How To Wash Your Car...

[Musa]

Some guy on my 1 series forum posted this guide on how he washes his car and what he uses. Thought it may be beneficial to some... Also please feel free to edit if u think u know something better!


My entire process would be:

1. Wash the car with a decent car shampoo (Meguiar's Gold Class or NXT are both good) and a lambs wool wash mitt. Using a sponge will only add to the swirl marks as the dirt you are washing of has nowhere to go other than the surface of the sponge, in effect turning it into a scourer. It's also preferable to use two buckets of water - one with your wash solution and one with plain water. Simply rinse the mitt in the fresh water after taking it off the car and before putting it back in the wash solution bucket - this ensures that as much crap as possible is kept away from the surface of the car.

2. Dry with a decent micro fibre drying towel (Meguiar's one is fine). These are far better than a natural chamois (which can actually strip wax from a car) and also the synthetic chamois as they hold much more water.

3. Use Meguiar's ScratchX over the entire car. Apply with a foam applicator and work into the finish of the paint until it's almost dry. This product contains diminishing abrasives which need to be broken down in order to work properly. This stage will take time and kill your arm, but it's the only way to get swirl marks out.

4. Use a pure polish to bring out the depth of the paint and to add more gloss. Meguiar's Stage 2 Pure Polish or 3M Imperial Hand Glaze are both good products.

5. Wax, either with the Stage 3 Carnauba Wax or a coat of NXT Tech Wax.

[MistaSmiff]

Well that guy forgot the most important thing to do before washing your car and that is to get as much dirt off the car BEFORE washing by means of a jetwash / Hose washer of some sort.

..AND to dewax your car if you intend to wax it with a different waxer.

..my 2pence worth ;)

[evil_elmo]

have to add wool mitt to my shopping list.......

mistasmiff: how do you dewax your car?

[mystic sport]

Also check out http://www.cardetailer.co.uk

You have to register but it is free and there is plenty of good advice on there.

It is my mates forum and still very new but is already quite busy.

[MistaSmiff]

have to add wool mitt to my shopping list.......

mistasmiff: how do you dewax your car?
The Meguirs Car Wash is quite good, has no added wax treatment. Meguirs do a starter pack with all that you need. Dewaxing is a good idea if your changing wax products, once your happy you've found the right wax then wax away!! ...till your arm drops off ;)

[BlackBimmerUK]

There is another good forum thats gives hints about detailing:

http://www.autopia.org/

[BigFas]

Guide to washing the car, Fas Stylee.

1. Wake up go downstairs and crack a cold can of something or other
2. Go back up and poke the missus in the ribs to wake up.
3. Tell missus to wash car before having breakfast
4. Give wife instructions printed in post 1 of thread of how to wash car
5. Go back inside and fire up XBOX
6. 2 hours later. Admire shiny new car

If my wife reads this, I am sooooooooo dead :)

[Shuriken]

Hahahahahaha, I like Fas' approach a lot!!

Shuriken.

[Musa]

Fas you should be awake at 10:44 AM not still dreaming mate! :D

[Ali]

Guide to washing the car, Fas Stylee.

1. Wake up go downstairs and crack a cold can of something or other
2. Go back up and poke the missus in the ribs to wake up.
3. Tell missus to wash car before having breakfast
4. Give wife instructions printed in post 1 of thread of how to wash car
5. Go back inside and fire up XBOX
6. 2 hours later. Admire shiny new car

If my wife reads this, I am sooooooooo dead :)

Dude.... I love the way you're thinking! But personally...

I'd fire up the playstation and get on with GT4! :D :D

[M5 SC]

Dude.... I love the way you're thinking! But personally...

I'd fire up the playstation and get on with GT4! :D :D

Driving round the nurburgring in an M3 on GT4! dont get much better?!

[Doc Matt]

This may sound stupid but it works;

I de-wax my car with Fairy Liquid Antibacterial washing up liquid. Its the blue bottle, it gets all the wax off in just one wash AND it kills the germs, (LOL)

i run my finger down the bonett and it burns with friction meaning absolutely zero wax.

Off Topic; Hired out Oceans Twelve on DVD, absolute pants, get out Jungle Book or something instead.

[rahrah]

well also that scratch x will not get rid of swirls...you'll need a random orbital polisher plus some other stuff, scratch x is great for fine scratches.

just to show you all what can be achieved with a little effort!
http://www.tyresmoke.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/375610/an/0/page/2#375610

:D

[Afif]

WHOA! I have to to that after my exams. Like its had a whole new paint job :D

[lee330sport]

That looks amazing. Need to do that to mine, its FULL of swirl marks.

[rahrah]

thanx fella's, its def worth doing..im a cleaning whore unfortunately1 ;)

[Afif]

im a cleaning whore unfortunately1 ;)

nothing wrong with that ;)... you can clean mine when your happy with yours :D.

Just wondering how much in total youd be looking at to get all the stuff youd need for that finish including tools?

[rahrah]

Hi Afif,

well i bought my dewalt dw443 from machine mart for £139 but amazon are doing it for around £127 last time i looked. ohh machine mart also do pads which are about 3 to 4 pounds..or you can get the meguiars one for around £11 ...ive found no differnce between them really.

DACP was £15
speed glaze was £14

so minimum youre talking is about £160 to get rid of your swirls, but slightly more if you wanna achive that true deep gloss as you'll need a pure polish and a decent sealant/ wax. i actually end up using less product now so im saving money in the long run i think!..lol

[Afif]

wow thanks alot for the info. Sound like a good investment. How often do you go through the pads?

[Raj]

Damn. That paint work looks brand new. That is a fair outlay though. My neighbours think I am a cleaning nut for washing the car once a week and applying wax when I get the chance. They will think I am completely bonkers if I start doing that complete process. But at least my car would [jam :cool:

[Chaos]

Of course, you could always take it here (http://www.mercedesmania.com/fboard/view.php?user=mercedesmania&num=286&room=1) :cool:

[rahrah]

pads will last a couple of years afif....pads come in differnt types as well..one for polishing, one for swirl removal etc ect..and even more grades of abrasive ones to tackle swirls (wont damage paint though)

[kris d]

How carefull do you have to be with one of those orbital polishers? Or is it best taken to someone with experience?

[rahrah]

orbitals can be used by anyone, no experiance needed at all, they will not burn the paint because the pad is constantly moving up/down/left and right hence the pad will not allow ennough heat to build up to burn the paint. i got those results on my second attempt...the first time was a bit of a play.

[Afif]

is there any shops that sell all the required stuff for reasonable prices? or do you have to get hold of it online?

[rahrah]

i got my dewalt dw443 from machine mart, i also got my pads from there.

all the meguiars products and p21s i got from john at cleanandshiney.co.uk..with next day delivery!! [jam

[Afif]

ive never heard of machine mart [hmm.

[Afif]

never mind. Google rocks [jam.

[MistaSmiff]

My mate is a professional valeter and has given me some inside information which i will share with you.

Exterior: The best value for money wax on the market is Meguirs TEC-WAX ( think that's how it's spelt). He absolutely swears by this stuff, he's has used every single wax product on the market and said this goes on easy, does'nt dry white and is easy to remove.

Interior: Johnsons Baby Wipes [bow , I said No way!!...he said hell yeah!. [jam because of it's harmless cleaning properties and added moisturizers it cleans leather and plastics with ease.

..right i'm off to get some botty wipes :)