View Full Version : Car Washing
Matblack
05-08-2006, 09:35
Do you hand wash your car?
I'm so lazy with car washing but I've been thinking I should only hand wash the MINI and maybe get a car cover as it will be in the driveway all the time.
The Meguiers stuff that OcUK stock has a good rep although I'll buy it from a local retailer instead.
So do you hand wash your car? If you do, do you use a single wash and then wander off or do you use a complicated 3 or more step system of washes, cleaners and polishes?
I don't want to spend hours every week doing it but I do want a very nice finish all the time as I will only be driving the car 2/3 times a week.
Any recomendations?
MB
Why is there no "rain" option? :D
I live in the country (ooo arrr) and basically this means that your car will be covered in filth. In the winter, mud, in the summer dust.
In the summer you can just wait until it rains and the dust comes off, in the winter you don't bother. I think I had thick mud caked up the windows.
Kell_ee001
05-08-2006, 10:02
Why is there no "rain" option? :D
My thoughts exactly :p
Although when I do get round to washing the old rust bucket I go through the car-wash :)
TinkerBell
05-08-2006, 10:33
I hand wash mine, wouldnt dream of sending it through the car wash, wash and wax seperately for the win;):p
Why is there no "Elite squad of bikini girls" ? Everytime thats what I would do. :D
Why is there not an option for "I leave it to rust"?
My car doesnt deserve washing :p
I handwash mine twice and then wax/polish it with either Turtle Wax or Turtle Wax Colour Magic. I can't see the point in using expensive polish because it's an old, battered car, but it does look much nicer when it's all done :)
I wash it by hand when I can be arsed. I usually do it in about 30 mins - it's good enough, I haven't got any wax or polish. I just use washing up liquid! It looks so much nicer clean, but I get tree sap on it every morning, I drive it hard and it gets covered in dust and bugs so unless I clean it everyday there's little point in keeping it clean.
If I'm feeling flush I'll get it valleted but that's pretty rare.
Washing your car.. how novel! Mine used to get washed every couple of weeks when the car cleaning blokie came around the office but since he switched to coming on monday (when I'm working from home) I've just attacked the crap at the jetwash when I can no longer see at night because of the state of the headlights.
The bike on the other hand, that gets lovingly hand washed every couple of weeks or sooner when the screen looks like a killing field for small flying insects.
In the summer you can just wait until it rains and the dust comes off
Doesn't work in my part of the country. The rain tends to bring loads of dirt with it and rapidly turns a clean car mucky.
I hand wash it quickly every couple of weeks or so and give it a proper once over with wax and everything a couple of times a year
I pay someone to wash it for me.
Just thinking of your new motor Matt, why not get the paint sealed? This saves the need for ever waxing/polishing the thing. On my motor I have the 3yr sealent called Superguard which my local valeting centre put on (£110). Now the car can be covered in flies/general crud but one wash with meguires and it looks like i've spent hours polishing it :D
If I was getting a new motor I would get the 5yr sealent (£200). The good thing is if during the 5yrs your motor ever looks like it hasn't been polished, they redo the whole car again. I was chatting to the bloke in the local valeting shop and its what they put on Ferrari's, Lambo's etc and they do look stunning after its been done
Matblack
05-08-2006, 14:01
Just thinking of your new motor Matt, why not get the paint sealed? This saves the need for ever waxing/polishing the thing. On my motor I have the 3yr sealent called Superguard which my local valeting centre put on (£110). Now the car can be covered in flies/general crud but one wash with meguires and it looks like i've spent hours polishing it :D
If I was getting a new motor I would get the 5yr sealent (£200). The good thing is if during the 5yrs your motor ever looks like it hasn't been polished, they redo the whole car again. I was chatting to the bloke in the local valeting shop and its what they put on Ferrari's, Lambo's etc and they do look stunning after its been done
After hearing about 'sealent' I've done a bit of research and it cost about £20 for the dealer to buy the pack and they charge £300, I think I'll stick to waxing :)
MB
No probs, its mainly for if you are lazy like me
LeperousDust
05-08-2006, 14:47
In an ideal world, if i had a nice car and the time, i'd spend hours polishing it etc...
In reality i don't so if it hasn't rained in a while, or it's looking especially dirty i give it a quick hand wash. My car is still VERY dirty from the Essex meet, but i've been working and haven't had a weekend off to do it. Well apart from this weekend, and i just can't be bothered :D Rain dammit.
Flibster
05-08-2006, 17:19
Lat time I did my car...
wash
Do wheels
wash again
quick clay *lying bastards...it's not quick*
colour polish
Autoglym Super Resin polish
Extra gloss protection as a final touch
then all the black bits with black boot polish
then all the metal bitswith autsol
then all the glass with Autoglym glass cleaner and finish with a coat of rainx
It takes a while..
Sods law it always rains within 20 mins of me finishing.
Simon/~Flibster
Blackstar
05-08-2006, 21:23
I think there sould be a "I get my minions (children) to do it for me" option.
Not that i have a car :(
edit: or children
Why do your minions have to be your children? :)
Not that I have a car.
Creature
06-08-2006, 00:04
Exactly, my parents are my minions, or slaves if you will :p
Blackstar
06-08-2006, 00:39
Exactly, my parents are my minions, or slaves if you will :p
I like refering to children as evil minions :(
TinkerBell
06-08-2006, 09:46
Isn't yours a Corsa?
Lol yes it is, and i have had many people from the other board say it is a waste of time, but when i clean it im proud of how it looks and its something i wouldnt stop doing it because other peeps think its not worth it ;):p
Dymetrie
06-08-2006, 20:36
I like refering to children as evil minions :(
S'not what I refer to them as...
Anywhere, where's the option for "I am not a bastad who rapes the environment with a petrol guzzling monster"?
What polish works best depends on what type of paint is on your car. For example, on my car Meguiars Gold class doesn't look as good as the NXT wax. Autoglym never got the bimmer looking nice, but on my Megane of similar age, it always came up brilliantly with Autoglym, but never with NXT.
Modern paints do well with NXT. The important bit is to get a decent carnauba wax, which although is slightly more abrasive than your poundland carp, lasts a whole lot longer. A general rule of thumb is that the harder a wax is to work with, the less you will have to use it.
I don't bother so much with my car now as the paint is wrecked from vandals and general age, but when I do my friends Ferrari, I do a panel at a time and he buys the very best Zymol, which is the dogs danglies and it makes the paint look really good.
Ok, here is a guide because Im in work bored:
Wash your car regularly - I'd recommend to do this at least every other week. Things like bugs, birdpoo, or treesap does harm to the paint leaving permanent stains if not washed off in time. When the car is clean, all the moisture dries up quickly, but when it's dirty, the moisture accumulates in dirty areas causing corrosion. At least once in a while use pressure wash - it removes the dirt from difficult to reach areas. Wash off all the places where the dirt and salt might be accumulated; for example, behind moldings, inside wheel arches, under the bumpers etc. It's particularly helpful after winter - to wash out all the salt accumulation that speeds up the corrosion process. Like I said above, if you use a high pressure wash, then you need to polish/wax afterwards.
When washing a car, start with Alloy wheels first as they will be the most dirty area, then wash the roof and work your way down, this avoids getting clean areas dirty again. I never use more than a trickle of water as it removes some of the polish/wax if you go too hard at it (ohhh errr).
When rinsing, let the water cascade and rinse away the dirt, rather than directly blasting the dirt off. Immediately after rinsing, use a high quality chamios leather to dry or I prefer a water magnet from Meguiars.
Polishing - polishing removes oxidation and contaminants, adding emollient oils back into the paint and smoothing out the surface of the paint, which is a good thing. There are many different polishes on the market, but as is generally the rule, you get what you pay for.
Waxing - I recommend waxing your car once in every three - four months after washing and polishing. Wax helps to protect the paint, minimizing harm from chemicals road gunk and protecting the paint from fading; plus the car looks shiny :). It takes about 30 minutes to wax a whole car and high quality car wax stays on the car for three - four months. So far, I haven't seen a single product that protects for a lifetime as you might heard in some commercial - nothing lasts forever. In order to maintain a protective coat a product needs to be reapplied periodically. For example, from my experience, the Turtle Wax Carnauba wax stays for three - four months, and the Meguiars, about 2 - 3 months.
On my car, I do the following for a full valet:
1. Get up early, this will take a while. Have a cup of tea.
2. Rinse the car down with water cascading from the hose as opposed to blasting.
3. Wash the wheels with Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner
4. Wash the car with Meguiars NXT Car Wash, using a wash mitt for the top half and a different wash mitt for the bottom.
5. Dry thoroughly with Meguiars water magnet
5a. Have another cup of tea
6. Apply Meguiars Step 1 Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner
7. Apply Meguiars Step 2 Deep Crystal Polish
8. Apply Meguiars Step 3 Deep Crystal Carnauba Wax
9. Apply Meguiars NXT Tech Wax
9a. Usually have lunch at this point :)
10. Clean glass with Meguiars NXT Glass Cleaner
11. Now clean the tyres with Meguiars Endurance High Gloss Tyre Protection Gel
11a. Have a cup of tea
Et Viola, one seriously shiny car.
BTW, I do sometimes use Autoglym as well as Meguiars ;D
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