Washing the car too much?

Washing the Car, to much?

Well, like most guys I like a clean car, inside and out! I don't think there's anything wrong with that, right? It's been raining in our part of the world for what seems like Noah's 40 days. This of course has made a mess out of New Prius.
The primary driver of the car, my wife, is not careful about driving around things like freshly painted lines, new tar, pot holes, you get the idea. Also the bugs this year seem particularly bad, as evidenced by their pulverized remains left on the Pruis paint job.
So with all that in mind, I find myself washing our Prius at least once a week sometimes twice. My wife thinks I'm doing nothing but wasting water, "It will only get dirty again!" is her new battle cry. I've tried to explain that you wash clothing, your just going to wear it again and get it dirty so why bother. That doesn't fly with her.
I'm sure deep down she likes driving a clean car. But am I be to anal in trying my best to keep our new car (a substantial investment) clean?
What do you think, cut down on the washing??

Re: Washing the car, to much?

If there are water problems in your area, then I wouldn't wash the car so much. This time of the year probably isn't horrible, but in the late summer we usually have water bans, so no car washing allowed.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

I am the primary driver of my car... and I wash it at least once a week also. I don't think you can wash a car too much... as long as you use the correct soap and wax it every now and again. It just feels better to drive a clean car!

Re: Washing the car, to much?

Sharing the same weather as you, I know what you are talking about. Last week I resorted to buying a car cover because I couldn't keep it clean between the time I had available to wash it, and driving it to a car show (Bloomington, near Kingston this Sunday if you want to come up).

Washing is definitely better than leaving nasty stuff like bird droppings a smooshed insects on the paint, which will eat right through it. If you are concerned about the paint, use a good paint protectant or wax, and you will never have to worry about damaging your paint, since you will never be touching it.

I am assuming you know what you are doing, using proper car soap, not dishwasher detergent), absolutely clean towels (microfiber preferred), etc.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

I usually wash mine on Friday's to get it ready for the weekend, where its usually sitting in the parking lot at work but anywho. Its been crappy weather here and today is especially bad, my white Prius looks like a dalmation with all the black spots of dirt/rain mixed

Re: Washing the car, to much?

Washing it too much? It depends on what kind of contaminates are found in the air and water in your area. If everything is relatively "clean" of pollution that could harm your paint then the main issue is one of adding find scratches to the paint from your wash mitt, cloth, or sponge. This usually leads to "spider webs" in the paint.

If you live in a highly polluted area like the south or the north east (high levels of sulfur, nitrogen and carbon dioxide which all form acids) then the air and water could be harming your paint so no matter what you do you're screwed. lol

Re: Washing the car, to much?

I wash my car every two weeks at least, usually once a week. It doesn't matter, it is dirty the next day because of driving or because of all the pollen and leaves whooshing around right now. But definitely remember to wax every so often. Hand-washing will probably save water (rather than going to a car wash), but here in Boston that's not an option for me. Have to go to a car wash.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

My car usually goes a couple of thousand miles or more between baths. We got a good rain yesterday, and that should be good for a couple of more weeks. At 450 miles a week, the miles roll up faster than I care to wash it. Still looks pretty good though.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

[lame remark deleted]

Re: Washing the car, to much?

Washing events rise and fall depending on the season.

Right now it is love bug season - so it gets washed daily to get the bugs off.

Come December, it might get washed once in the month - just depends on the amount of dirt it accumulates.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

Rain? That's water falling from the sky, right?

No, it doesn't seem to do that here anymore; at least not with any regularity. Yesterday it rained where I work and live for the first time since the beginning of April. While this is the “dry season†here, that’s just a bit extreme.

With the water restrictions (we can water our yards two days a week) we're under I feel sort of funny about washing the car more than once a month. Yeah, the car gets a little dirty, and yeah I did wash it parked on the lawn. That was really odd if you've never done it, but I wasn't going to let the water just evaporate off the driveway.

Surprisingly there are no restrictions on car washing, just lawn watering, but still, it's bad enough paying almost $4/gal for gas, I'd prefer that we didn't go there with water too.

So I guess "too much" is a relative thing.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

On Day 1 of ownership I machine polish and wax with Griot's Best In Show products and a random orbital buffer with special pads. It helps by letting some of the crap slide off the paint without sticking, and the rest is removed easily during a shampoo wash.

However, I park at the international airport frequently and the unburned hydrocarbon jet emissions are brutal, so I wash often, dry quickly with microfiber towels, and apply a top coat of Speed Shine to maintain the surface between semi-annual machine waxings.

Like others said, it depends on the methods and materials used. I've had good luck with Griot's carnauba products, sheepskin mitts and microfiber towels. It really pays off, literally, on resale value.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

SparrowHawk60,

It's your ship and you're the commander, so an orderly and tidy craft is your perogative. What "other" things could you be spending your time on besides a harmless wash? You're not in the bars or clubs chasing women, or using the car to do illegal stuff, etc.

Washing your car twice a week (depending on rain conditions) seems quite harmless and if you took your wife out once a week after that wash, she'd probably come to expect it.

I asked my wife about her thoughts on this issue. She said "As long as my husband wasn't angry with me about the trashed car and didn't use the cleaning time as an excuse to not take care of me or other priorities, I'd be okay with it". "I think it's good he's taking care of it, especially since she is the primary driver and he is cleaning it for her for FREE".


ZC1

Re: Washing the car, to much?

I wash mine once a week. And keep fresh wax on it every three months. With the south florida sun everything can bake into the car.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

Yup, for me, too. If I don't acquire any daily love bug hits, then I wash it on Saturdays.

The love bugs were so bad on a recent trip to Orlando that when we got stuck in a traffic jam on the highway (which was shut down), I hopped out of the car and washed the front end right there in the fast lane. It was a spectacle!

My fiance thinks I wash the car too much.

Re: Washing the car, to much?

try to wash every 10 days or so. Right now weather is great here, pollen has died down also..so my black car no longer look's yellow. I will machine wax every couple of months, and polish twice a year

Re: Washing the car, to much?

For those of you that don't know about Love Bugs in central Florida here is one day's worth, and this was a good day. I washed half of the car before I took the picture. Out on the Turnpike I have had it so bad that I had to stop and wash the windshield so I could see again. If you leave them on too long they will etch the paint.



One trick is to park the car out in the open overnight so the dew will collect and soak it all night. Next morning, before it dries, get out the hose and blast them off. 98% will come right off.

Bob

Re: Washing the car, to much?

I'm in the one-to-twice-a-week camp myself. I wax a few times a year...Zaino of course.

I've seen for years in those "get better gas mileage" tips that keeping your car clean and waxed can help with the MPGs...something about the air flowing more smoothly over the exterior and creating less resistance. I can't imagine that a smooth finish would make even 1 MPG difference, but it makes a nice additional justification for all the washing and waxing I do!

Re: Washing the car, to much?

I just spent a few hours cleaning our Prius. Much to the wife's complaints she had to take my Civic to where ever she was going tonight. "I'd much rather take my car, can you clean it some other time?" "Yeah, maybe when it snows in August!" So off she went in my Civic.
Washed the car yesterday, so it wasn't that dirty today. I used a detail spray to get off some of the sap and bugs that collected overnight and during her morning drive.
As for wasting water, we aren't on any kind of water restrictions, yet.
Once New York City starts bitching about a drought, then they'll start.
Still some 75 miles from the City, you'd think we'd have plenty of water but "our" water is piped down to the City, so we suffer for their usage.
Yes, pollution is a big reason why I like to keep my car clean. Who knows what's falling out of the sky eating away at my paint job. It has only gotten worse here in the Hudson Valley, car emissions playing a very large role in the damage.
Think I'll just keep on what I've been doing for years. Wash my cars when the urge strikes, then detail them if I'm up to it.

You should think about using a rinseless wash if you're washing your car(s) more than once per week. Even if you have plenty of time, it cuts down on the amount of work you have to do.

I used to use rinseless washes only when detailing cars in areas under water restriction, but since my cars rarely get very dirty before I wash them, I've started to use rinseless wash on my own cars even though we have no water restrictions. It really cuts down on the wash time, which is handy if you're washing 2-3 cars a week.

Regular wash:

1. Initial wetting
2. Wash
3. Rinse
4. Final Rinse (no nozzle, to sheet water)
5. Dry

Rinseless wash:

1. Wash
2. Dry

I finish in less than half the time of a regular wash (I think I could finish my Prius in ten minutes without rushing).