What kills me is there is a hand wash car wash in my area....except they use those broom looking brushes to pre-scrub the car before it goes in for the hand wash. Almost defeats the purpose IMO.
Now I will be doing it always by hand, but when I didn't have a garage it was by hand - weather permitting LOL. Good 'ol North Dakota for you. The nice thing about below 0 temps is that once you get it clean, it stays clean for most of the winter.
By hand for me always. Black paint is hard to maintain and especially now that it is getting hotter. Always have to watch out for water spots, but when its clean it looks great :gringreen
We have hard water here in Tampa. Florida has a limestone aquifer and the water leaves white lime spots when it dries. I have been towel-drying the car after washing it, which is a pain.
I bought some "Rain-X Spot-free car wash" today and tried it out. It does seem to leave less water on the car than regular car wash. "Specially formulated car wash that leaves a spot free shine without the need of hand drying. This car wash contains a unique blend of rinsing polymers, causing water to sheet off the vehicle for fast air drying. No towel drying needed with this unique car wash! Wash, rinse, air dry and go – car washing has never been so convenient! "
See: https://www.rainx.com/product/washes/rain-x-spot-free-car-wash/
I followed that with a coat of "Meguiar's® Gold Class Carnauba+Plus Liquid Wax is clear coat safe and simple to apply and remove. Our premium formula uses only the best carnauba wax, fortified with long-lasting polymers to glide on and off smoothly, leaving a deep, rich carnauba wax glow. Improved formula leaves deeper reflections and a brilliant shine. A special blend of carnauba plus clear coat safe protecting polymers."
Hand wash. Atuo wash is a waste of money if you live in a warmer climate IMO. I do a better job and save the money. Plus, I get her looking perfect every time!!!
Hand washing has the draw back of direct friction of rag to paint rubbing away/buffing away the clear coat and grounding ANY debris on the car itself (or the microfiber) INTO the paint causing micro scratches (i dont care WHAT kind of cloth you use).
Spray washing can remove some of the clear coat and or have gritty/recycled detergents which can do the same as above.
There is no right answer, they both suck but both are necessary. Pick your poison.
I wash every week, rotating between spray, auto, and hand. I get the dead bugs off the front end and side mirrors every 24 to 48 hours, i put the spray on wax on the front every week and the whole car every two weeks.
There really are no "perfect ways" to handle paint maintance.
Hand washing has the draw back of direct friction of rag to paint rubbing away/buffing away the clear coat and grounding ANY debris on the car itself (or the microfiber) INTO the paint causing micro scratches (i dont care WHAT kind of cloth you use).
I think its the drying that is the most hazardous. While washing there is at least water and soap as a lubricant; just don't use pressure. But when drying with contact to the paint there is no lubrication on the final pass. Any spec of dirt that was missed or landed on the car after washing or was displaced by water draining from some crevice gets pushed into the paint and scratches it. That's why I was disappointed by the ~$400 Costco system and Mr. Clean in the past. My next step is to try forced air to blow all water off. Will be looking into the purpose built auto dryers, leaf blowers and/or using some special attachment for my shop air compressor.
Always hand wash. That way I can make sure any bug residue or other gunk is cleaned off, as well as all the dirt. Don't want to take chances car wash could scratch surface, and they never get it totally clean.
Having worked as a detailed for many years, I say NOTHING beats the hand wash. With the right supplies, some patience and a little know how - you car an stay looking great for a long time!
To expand on this topic, how about waxing? Do you do it yourself, and if so, what kind of wax do you prefer? I have recently found a new wax by TurtleWax. It is a Synthetic wax that leaves no white residue, and looks AMAZING! Defiantly recommend it.
By hand always. Soap gun first, 2 bucket method, rinse, air dry with portable blower, then quick detail spray remaining spots and final dry with a microfiber towel.
Touch-free car wash (I'm very picky as to which) followed by a quick wipedown with quality spray detailer. Car washes get your underpinnings where a hand wash can't. Waxed twice a year. Always garaged, and that is important.
My brother-in-law is a professional body-fender guy who agrees with me that hand-waxing is better and faster than using an orbital buffer -- don't waste your time, though they're cheap at WalMart.
It would be nice to hand-wash, but that would require a) a hose, or b) a relatively close distance between your kitchen sink and where ever the car is. Since my car is normally parked several blocks from my apartment, neither of those are an option. You'd be amazed how difficult it is to hand-wash a car when you have to carry water, a bucket at a time, a half-mile to where your car is parked. I haven't hand-washed a car in ten years. I take it to an old-fashioned, electric motorized brushes car was once every three months or so -- let the grime build up until you can't tell what color the car is anymore, then go and get it washed off. Anything more than that is just a waste of money.
I am torn on how to clean my Mustang. Where I live they have a nice automatic car wash with brushes that I use on my current vehicle, it's great for getting road grime off (Especially during the harsh winters) and it cleans the undercarriage. However it does leave some tougher dirt behind, especially bugs. That's another question how do you guys get the bugs off your paint and windshields? We get them bad up here during the spring/summer and they're nearly impossible to get off. Has anyone devised a more effective method of removing the little bastards? Maybe a special cleaning product?
Now onto drying, I am thinking in investing in a Car Dryer. A company named "Air Force" makes them and I was wondering if anyone has thoughts on this product? Here is a link: Air Force® Blaster® CarDryers | cardryer.com
Generally for cleaning I am thinking of buying the best cleaning products money can buy. Clean the front end and mirrors every day where road dirt/bugs hit. Do a deep cleaning weekly, followed by a clay bar treatment and another cleaning. Then hand wax it monthly even during the few times I will drive it in the winter. I had good experiences with Mother's products. Thoughts on my methods/products I want to use? :?:
That's another question how do you guys get the bugs off your paint and windshields? We get them bad up here during the spring/summer and they're nearly impossible to get off. Has anyone devised a more effective method of removing the little bastards? Maybe a special cleaning product?
Turtle wax bug and and tar remover every 24 to 48 hours...DO NOT LET THEM (squashed bugs) BAKE on your paint or its permanent damage. Even with getting them off on a continuous basis..its only a matter of 24 to 36 months before they peel off portions of the front clear coat and do permanent damage anyway..i hate livin in the south.
Where was i?
Oh yea... turtle wax bug and tar remover every 1-2 days. Turtle wax spray wax on front end and side mirrors once a week.....do the whole car every two weeks.
I wish there was a way for me to be able to wash in my garage, haha Im debating creating a system, Im gonna hope theres a slight grade in my floor when I check later, that may help.
There is, it's called Optimum No Rinse. Been using it for 6 months now. Use the 2 bucket method. Not even any surface swirls or scratches. It really works. Google it to check it out. Lots of vidios out there. You can even search it on this forum. Just rermember when it's really nasty to use the old hose and bucket method. But I clean every week ank use ONR 3 out of 4 times. The once a month hose and bucket also lets me scrub my wheel wells.
I use the two bucket method. One bucket for the soapy water the other for getting all the dirt off your sponge or whatever you use. Then I dry it using my air compressor (It doesnt get all the water off tho)
I use Junkman's way of washing my car to a T. Except my electric leaf blower doesn't remove all the water so I use the badass Cobra Weave towels to get the rest of the water off.
Two buckets. One for soapy water. One with plain water for rinsing the MF mitt after it's been on the car and before it gets the soap again. I scrub top to bottom, that way if any gunk from the bottom contaminates the MF mitt, I can rinse it off in bucket two before the mitt goes back on the paint.
I dry with MF towels, but I always keep them in a clean container. They come straight from the cloths dryer in to the container. That way, they don't pick up any dirt. If the towel I am using goes anywhere near the ground, I toss it in the dirty towel bucket and use a fresh one.
I use spray wax every time while drying with MF towels. The spray wax keeps the paint looking really fresh and clean. Shines everything right up. Find one that works good for you. Some of them really suck. I like the Black Magic the best and Big Lots sells it for 3 bucks a can. Great deal.
If you guys are saying that your concerned about "spidy's" and you go to an auto wash, your crazy. The auto wash is harsh as hell on the paint. Plus, the jokers that dry it don't care about your car either. Who knows if they dropped their rag before it went on your paint..?? you know??? 99% of touch less washes suck. And the ones that are good seem to use very harsh chemicals that strip the wax right off your paint. But, if I didn't have a house to wash at, I would use them, and auto washes too. Use what you have access to I suppose.
As far as waxes go, I normally use Liquid glass because it goes on easy, comes off easy and leaves a EXCELLENT, long lasting shine. That stuff is well worth the 23$ a can. I recently tried the Maguiers Ultimate synthetic wax. I like it ok. it goes on easy, comes off easy (even in direct sun) and leaves NO white residue on the paint, but it doesn't leave the paint as slick as the Liquid glass does. I'm sure it won't last as long either. The Liquid glass also cleans the paint. If you have road tar and gunk on a spot. Lightly rub some liquid glass on it and wait 10 minutes. That hard to rub off gunk will wipe right off. Also, I apply my wax with a Mother's Power ball and my 14v DeWalt drill in the low gear setting. Makes waxng a breeze and cleans the paint well without leaving buffer trails. The drill just spins fast enough to apply it well, like if you rubbed on the same spot 6-8 times like you will doing it by hand. Only this takes 1/2 the time and won't make you feel like your training for the Masturbation Olympics by killing your for-arm. :laugh:
Take my "system" as you will, but it works well for me. No one will ever avoid all the spider web micro scratches. They will happen to an extent no matter what. But, seems like the twin bucket method of hand washing reduces them a lot. Not to mention frequent waxings.
FYI: two buckets is a fairly green method, but if you don't have two buckets and grit shields, etc. and don't mind wasting a little water and time, you can get your mitt just as clean (or cleaner) by hitting it with high pressure water from the hose nozzle before sticking it back in the clean water bucket.
Always by hand by starting with a really good rinse using low to moderate water pressure then using the two bucket method to wash, followed by a good rise, once again using low to moderate water pressure. I then dry as much as possible by running the hose with no pressure and using the water sheeting/pooling method. After that I use microfiber towels to dab/blot dry whatever water is left.
Very carefully, in the shade, with soap and water, followed by a full wax or a spray on wax-as-u-dry. With lots of spray-offs in between, I live and work in suicide-bug country!
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