What is the best way to wash the car?

[SteveSpy]

I got white for two reasons. 1) Texas is hot as foque and 2) I think it hides scratches and dirt really well without getting silver

I've been looking in and around Austin to find a high quality hand wash that I know I can trust with my car but the more I think about it, the more I realize the only way to really protect my baby is to wash her myself.

In the old days, when I was a kid, my dad and I would wash his cars on the weekend and I remember getting a bucket, some Palmolive and spraying the Palmolive in the bucket until it got all foamy, then we used a regular sponge to rub the soap along the cars. We rinsed the soap off by spraying (we didn't have power washers in those days) and dried them using sheepskin shammys.

For some reason I have a feeling that's not going to work. My question to you guys and @Lups is, how to go about washing my car in the most efficient way without damaging it?

[Floridagator]

The best method (IMO) is the now-ubiquitous two-bucket wash method:

One bucket for soap & water.
One bucket for rinse water.

Go to Home Depot or Lowe's and get two five-gallon buckets.

Get yourself at least two (preferably four) Grit Guards.

Use a good soap. There are a million options, but I highly recommend the line of products from Chemical Guys. Citrus Wash & Gloss is a good one.

Dry with waffle-weave microfiber towels. Try to blot, not wipe. Or, if you want the BEST method, get a Metro Air Force blow dryer. Drys the car with warm, filtered air. Nothing touches the car, no scratches.

Autogeek.net is great resource for all this stuff. Check out the site. Good luck.

[GOLFFRR]

2 bucket method
foam gun
dry in shade with leaf blower and waffle weave towel

[Sedan_Clan]

I follow the two bucket method as well, but I use a public do-it-yourself car wash sprayer/gun rather than a hose/water at home. I also almost exclusively wash my car are night. I don't use circular motions ever! I wash in straight lines, and I never apply too much pressure on the paint when washing.

[SteveSpy]

Thanks for all the advice guys but I don't get why you need two buckets? Why not simply rinse the car with the hose? Why a second bucket for rinsing?

[Wah]

The point of the two bucket wash is to prevent dirt that is washed off the car, staying in the mitt and rubbing over the rest of the car. The thing that causes the swirls in the paint is dirt that is washed off the paint and left in the mitt...

I'll probably get shit from the car wash nazis here, but I want to wash my car while keeping it simple and doing it quickly. I use only one bucket, but I'm always making sure I lubricate when both washing and drying.
Wash... Rinse the car with a lot of water. Use a bucket of car wash soap (I use whatever... turtle wax, meguiars, etc... its just liquid soap) and water. Using a wash mitt, I wash the car with the very soapy water always making sure there is plenty of water and soap in the mitt and on the car, never letting a "dry" mitt rub against the car. It is very important that you get every inch of the car so there is no dirt left behind, otherwise you risk putting swirls in the clearcoat when you dry. Also, be sure that the water is very soapy. This will prevent a dirty mitt from swirling the paint. Then I rinse it all off with water from the hose.

Drying... First I'll take excess water off quickly with a silicone water blade. Then, using spray wax and a clean microfiber towel, I spray a wet section of the car, and wipe it all off with the towel before moving on to the next section. I like using spray wax when drying because it lubricates enough that if I did accidentally leave a little dirt on the car, there is enough lubrication to help keep it from scratching the paint.

There are better ways of washing, but again... I want simple and fast. I've never had a problem with swirls doing it this way... but then again, I don't drive a black car, so who knows. Just always be sure that you are not rubbing a dry towel against the paint, and I think you will be fine.

[SteveSpy]

Originally Posted by Wah

The point of the two bucket wash is to prevent dirt that is washed off the car, staying in the mitt and rubbing over the rest of the car. The thing that causes the swirls in the paint is dirt that is washed off the paint and left in the mitt...

I'll probably get shit from the car wash nazis here, but I want to wash my car while keeping it simple and doing it quickly. I use only one bucket, but I'm always making sure I lubricate when both washing and drying.
Wash... Rinse the car with a lot of water. Use a bucket of car wash soap (I use whatever... turtle wax, meguiars, etc... its just liquid soap) and water. Using a wash mitt, I wash the car with the very soapy water always making sure there is plenty of water and soap in the mitt and on the car, never letting a "dry" mitt rub against the car. It is very important that you get every inch of the car so there is no dirt left behind, otherwise you risk putting swirls in the clearcoat when you dry. Also, be sure that the water is very soapy. This will prevent a dirty mitt from swirling the paint. Then I rinse it all off with water from the hose.

Drying... First I'll take excess water off quickly with a silicone water blade. Then, using spray wax and a clean microfiber towel, I spray a wet section of the car, and wipe it all off with the towel before moving on to the next section. I like using spray wax when drying because it lubricates enough that if I did accidentally leave a little dirt on the car, there is enough lubrication to help keep it from scratching the paint.

There are better ways of washing, but again... I want simple and fast. I've never had a problem with swirls doing it this way... but then again, I don't drive a black car, so who knows. Just always be sure that you are not rubbing a dry towel against the paint, and I think you will be fine.

So lemme get this straight. The two bucket system means you use one bucket for adding soap to your sponge and the other bucket to rinse your sponge and get the dirt off of it, calling that second one a rinse bucket, right?

That's seems easy enough. What kind of sponge though?

This?

Viking Long Pile Microfiber Wash Sponge
http://amzn.com/B001GJ3FEC

And to dry it, this?

AmazonBasics Microfiber Cleaning Cloth (Pack of 24)
http://amzn.com/B009FUF6DM

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by sspyrops

So lemme get this straight. The two bucket system means you use one bucket for adding soap to your sponge and the other bucket to rinse your sponge and get the dirt off of it, calling that second one a rinse bucket, right?

That's seems easy enough. What kind of sponge though?

This?

Viking Long Pile Microfiber Wash Sponge
http://amzn.com/B001GJ3FEC

And to dry it, this?

AmazonBasics Microfiber Cleaning Cloth (Pack of 24)
http://amzn.com/B009FUF6DM

I use two that are very similar to the Viking sponge you posted; one for the upper portion of the car and one for the lower portion of the car that tends to collect the most grime.

[SteveSpy]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I use two that are very similar to the Viking sponge you posted; one for the upper portion of the car and one for the lower portion of the car that tends to collect the most grime.

So let me ask you this: what about a power washer? On the low setting, to sort of "push" the bulk of the dirt on the lower areas of the car before going at it with the sponge?

Anybody had experience with these? My friends back home in Canada swear by them but then again the roads up there are in much worse shape and the cars get a lot more sand and salt, especially in the winter, thus making it a necessity to remove the sand before using a sponge.

Thoughts folks?

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by sspyrops

So let me ask you this: what about a power washer? On the low setting, to sort of "push" the bulk of the dirt on the lower areas of the car before going at it with the sponge?

Anybody had experience with these? My friends back home in Canada swear by them but then again the roads up there are in much worse shape and the cars get a lot more sand and salt, especially in the winter, thus making it a necessity to remove the sand before using a sponge.

Thoughts folks?

I use a power washer at a do-it-yourself car wash, so I see no problem with it.

[SteveSpy]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I use a power washer at a do-it-yourself car wash, so I see no problem with it.

Thanks Clan... I will try this.

[W///]

Originally Posted by sspyrops

So let me ask you this: what about a power washer? On the low setting, to sort of "push" the bulk of the dirt on the lower areas of the car before going at it with the sponge?

Anybody had experience with these? My friends back home in Canada swear by them but then again the roads up there are in much worse shape and the cars get a lot more sand and salt, especially in the winter, thus making it a necessity to remove the sand before using a sponge.

Thoughts folks?

Go to Walmart and get a power washer for like $180 (Karcher). I have one and it works pretty well.

As others said, always use 2 buckets. I change the water bucket halfway through.

Also, IMHO, the microfiber towels are very important when you are drying off the car. Don't bother with those mega packs on Amazon. I have those, but end up using them for interior cleaning (still worth having around the garage).

For the exterior, I use some really plush MF towels. They are expensive, but I swear by them. They absorb so much more water than the cheap towels. Not to mention they absorb water without having to put a lot of pressure on the towel. Like I said, they are expensive, but I have 4 of these:
http://www.autogeek.net/cobra-supreme-530-towels.html

You can buy them in packs. Also, when washing them, use cold water in the washing machine, and I use specific soap for MF towels, and then put them in the dryer with NO heat and then let them air dry.

I'm by no means an expert. Hell I don't even enjoy detailing cars, but I try to do as much as I can to keep the cars looking good. Feel free to contact me if you ever have any questions, I'd be happy to help anyway I can without completely overwhelming you like some of these hardcore detailing guys can. FYI, here's my E36 after a nice clean, using methods I told you:

[SteveSpy]

Originally Posted by W///

Go to Walmart and get a power washer for like $180 (Karcher). I have one and it works pretty well.

As others said, always use 2 buckets. I change the water bucket halfway through.

Also, IMHO, the microfiber towels are very important when you are drying off the car. Don't bother with those mega packs on Amazon. I have those, but end up using them for interior cleaning (still worth having around the garage).

For the exterior, I use some really plush MF towels. They are expensive, but I swear by them. They absorb so much more water than the cheap towels. Not to mention they absorb water without having to put a lot of pressure on the towel. Like I said, they are expensive, but I have 4 of these:
http://www.autogeek.net/cobra-supreme-530-towels.html

You can buy them in packs. Also, when washing them, use cold water in the washing machine, and I use specific soap for MF towels, and then put them in the dryer with NO heat and then let them air dry.

I'm by no means an expert. Hell I don't even enjoy detailing cars, but I try to do as much as I can to keep the cars looking good. Feel free to contact me if you ever have any questions, I'd be happy to help anyway I can without completely overwhelming you like some of these hardcore detailing guys can. FYI, here's my E36 after a nice clean, using methods I told you:

Thanks a lot for all the advice guys... 2 more weeks and I get to make use of it!

[accce]

Just give it a bath but make sure you wash its belly really well.

[GrussGott]

Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan

I use a power washer at a do-it-yourself car wash, so I see no problem with it.

Yup when I did this myself the hot setup was:

(1.) Light spray first
(2.) powerspray (I used a husky electric from home depot)
(3.) A section at a time: foam gun, wool mitts, and the two bucket method with a quality soap, rinse well
(4.) Blow (I used a reversed wet dry vac with a filter on the intake)
(5.) high quality micro-fiber dry

But for my first time with a new car I'd set aside 4 hours and do this:

(1.) - (3.)
(4.) clay (then assess with a good fluorescent hand held) - there's always spider webbing so ...
(5.) Polish with a porter-cable random orbital polisher and menzerna, dry
(6.) Use the PC-RO to apply menzerna FMJ
(7.) Glaze

At this point your car will not only look like an IND picture, it'll feel like silk.

For maintenance I used the wash method above and poor boy's spray and wipe.

I did the clay and polish every 6 months or if I had a special occasion

[Money2536]

Here is how I do it. It starts halfway down the page.

http://rennlist.com/forums/991/80107...journal-2.html

[Zeroblade]

Little late to this thread but I found this video year ago and found it very helpful

This 3 bucket method is what I would do plus a at home power washer for certain areas of the car.

Interior cleaning is whole nother beast

[SteveSpy]

Originally Posted by Zeroblade

Little late to this thread but I found this video year ago and found it very helpful

This 3 bucket method is what I would do plus a at home power washer for certain areas of the car.

Interior cleaning is whole nother beast

That video was awesome man, thanks. I love the three bucket system and the emphasis on separating your wheel cleaning products from your paint cleaning products. This, to me, makes perfect sense.

Time to go shopping!!

[Zeroblade]

Originally Posted by sspyrops

That video was awesome man, thanks. I love the three bucket system and the emphasis on separating your wheel cleaning products from your paint cleaning products. This, to me, makes perfect sense.

Time to go shopping!!

Glad it was helpful. One would have to keep in mind getting into every nook and cranny of the car. Someone in the comments posted for example openning the hood/trunk to get pockets of water too. I took my Mazda3 (M3 lol) to one of those hand wash places before. I didn't feel like I was ripped off but did notice some spots I felt I would've cleaned were I done it myself.

The cleaning tools are great guide. One thing I would consider is getting a large gazebo to put in a driveway to make shade. The cleaning products though I know nothing about their quality/effectiveness. I would at least give credit to the guy in the video as he seems to take washing cars very seriously and seems to love doing it.

[SteveSpy]

I don't need a large gazebo as my house is a two story that faces west so I have shade in my driveway in the morning until about 10, plenty of time to wash my car.

[Zero4910]

Pretty much covers anything you need to know

Cheers

[SanFranSoxFan]

The largest scratches I have in my 2004 330i came from those DIY car washing bays. They have those hoses that hang down from the ceiling, it rubs the hose against the edge of your roof. This one must have had dirt on the hose because it left some giant unrepairable scratches. Sometimes I see people using the foaming bristle brush at these wash bays on their nice cars I seriously want to cry.

I use a bucket and MFs dedicated to wheels so as not to be used on any other part of the car...ever.

Cool tip, I looked everywhere for something that can easily get in the tight spaces between my brakes and wheel to clean off the dust. The Swiffer handheld duster is super thin and made of plastic (no scratching) I just put it in my soap water bucket, works great, refill packs sold everywhere. I looked everywhere for a gentle but effective wheel brush for years and found nothing comparable but recently saw a microfiber wheel brush that looked promising but EXPENSIVE.

I use a minimum of 3 waffle weave towels for drying, the newest/best ones are used for the roof, hood, boot and panels, the 2nd best towel for the lower panels, 3rd best towel for door jams trunk engine bay and other nasty places. As towels get old they are downgraded to the lower level of use and a new one replaces the top.

For the love of god, no matter how good you think they are, do not take your car to one of those handwash assembly line places. They use some nasty shit on your wheels to remove break dust (and wear away the clear coat) If you watch them for a few hours you will see some bad practices (drying the bottom panels or rear bumper then using same MF towel to wipe your hood, dropping MF towel on ground then pick up and keep wiping, using circular motions for everything, generally adding minor scratches and swirls.) You are better off leaving your car filthy until you have time to wash it properly yourself.

Go easy on the tire shine, if you goop it on for that ultra wet look, that stuff will fling all over your car once you get up to highway speeds.

Keep Armor All the hell away from any part of your car.

Go read everything on Detailed Image's website and the other reputable places if you haven't already.