Car Wash

Chi_The_Process said:

I wouldn’t recommend anyone but yourself. My car had 7 miles and they had washed it after the PDI. I had a ton of swirl marks. I drove the car from the dealership to the shop where I was getting ceramic pro done. I needed 2 Step correction.

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Same. I actually had a good half dozen scratches on the paint. My Ceramic Pro installer had to spend quote some time getting the paint corrected.

SCOPESYS said:

I have NEVER been to Car wash ... but now I have just realized all the entertainment I have been missing -- (provided it is not MY car !!)

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Okay. I never knew when buying a used car I had to look for someone using a car wash wand on the interior!!

diakonia said:

I found this micro fiber brush at Walmart. It fits into the wheel well perfect to get the break dust off. After I wash and rinse the car, I pour distilled water over the car. It disperses the little beads of water off of the car and then I blow it with the leaf blower. Zero spots!

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I tried using that brush! It broke the first time I used it. I got to the third rim before the metal part separated from the brush. Complete trash! I just use a regular microfiber cloth now. There’s lot of gap in the wheels to stick your arm in there. Well if you have small arms like me lmao.

Rowwwel_808 said:

I tried using that brush! It broke the first time I used it. I got to the third rim before the metal part separated from the brush. Complete trash! I just use a regular microfiber cloth now. There’s lot of gap in the wheels to stick your arm in there. Well if you have small arms like me lmao.

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I can only clean my rims by hand. I use cut up scrap cotton fabrics on them once and throw them away after all the brake dust grime. Too expensive and wasteful to trash away microfibres after every wash.
Besides, rims aren’t as delicate as the cars body paint, so cotton rags work beautifully

sean465 said:

Mate how can you clearly care about your paint, do ppf and ceramic, then stick it in a mechanical wash??! Mines a daily but hell no....

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I did all those things myself though. Labor = $0 and the time spend was nice just getting to know the vehicle. Now I can give a rats butt about working to hard on the exterior. I'm the same guy that stores his Exige in the winter and piles boxes and crap on top of it. I make sure the mechanical functions work well and keep up on those parts! Eventually the car will begin to look beat up no matter what where I live. At 22k miles though I am surprised how well the ceramic coating has held (Applied Day 3 of ownership).

During the winter I have taken my CTR to delta sonic multiple times with no issues. Tried the touchless car washes but they really don't do the job. Once the weather warms up I will go back to doing the washing and waxing myself.

Why the hell would anyone allow a dealer to wash their car? Do it yourself so it’s done right.

jinderC said:

Why the hell would anyone allow a dealer to wash their car? Do it yourself so it’s done right.

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what do you do in the winter time?

Water Blade will make drying much faster.
https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/flexible+water+blade.do?sortby=ourPicks

HBF airless paint sprayer with distilled water for a final rinse. No drying needed.

TRWRacing said:

HBF airless paint sprayer with distilled water for a final rinse. No drying needed.

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I would still argue that a Electric Leaf Blower is the best way to dry the car.

(a) Touchless - 100% NO Chance of scratches or whirls.
(If you are paranoid, add a foam protection to the Nozzle)

(b) Blows the water out of any crevices (Microfiber cloths will not do this !)

(c) You can see how well the beads of water fly off the car, giving you a good indicattion when the paint surface needs some TLC.

And many other uses for the Blower.

ie
Blowing sand and road dirt out of Engine Compartment

Blowing accumulated dust etc out of the car
(Your head Unit display will stay a lot more Static Dust Free)


$29 Home Depot . 180 MPH Blower !!! Light Weight-- easy to wave around for the 10 minutes it takes to thoroughly dry the car.

kg4fxg said:

Water Blade will make drying much faster.
https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/flexible+water+blade.do?sortby=ourPicks

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I have this, only used it on glass on the CTR.. safe to use on paint?

SCOPESYS said:

$29 Home Depot . 180 MPH Blower !!! Light Weight-- easy to wave around for the 10 minutes it takes to thoroughly dry the car.

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Does this work with spray on ceramic car wax?

tsw said:

I have this, only used it on glass on the CTR.. safe to use on paint?

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I would not recommend this on paint!

I never take a new car through a car wash. My dealer’s car wash uses brushes of some sort & they said if you don’t want the car washed just request no wash.

For some car washing tips take a look at this person’s videos. There are 5 parts.


He has many videos on washing & detailing cars. He’s also done a video in conjunction with The Rag Company that sells Microfiber towels.


I did buy a couple of these Pluffle towels & they are great.
https://www.theragcompany.com/platinum-pluffle-20-x-40-hybrid-weave-microfiber-drying-towel/

This may seem like a lot of steps but it’s really not bad. Sometimes I use the 2 bucket method, sometimes not. Depends how dirty the car is. I’ve been using 2 wash mitts for years so that’s no big deal.

I do a final rinse using the pooling water technique as described. It’s not perfect but does get some excess water off the car. A lot depends on the trickle flowing out of the hose. I found if it’s too low it doesn’t work as well. Then I use a Worx leaf blower to get rid of some more water.

I dry the car using one of those large Pluffle towels. I can usually dry the car with just one towel. It does absorb a lot of water but holds it. I’ll do the door sills & jambs with a regular old cotton towel. I don’t want to mess up the Pluffle towel in case it gets grease on it from the door latch or striker.

Just be sure to follow the washing instructions for micro fiber towels. Cold water, fragrance free detergent, anti-static dryer sheets, and wash by themselves. Supposedly fragrance & cotton from other towels or clothes really clogs up the micro fiber structure. And heat melts the micro tips.