam gun as well (pre-soak the car for 5-10 minutes). Never wash it in direct sunlight either, wash in your garage if you can or shade works if no garage.

Remember black is the best color... when clean.


P.S. Micro fine scratches aren't that hard to get out, some polish and a random orbital will do the trick.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w09r6m6sRCA
Start with that and watch parts two and three and then get one of these
http://www.adamspolishes.com/p-599-a...-metrovac.aspx

But seriously washing by hand and using quality wash pads, car soap, foam gun, korean made microfiber towels and proper technique are the only ways to keep the swirls off. Also minimizing how much drying you do by hand makes a big difference in keeping swirls off. Use a pooling rinse to knock off most of the standing water, then an electric leaf blower or if you have the money any of the blowers made by metrovac to knock the water out from around the tail lights, side view mirrors, side markers, headlights and any other crevasses that water can hide.

 

Moved to the car care section

 

All I can say is there is no way to avoid scratches when using one of those DIY car wash bays if you use the brush.

 

There is a way to avoid this problem, guys and gals...

Buy a different color.




/ok, ok, I'm leaving...

 

What I do may be overkill, but it has actually kept swirls from happening on three separate vehicles. Ive cleaned my 06 V6 this way along with my new 5.0. Plus, I taught one of my roommates to clean his 2010 SVT Raptor and he is getting the same results that I do. (And he's washing layers of dirt off of that thing ).

Wash
- Two Bucket Method
- Microfiber Deadlock Style Wash Mitt
- Good Quality Car Wash Soap with Wax
- Microfiber Waffle-Weave Drying Towel
- No Direct Sunlight!

When washing the surface always move in the direction of the wind when the car is moving, or with the lines of the car. Do NOT move in a swirling motion and do NOT apply pressure. This keeps the micro marring (if happening) to the direction of the lines of the car keeping them invisible. All your doing is removing dust and road dirt from the body. Divide the car into its separate quarter panels washing the upper surface first, cleaning the mitt thoroughly and then washing the bottom. If there is something that you cannot remove without pressure, there is most likely a chemical designed to remove it without pressure. Even if there is not a chemical or cleaner that will remove it, claying the area will most likely remove it.

When rinsing, you can use a regular nozzle to remove the suds but when doing a final rinse, remove the nozzle, slow the water flow so that you can use a sheeting action to bead the most of the water off the body.

For Drying, use a waffle weave microfiber towel and move in the same direction as instructed above for washing. Again use no pressure.


Clean, Polish ,Protect, Maintain
If needed you can follow up with your favorite clay, cleaner, polish and waxing which I always do. This will seal and protect your cleaned surface from any contaminants.

The products that I use are:

For Undercarriage, Engine, & Wheel Wells
- Meguiars All Season Dressing

For Trim
- Meguiars Ultimate Protectant

For Paint
- Pinnacle Poly Clay
- Meguiars Liquid Cleaner Wax (Only if not polishing)
- Meguiars M205 Ultra Finishing Polish (If light finish restore needed)
- Meguiars NXT 2.0 Tech Wax (Changing to Collinite 845 Insulator Wax)

If you can tell I'm a Meguiars fan.

These steps are such extremely broad topics its almost a guarantee that no two people on this site do the exact same thing. Its mostly a trial and error process to find what is good.


Microfiber Care
Now the most important part to maintain safe microfiber to use on your car is a good proper wash and dry of all of them.

Divide microfiber products that are being used on the paint from ones used elsewhere and do these separate divisions as separate loads in the washing machine. Do not wash your microfiber products with any other clothing or regular towels!

To wash, used cold water settings only using, only wash detergents and no fabric softeners. Additionally wash the mitt by itself to make sure all dirt removed does not get pulled onto other microfiber products defeating the purpose of the wash. Microfiber is very strong at holding in dirt and takes a lot of effort to release the dirt from them so try to minimize the amount of towels or mitts that you wash together in one load.

For drying, use a very low setting on the dryer to prevent damaging the microfibers static cling.



This is what I've been doing with excellent results. It is true that micro scratches are inevitable, but if you start to notice them at any point, a good polishing will easily restore the finish to its flawless shine.

Happy Washing!