I was wondering how you guys wash your cars and what products work best? If you guys could give me or send me to a site that gives a good step by step method of washing your car id appreciate it

 

Car care

 

Sweet link. I guess I never looked for that either.

 

Never wash in the sun. Try not to wash in the heat of the day (water spots). Also in this regard, keep the whole car wet while washing specific areas by respraying.

Wet whole car first then try and blast off as much of the adhired crap as possible before washing. (Dirt and bugs are abrasive). The real good car wash guys have a power washer for this...I don't but intend on getting one.

Wash top to bottom, in sections, rinse each section after washing.

Use microfiber mitts/towels.

Use a quality car soap, not dish soap, and use the amount recommended (too little, not soapy enough to keep junk suspended, too much and you can strip your sealant/wax).

Use 2 buckets, I soapy, the other to rinse your mitt between dunking in soap. Some use a 'grit gard' on the bottom of the bucket.

Wash in a linear, not a circular pattern (fine finish scratches are easier to buff out if they're linear).

I use 2 different microfiber mitts. The finer one on the finish, the more corse one on all my plastic and grill. The finer one also has a 'scrubbie' also designed not to scratch the finish, on one side. Good for stubborn bugs.

Again, make sure you rinse that crap off before re-soaping and dragging on the finish.

Wash dirtiest parts last (hence top to bottom), and for me that's the grill, rockers and lower plastic, then the wheels/tires. Dedicated brush for them, along with a small brush tool for the lugnuts.

The real careful guys won't use a shammy or blade/towels to dry, but use a leaf blower and then a towel to dab any residual. The won't rub even a micro fiber towel on their finish for concern of causing fine swirls/scratches.

I use a 'blade' (squeegee for car drying) and microfiber towels...this is much quicker easier for me than a shammy. I can do the whole car with 3 hand towel sized microfibers. I blade a section, then use one towel for first dry, then follow it with a 2nd towel in my other hand and I keep them separated/dedicated. After about half the car, I set aside the first 1st dry one as it's fairly moist, rotate my initial 2nd for the first dry and bring in my new 3rd for the second. But again, the real careful car care guys will cringe at this, as they say you can swirl/finely scratch your finish.

By the time I get to some of the sides of the car, (I do the roof, glass, rear deck then hood first) I don't need to blade, just dry w/towels.

I wash the towels after each wash and dry without bounce sheets. Rinse off the mitts and hang to dry.

Just read of a method of getting a lot of the residual water off the car before drying they describe as 'sheeting'. Remove the squirter off the hose and run a stream of water from one side to another w/hose parallel to car and the whole sheet of water will pull itself off the finish. Doesn't work well unless you've a good coat of sealant and/or wax.

I haven't used a wax as I've been using Black Fire Wet Diamond sealant and am happy enough with that.

 

I use warerless wash concentrate from Ultima. Optimum no rinse (or ONR) is also a slammin product. In texas its hot and windy where i am so i just crack the garage in the evening when its cooler and use y soray. It works much like a quick detail spray. Spray on the area, let it sit for a few seconds as it breaks down everything on the surface. I do two passes to be sure everything is good.

After that i use a tire/rim cleaner (croftgare usa products) and finish off the exterior wash wise. Next i use Klasse polish, Klasse High Gloss Sealant, then a couple thin coats of Collinite 915. All done by hand as i have no machine. When its really dirty or i have stubborn caked on crud i use a power washer. Soray a lil washbformula to help break it down, then a few quick hits with the powerwasher.

All in all it takes about 2-3 hours when i do full details. Bout an hour for just a wash inside and out taking my time. Im a bit ocd when it comes to clean so i do some other steps over again just because.

 

My experience is that Rain-X is a BIG help to keep the vehicle looking like it just rolled off the showroom. The wet treated glass wipes dry, streak-free, w/o spots, w/ a towel. It has been decades since I've used my windshield wipers...

 

I you have a pressure washer, a foam cannon works awesome! I use the MTM cannon with a couple different car soaps from CG including Honeydew Snow & Citrus wash clear. This set-up rocks as it throws out a nice foam coating that you can let soak (scrub if needed) and hoses right off.

 

I have yet to buy a foam blaster. Ive used obe though and i love it! Im gettin one after i get a DA

 

Here it goes:

WASHING:

1. Wait for the car to cool down completely
2. Hose down the car ( no nozzle on the hose)
3. I have home depot 5 gallon orange 2 buckets
a. One has Water, the other has water/soap(meguiars gold).
b. both buckets have grit guards in them
4. I use viking products wool mitt (meguiars leaves behind lint)
5. Gently soap the car. Never apply pressure. If something is stubborn, make sure it's wet and come back later, the water will eventually loosen it.
6. I try to make this quick so the soap doesn't dry, if you see it drying just go over with some more soap.
7. I shake off the now dirty mitt into the water bucket a few times. If it gets sudsy or dirty just replace the water.
8. Once you finish the whole car, thoroughly wash the mitt. Then hose down the car, again, no nozzle. Let the water pool/sheet on the car. This will help present water spots.
9. For towels, I use SAMs club microfiber towels. They are the plushest I have found. I tend to use them only once or twice and then never use them on my car again.
10. For the roof I lay the entire towel down and slowly pull by the corners and let it soak up all the water. I use one towel per hand. Both folded into a square. One for absorbing the water, the other for finishing it off.
11. After one towel is fully saturated, I put it in a bucket and grab a new one.

WAXING:

If only waxing, you can do this by hand without a problem. I actually prefer waxing by hand. If you are going to be polishing, get a machine. I got a griots garage dual action buffer.

Products I use are:
Meguiars professional grade polishing compounds, swirl removers and glaze.

For applicators, I found meguiars even coat applicators to be great.

For wax, first I put on 1-2 coats of meguiars NXT 2.0. It is debatable but some people let each coat dry for 8-12 hours.

Then I put on 2 coats of mothers carnuba wax. This stuff smells amazing! Let it fully dry and you are good to go!

I also have a 24" genuine wool duster I keep in my car for when it picks up dust.

 

i leave it out in the rain, downpour we had yesterday made it look like new

 

I am a big fan of the waterless wash stuff also. How ever if the car is really dirty I use the pressure washer at the car wash and then follow up with the waterless wash stuff. That usally leaves the car shining but sometimes I follow the wash up with the megs quick wax. Spray that stuff on a micro fiber then apply to the paint.

I use the waterless wash stuff Herbert listed and at times I have used the croftgate stuff
http://www.croftgateusa.com/buy-crof...ss-car-washing

 

I usually take a big bucket of bolts and nuts throw on it then let the kids finish it up with the BBQ brush cleaners . Whatever that doesn't get off we then use SOS pads and because we live near the beach - sea water to rinse.

 

http://www.detailedimage.com/Auto-Detailing-Guide/

 

I so want to say "with soap and water"

 

I don't have to wash my cars.

They never see dirt or dust.

 

Such a shame too

 

I really only use multi clean and the tire/wheel cleaner from croftgate. The odor eliminator really works too