Car washing for dummies

I feel the same way about my 05 Black. And it's my first new car as well as my first black car. I'm actually debating switching over to a touchless automatic wash for 3 weeks out of the month. (I wash weekly) to avoid swirl marks as much as possible... because after 4 months of weekly washings they're starting to bug me.

I just ordered some wax products from Zaino too. I was impressed by what others here are saying so I thought I'd try them myself when we had some extra money. I will report back when they come in and I have a free day to do the application.

 

I use microfiber towels. I find I can wash with very little soap. Sometimes I can just rinse with a couple of towels and then dry with one or two. I am using Meguiars detailing spray and the finish really stays slick. I was concerned about what I am doing so I watch really hard for swirl marks or scratches. I clean the finish every day or so and use soap only when the soiling is heavy or there are a number of buggies.

 

Based on previous experience, I would also recommend using a soap specially formulated for car finishes.

DO NOT USE DISHWASHING DETERGENT!

I had to get my black 1995 Acura Integra repainted after about five year because the clear coat wore off. Funny thing was that the vehicle spent most of its days in the apartment parking lot. I worked from home and rarely drove in abrasive environments like you might find during interstate driving.

 

Very useful site:

http://forums.roadfly.com/forums/detailing/

 

Try 100% cotton towel.

 

No small scratches from washing here.

What I do:

1) Wet car with hose to help loosen dirt, etc. Then blast with hose to loosen what will come off to help prevent step two from doing damage.

2) Pressure wash car with the small Karcher electric pressure washer I purchased at Costco. It’s not very powerful and is also low GPM . . . but it does a good enough job for my purposes. I also hit the wheel wells and rims. Even after that, there is still a fine dirty film which step three takes care of.

3) Hand wash with a good quality wash mitt and car soap. Rinse mitt often, and never put dirty mitt back in soap bucket without rinsing mitt first. I have a cheap plastic on/off valve at the business end of the hose which makes it convenient to rinse car and mitt. I place the hose inside the mitt and rinse from the inside out, thereby helping prevent imbedding dirt into the mitt. Never let the mitt touch the ground!!!

Use only straight line washing motions. Do not wash in a circular motion. Circular scratch marks are much easier to see because the light source has a much better chance of reflecting off a circular scratch toward the person viewing the car. Straight line scratch marks do no reflect 360 degrees.

4) Hand dry with a clean soft cloth. I use microfiber cloths that I also purchased a Costco in a bag of a dozen or so. Again, wipe in straight lines, not circles. If there is any sign of dirt, seeds, etc. on the cloth get another cloth. Sometimes cleaning the door or hatch frame will dirty the cloth. After most of the microfiber cloths have been used, I wash them all together in the washing machine with car soap and not with other cloths/clothes. Laundry detergent residue is not good for car wax. These towels are only used for drying the car . . . nothing else!

5) Wax your car and keep a good coat on it! I plan on switching to Zaino after I fill the chips . . . but ANY car wax is preferable to no car wax!!! I have noticed that the microfiber cloths will only leave behind lint when the car need a wax job.

 

Here's another good resource for carwashing:

http://homepage.mac.com/darik/pages/carwash.html

Dave

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jandmayra\";p=\"106153)</div>

Dish detergent isn't good for regular washing because it lifts the wax off of the surface, meaning you need to re-wax every time if you use it.

That said, after having my Prius for about a 16 months now, I decided to use dish detergent last week to strip the wax, then I did a complete re-wax. I'd say it looks much better now with the residual old wax off and completely replaced with new stuff. Silky smooth and the finish seems much brighter and deeper (using Eagle-1 Nanowax).

Dave

 

I agree with Tideland Prius. Mr Clean autodry works pretty well. My wife's car is also black and the autodry takes care of those water spots as well as making my job a lot easier.

 

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I've read that towels of foreign origin, even though they say 100%cotton, might not be. Some time back, I also read that the thread used in the edging of a cotton towel might be polyester.

The best advice I've seen is to buy a high quality, premium name brand towel.

Personally, I prefer microfibre.

 

Another vote for Mr. Clean. I also use an all-cotton mitt and launder the mitt after each use. There are no swirls on my silver after 15 months.

 

Kindof off topic .... but....

About 15 years ago I went over to a friends house, upon entering the house his 9 year old daughter told me that her dad gave her $5 if she would wash his car, I smiled as she was collecting her tools.

We worked on a Novell Netware problem for about 90 minutes when she came in and proudly exclaimed that she was done. She then turned to me and asked if I would like her to wash my car for $5, I said "Sure" and she jumped a foot into the air as this was quickly turning into the richest day she had experienced in a long while.

We went back to our work, a couple of moments later I happened to notice that she was hading out the door with a can of Comet. I called her back saying "You don't plan on using that on the car do you?" She replied, I had to get a new can because I used up all the previous can on Marc's car.

You guessed the rest of the story... We looked ... she had ... and his Red Nisson had been abrasive ground down. No clearcoat left and the red paint was barely left.

Thank goodness I happened to see her before she gave my car the same TLC.

 

I can't decide whether to or :lol: at that one! I'd die if one of my princesses did that to my car!

 

Reminds me of the old story about the guy that hired a painter to paint his porch yellow for $50. Wound up where the guy painted his Porsche instead and then asked the owner what he wanted him to do with the extra paint.

 

What do you folks use to remove splattered bugs from the hood?

I've never felt the need for a bra (for the car) before but I think the Prius will change my mind.

 

:lol: :iagree

 

Here in Phx we have very little rain, so my car gets a fine layer of dust. A neighbor recommended a "Callifornia" duster, a long thin base mop with a sideways-extending handle. I went to a car parts store and sure enough they had just such a brand of mop. It has some sort of tacky stuff on it so it picks up dust and doesn't re-deposit it. I can dust my entire (black Prius) car in 5 minutes or less. One is supposed to keep "shaking it out", which I do, but I've (so far) not observed anything shaking out of it. No scratches that I notice. I dust with very light pressure. I've had it a month - used it once a week. I store it indoors so it doesn't dry out in our extreme heat. I had my car washed only once since getting it in early March.