Hey guys I was wonderring how the majority of you wash your car. My procedure is as follows

I do not use a nozzle on the hose I apply the water directly from the hose starting at he top I rinse off all surface dust and once the car is good and wet I take my terry cloth towel with lots of car wash soap on it and wash the hood the top and the rear deck lid then I rinse the soap off. I then do the sides and the fenders. I rinse with a direct flow of water holding the hose a few inces away from the car. I then open the hood, doors and rear hatch along with the license plate and gas door. While the water is draining I do the tires with a brush for the rubber and a soft brush for the rimms. I rinse and then begin drying the car starting on all windows first. I then do the rest of the car and inside the doors and the run offs from the rear deck lid and trunk. I do not dry the rims until I've applied amorall to the tires then I dry the rims and wipe the tires off.

 

spray it with water, then use car wash soap on a towel, wipe the whole car with it, rinse it off. then clean the tips with rim cleaner, and the rims with rim cleaner. spray the tires and inside of the wheel wells with tire foam. then clean the windows. then vacuum the interior and clean all the panels. maybe wax the car if i have time

 

heres how i do it.

hose down the car with a hose.
use dish soap and apply to car with a rag aka tshirt
then do step one and two at the same time. minus the soap.
clean the tires and rims with another rag.
air dry at 70 mph
towel dry whatever is still wet.
wax all body parts including glass.
no interior equals wipedown + wax inside
wax outside again.

still shines and was waxed in august.

 

Ok, I knew everyone would have their own method of washing and waxing their cars!

 

Park it in the shade, get it wet with sprayer, wash it down with a mit and Zip Wax, spray wheel cleaner on the wheels and tire foam on the tires and wheel wells, pop the hood and spray degreaser and rinse everything off, dry car with chamois. Next Rain X. Then spray the carpet with Tuff Stuff, vacuum it up, Armor All the interior, Windex on inside glass, then let the dog run around in the car with his muddy paws. Finally Turtle wax then done. Drive the car around the dirt roads of Terry, Mississippi then repeat the whole procedure again the next day.

 

There was a thread about this some time back. Everyone listed their methods and routine for detailing their car.

 

Go to the local self serve carwash. Find the bay that was most recently used by a 4X4 owner who was just out mudding. Take that brush thingy hanging on the wall that spits out that pink foam and just start scrubbing as hard as humanly possible. Be sure not to high pressure wash it off first. Also, be sure to smack the 30' hose off the side off your car as many times as you can before the beeper goes off, make a game out of it. Then give a quick rinse with the wax that sprays out of the hose. Dry by driving insanely fast down the nearest highway, and voila, your car is washed, waxed, and dried in less than 5 minutes. Believe it or not I would see this method used all the time when I used to go to the carwash. Even by people in new Vettes and F-bodies.

 

Spray it down with water

take a small towel in a bucket of water (occasionally dish soap if its really dirty)

Wipe it all the way down to get all parts clean(wheels use a seperate rag to clean as well for exhaust)

Hose it off again

let sit for 3-4 mins

dry with good 2-3 towels(i dont conserve 1 towel for a whole car like my dad wants me too cause "stop making us wash all these rags and towels" i use as many as needed for no spots drips or smeers(sp?)

Bonus-If tires need it i will put dressing on them

 

Zaino. All the steps. One sore arm.

 

What is Zaino?

 

It does not surprise me that know one has wrote that they take it to the car wash and let them do it! Not a 3rd Gen pridefull owner. Never!!! Right guys?

 

every one of you is doing something that is potentially scratching your paint or drying out a piece of material on your car....hope you guys don't have aftermarket paint jobs or wheels.

 

and that would be what kandied? i would like to know yours sinc ei will be getting a really nice paint job in the spring and would liek it to be really nice.

 

if i put my iroc in a car wash i wouldnt be surprised if it ripped the exhaust right off the car. Car's as low as mine i wouldnt put in a car wash regardless.

 

non de-mineralized water?

 

Dude, I hope you guys are joking when you say "Dish Soap" - that's utter punishment on your paint. Dish soap is a stripper, it's intent is to remove everything from a surface. For example, wax, clear coat, pigment, and most importantly the oil in your paint that gives it luster. These are the key steps to the wash and wax procedure;

1; Clean (Wash; removes large surface contaminants)
2; Decontaminate (Paint Cleaners, Clay Bar to remove deep contaminants)
3; Polish (Polishing Compounds to eliminate swirls, hazing, and to restore luster and color)
4; Protect (Wax to protect all that hard *** work!)
5; Maintain (Washing, Spray Detailers to keep the finish in tip top shape)

By washing your car, then just waxing it, you're sealing many contaminants in the paint.

 

Anything you ever do, scratches your paint. If you drive your car, you are scratching the paint. ie. moving air moves the dirt across the paint surface.

 

yeah...you just need to look at what your using...if you care about your paint at all depending on it's condition already the last thing you want is something rubbing up against it...especially dry. if you have to use a towl material of any sorts to dry then i wouldn't use anything less the microfiber and be sure to follow the lines of the car.

soap is a very important element:
it has to sud up or it's useless...same thing when it's in the bucket, if you have to keep using water to get it to sud up after 10 min or so you need a new soap.

temp of the water is important in cold months:
it can easily cause your paint to crack as well as your wheels and cause your seals to come loose without you even knowing it....best not to even wash a car in the cold.

water pressure matters:
too high and you'll have problems. if you want less water spots don't use anything that applies more then normal faucet pressure. the chemicals in the water do cause lasting effects on your paint....some people wash with the water described. i never cared to go through that hassle as i dry my car right away but if you use a towel these elements scratch your paint.

what you wash with is important:
something with alot of fibers is good....towels are not good. something like a 100% cotton mitt or sponge that looks like **** carpet is good. don't use anything with wool in it as it's very abrassive, check labels as if it doesn't say 100% cotton you don't want it. the upside to this is the thickness and amount of fibers help to keep the soap on the paint and lift the dirt....the downside is you have to really wash your mit otherwise your going to scratch your car. i typically replace one every month.

while washing you should follow a certain guideline:
(always wash from the top of the car down) i start from the roof, windows, hood, hatch, and then the very top section of the sides where the trim piece is.....eventually working to the top half of the rear and then the front. using a different piece to wash the lower half of the car. you want to go in straight lines when your washing....never circles. always go from front to back on the top of the car. on the sides of the car you want to go top to bottom. the reason for all of this is how the light refelcts of the pannels of a car. in doing this you will still probably scratch the car very finely however it will be in straight lines so when light reflects off the paint the scratches won't be noticed as much to the eye reducing chances of "swirl" marks.

same thing with drying:
if your going to drag something across your paint use the softest things possible. microfiber towels are excellent and they are very cheap now at places like walmart. if you want to do one better use a california waterblade but if you do....be sure that your car is clean. (it's best not to use the waterblad unless your ceratain the car has a good coat of polish on it). the ultimate way to dry your car is with an electric leafblower. often times your neighbors will look at you funny but this is the same principle as your .25 cent carwash and nothing touches the car. this is all i use if i can help it, it's very quick and you get all of the water completely off the car. (do not use a gas version as elements they put out will eat your paint)

tires:
it's best to use a somewhat firm yet soft as possible bristle brush to loosen any dirt and wash them clean. you always want to do this first so you don't take a chance of getting dirt on your clean wheels if you go the other way around. wash the tires then the wheels and dry them both at the same time.

rims:
all wheels are different so every one has to be treated as such. for mine they are such a soft metal that the slightest thing can scratch. i use the same thing as the paint but i have a separate one for just the rims. this way you dont' take a chance of getting brake dust embedded in it and dragging that across your paint the next time you wash. drying is the same way, either the blower or a micro fiber towl.

so now you've washed your car and rims. what do you do to protect it? well each piece should be decided accordingly.

paint protection:
to protect the paint you have to judge that on your own....if it isn't in need of a wet sand or a wheel you can attack it with a few products that will really help. if a microfiber towl will not slide across the hood of your car you need to clay the car. pick up a california clay bar and learn to use it. your entire car should feel slick to the touch without having to use a comon "wax" product. remember too though that a claybar will remove any wax you have on the car so you will need to put some protectant back on it. once the car is smooth to the touch and your happy with the finish you polish it. an ultra fine compound like a finishing polish is really good for this step. i recommend wizards polish but if you can't use that try meguiars. make sure it's a finish polish though and not something coarse being sure to wash the car afterwards. after that's done you can either use a polish glaze or something similar from many of the other companies out there. the main thing is to avoid using a wax wether it's paste or liquid....typically these waxes have carnuba in them as well which can yellow causing your paint to dull. they also have a tendency to fill in pores within the paint causing it to loose it's luster. most waxes do have a polish within them which is why the car shines the way it does. zaino is also a very good product to use for this or one of the professional series mothers/meguiars deals.

with your tires you can use a tire "wet" chemical but you have to be careful....products like armoral and black magic may really brighten the piece but often times the chemicals will cause you problems down the road with drying out and worse yet they can cause your tires to be a danger on the road. most paint supply stores cary products that renew rubber/vinyl/dash like material without causing any side effects. works much better and you won't have to replace the item years down the road...looks better too.

same thing here with the rims too you want to treat them like your paint. after you've washed them, polished them, washed them again you'll want to put a protectant on them. 100% carnuba works really good for the wheels if they are polished.

engine bays and the underside are a completely different story. for the engine bay i like to use a mixture of 1/3 simple green and water allowing it to sit for 2-3 min and then i rinse. i do wash the painted areas but never the engine as the soap can cause problems. if you have areas that need attention it's best to use a brush and some elbow grease with the simple green. after i've done the simple green step i then go over the paint with the same procedure as the car itself. all the polished pieces are treated like the wheels and the hoses are treated like the tires. everything typically is naturally bright and you shouldn't need to use a product to make it look as such. this is one thing if you can't afford new hoses or you really don't care but these products will do more harm then good. if you do wash the underside like myself you just follow the steps where they are necessary. most of my underside is painted so i follow that setup where as the polished pieces i match with the wheels and the rest. usually this is only done once a year unless i'm entering an indoor show obviously. if you do it right you can hose off the underside even after a day or two and it looks like new. same with the engine bay.

all of this is alot of work, there's no kidding around it. however if you follow it for the most part adding in or changing it how you need to when done right not only will you have to wash the car less but you'll protect it better making things last longer and people will notice. ask any of the major car builders and they will tell you the same; do not believe what commercials and some of these articles tell you. they are out to sell you a product and that's it.

this of course is like i said only if you want less scratches with a car that needs to be cleaned less and looks better. i've been doing shows for over 5 years. the paint job on my z is over 6 years old along and i still walk away with best paint awards from cars that have been recently painted all because i know how to take care of it. it doesn't matter if your paint job costs 2,000 or 20,000 so long as it's done right. any idiot can wash off a 20,000 paint job and the chances are that guy is more likely to do it.

for almost 7 years old, 60,000 miles and hardly a sign of any swirl mark i think it looks good. so anyhow it's all just food for thought, take what little out of this you can to help your own car look better.

:lala:

 

Also, forgot to mention the website,

www.zainobros.com

Theres nothing like it. It works great. It is above and beyond anything out there on the market.

 

Kandied, your car amazes me every time I see it. Thanks for the...uh...book, very good info!

 

Also check out Formula 113. This is also an excellent show-quality wax.

 

when i said dish soap u better beilive im not using it on my camaro or on any of my dads past cars and my moms for that case. I use it on a car like a ford escape if covered in mud or has salt sand from winter months on it....i would never think and my dad would stop me anyway of using it on his cars(GNs 442s Corvettes Camaros and mustangs of the past) or any car that not just an everyday car. I am not overboard but when i wanna be i can. When i get my camaro im gonna have every single square inch of that thing spotless with endless coats of wax coats on it. But on general everyday very dirty cars i will occasionally use dish saop. The reason i dont use some car washing saop is cause i dont have any...It will not hurt an everyday car from it looks at all.

 

i've heard alot about formula 113 through this site but i have yet to see anyone use it in the show cirucuit. only reason i recommend the others is i've personally spoke with painters across the country through various venues and we have all agreed on them. if it's good enough for someone who is willing to spend 30,000+ on just a paint job it's definately good enough for me. i've compared them with your over the counter and there is no comparison...one day maybe i'll get ahold of the formula 113 to try as well.

as far as the novel, sorry.....it's just a rather lengthy process and i gave you the short version.

 

wether it's a show car or my "daily" driver it's still one of my cars and i treat the paint as such. there is a such thing as going over board....what i described is quite a few steps but they aren't needed every time. i wash my cars maybe once every two-three weeks. camaro included and you see how it is, my daily drivers with oem paint are no different.

just to show you here is my "daily driver with 70,000 miles original paint. it's a 97 and i'm the second owner...this process works on whatever vehicle you have and it works well. i wash the gtp maybe 6 times a year. while i'm not proud of it i'm constantly working on the z so i get burnt out on it.

i will not use dish soap on anything that i care about.

 

So I should only use the water blade if I have a good coat of wax on it.

My dad uses Menenguiers? that comes in a black case to wax daily drivers and his show cars.

How often should a daily driver need a clay bar?

 

Daily drivers will almost never need a clay bar... but I would do it about twice a year max.

I use Meguier's Gold Class for everything I can. That is the best line of washes and waxes I have used, and I have tried them all!

 

Ummm... wouldn't a daily driver need the claybar even more from the daily abuse?

 

Hmmm I think he was implying that if its a daily driver a clay bar is pointless? ...which is retarded my maro is my only car unfortunately and I strip it and then clay bar it twice a year. I tend to not pick up alot of stuff with the clay bar, since my car is pretty much always clean. But its very handy for behind the wheels and on the rear bumper. I use pretty much the exact process as Kandied described. I have sponge covered in thick cotton threads that I use for the paint, and I picked up this thing that looks like a little baton thats awsome for cleaning wheels (mine aren't polished...but they will be soon!) As for the engine bay I just spray some wheel cleaner in there and scrub the troubled areas a little and rinse. Oh and I do use tire wet...its shiny!! ..I can't help it!

 

Kandied91z,

Thanks for all the information on how to properly wash a car. I wish I had read this before washing my 85 Trans Am. Unfortunately, I have already done at least five things you mentioned NOT to do when washing your car. Next time, I will follow this information to a "T," though.

I think you should write up a tech article on this as well, or at least get a sticky post with this information. I thought car washing was simply putting some car soap into a bucket with water, but it seems it is a much more complicated process than it appears. I'm sure there are many other people like me who think this, and I'd hate to see such great information lost in an old post (I have put this thread in my Favorites ).

By the way, if you're willing to "divulge your secrets," I'd love to hear any more tips or advice you have on the subject.

Thanks.

 

it isn't the end of the world if you don't follow it to a "T" following those steps will ensure a swirless paintjob which makes a difference in how it reflects. there are compounds out there that can help reverse these problem areas but if you can start doing it the right way, especially with new paint jobs it will make all the difference. if there are other things you or anyone else would like to know just ask and i'll share what i can.

 

i go to scrub-a-dub and pay 6 bucks for theyre touchless car wash

 

those places typically have harsher chemicals in the products which isn't good for the end result of the paint but it's definately better then using the brush.

 

What are your thoughts on the coin power washers? I think I talked to you about those before... basically when used correctly they're not bad? I been using it on the 'beater'. Every few weeks, bring a mit and absorber, rinse, pre soak, soap, wash it with the mit, rinse, spot free, dry.....

 

well it all depends...obviously you don't want to use the engine or wheel degreaser at any time because it will really hurt a nice paintjob. however for daily drivers or even original factory paint they aren't quite as bad. factory paint seems to hold up to the harsher chemicals more so then aftermarket for various reasons.

the biggest deal with those is a. the pressure of the water b. the chemicals that are used. so long as you use your head with the pressure and make sure the paint is rinsed from the chemicals well you should be alright. i use them from time to time just to spray down the car but i never use any of the chemicals.