I know boring topic right...
I'm a bit perplexed about the whole car washing thing.
Up until recently I had two 15 year old cars and as a result I didn't really bother keeping them nice. When I did attempt to keep them clean I didn't have the best time of it.
One time when I took my car to a car wash it didn't really get it clean, another time it ended up stripping a load of the paint off (luckily the owners paid for the car to be repainted)
I took my car to one of the many Eastern European car washes that seem to be everywhere and they managed to put a bloody great scratch in one of the side windows.
Now I have a new car and I'd like to keep it in some semblance of nice condition. I have a pressure washer so I could maybe use that.
What do you guys do?
Comments
If I'm feeling really posh, I'll dry it off with a shammy.
My old fanny magnet though, that never gets washed.
https://i.imgur.com/7AIJcaK.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Om1787n.jpg
No car washes, no drive through hand washes, no dealer washes it when it's serviced. All of these things can really ruin the paint on your car.
Offset "(Emp) - a little heavy on the hyperbole."
Best option is to go over it with a pressure washer to get rid of any lose dirt, then go over with a bucket and sponge, before rinsing off. Then add the occasional coat of wax to help moisturise and protect the paint.
Not done mine for a few weeks now due to poor weather and laziness. If it's nice this weekend I'll be doing a full job of it as well going over it all with a clay bar and finishing off with wax.
Massively into detailing an thoroughly enjoy giving my car a full on 5-6 hour going over (a lot longer for paint correction).
Two buckets, one sponge/glove for car and another for the wheels. Don't use cheap shit car shampoo.
Rinse thoroughly and dry properly including around the doors, boot and bonnet. Do not drive it to dry it off
Wax, not polish and no cheap shit wax either, every three months if it lives outside.
Additionally, take off the wheels and clean inside the rims, wax all over, and take the opportunity to clean all the crap off from inside the wheel arch liners and off the brakes and suspension.
Vacuum the inside, remove carpets, wipe everything down with a slightly moist leather and apply non shiny protection to all plastic parts.
Clean and treat the leather seats once a year.
Alternatively, if you want to do it properly.........................
Use a wash mitt with one bucket with clean water and the other bucket with what ever shampoo you use. Always rinse mitt in the clean bucket of water so you rinse off any dirt/grit which will minimise scratches.
Main dealer service. They always clean it. Job done.
I can't help about the shape I'm in, I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to
I'm not locked in here with you, you are locked in here with me.
But like others have said, avoid the £5 hand car washes like the plague, use wash mits instead of sponges, if you’ve got time use snow foam before washing (highly recommend bilt hamber auto foam), wash using 2 bucket method, hand polish with something like autoglym super resin polish, or if you have a dark car then poorboys black hole is fantastic, then seal it all in with a decent wax (autoglym ultra high definition wax is great and can easily be found at Halfords). Once polished and waxed you should only really need maintenance washes for a good few months (quick snowfoam, shampoo wash and a dry down).
You can go into a lot more detail, such as claying the car, tar removal etc but it does get time consuming. But be warned, detailing does become very addictive and you may find yourself with OCD rather quick!
is this something one can do on one’s front drive in a reasonably respectable neighbourhood?
I really enjoy the 'missed a bit' or 'you can do mine next' comments!