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Car Washing...what are your tips and tricks

Maverick

Maverick

Active Member
Verified Owner
Joined
Dec 14, 2021
Messages
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Location
Scottsdale, AZ
Cars
Lucid GT
With a car as nice as this, there is, at least with me, a desire to make sure that it is clean as much as possible. Having it detailed weekly seems like a stretch, so I'm interested in what others are doing do keep it looking amazing. When I got back from LA, I used a Dewalt low-pressure (1500 I think) sprayer to remove bugs and other stuff. It seemed to do a nice job, but the water spots on the red really annoyed me. I think I got most of them off, but what do y'all suggest for both the glass and the body to keep it looking nice without a crazy amount of effort? Certainly, I think getting the PPF and ceramic will help, but when actually washing, what do you do?
 
Okay so here we go, prepare to spend money!

Since you have a pressure washer, buy this


Also buy 2 5 gallon buckets and...

A Grit Guard


Get 2 of these in different colors


A LOT of microfiber towels


Some window towels


Glass Cleaner

www.opticoat.com

Opti-Coat Opti-Glass Clean & Protect 16 oz. - Opti-Coat

Opti-Coat® Glass Clean & Protect is designed to clean and boost your Opti-Glass™ Pro Coating with a simple wipe on, wipe off application. It will clean glass surfaces without streaking while the polymers will bond to glass surfaces and continue to add protection every time you use this product...
www.opticoat.com www.opticoat.com

Wheel Cleaner


Okay now you are ready.

Fill both buckets with water, get both mits soaking. Spray your car, hook up that foam cannon and foam away. Using only 1 mit, wash foam on car. After 2 panels (my preference) rinse out in bucket with grit guard. Rinse again in other bucket. Continue until car is washed. Rinse off. Use 2nd mit now and use the wheel cleaner. Clean and rinse wheels. Grab your leaf blower and blow car from top down, get into the grooves and get that water out. Dry with microfiber cloth. After dry, take the Glass Cleaner and clean glass with the glass towels.

If you have ceramic coating, then you can get this https://www.opticoat.com/product/opti-coat-hyper-seal-16-oz/ to help top up the ceramic, but only need to do it once every 3 months or so.
 
I use all of the similar stuff as above, but from Griott’s. I will also use Speed Shine or Speed Was from Griott’s if I want to do a quicker job. My Mustangs and formerly my Cobra never get wet.
 
hydbob said:
Okay so here we go, prepare to spend money!

Since you have a pressure washer, buy this


Also buy 2 5 gallon buckets and...

A Grit Guard


Get 2 of these in different colors


A LOT of microfiber towels


Some window towels


Glass Cleaner

www.opticoat.com

Opti-Coat Opti-Glass Clean & Protect 16 oz. - Opti-Coat

Opti-Coat® Glass Clean & Protect is designed to clean and boost your Opti-Glass™ Pro Coating with a simple wipe on, wipe off application. It will clean glass surfaces without streaking while the polymers will bond to glass surfaces and continue to add protection every time you use this product...
www.opticoat.com www.opticoat.com

Wheel Cleaner


Okay now you are ready.

Fill both buckets with water, get both mits soaking. Spray your car, hook up that foam cannon and foam away. Using only 1 mit, wash foam on car. After 2 panels (my preference) rinse out in bucket with grit guard. Rinse again in other bucket. Continue until car is washed. Rinse off. Use 2nd mit now and use the wheel cleaner. Clean and rinse wheels. Grab your leaf blower and blow car from top down, get into the grooves and get that water out. Dry with microfiber cloth. After dry, take the Glass Cleaner and clean glass with the glass towels.

If you have ceramic coating, then you can get this https://www.opticoat.com/product/opti-coat-hyper-seal-16-oz/ to help top up the ceramic, but only need to do it once every 3 months or so.
Click to expand...
Please please someone tell me this is overkill? I washed it once with my standard hose, car detergent, mitt and shammy. If I am as diligent as @hydbod, I’ll never wash my car!
 
Pete44 said:
Please please someone tell me this is overkill? I washed it once with my standard hose, car detergent, mitt and shammy. If I am as diligent as @hydbod, I’ll never wash my car!
Click to expand...
It's ok. Do it the way that works for you, but know that @hydbob has set a new standard.
 
Heck, cars like the Dream edition deserve a first-class wash job, for sure.
I still have in my garage a litany of car wash gadgets, including a robust handheld air blower. The thing is as time goes on, I get expedient and just do the @Pete44 method. When I get my hands on my Air, my interests in these old items probably will be rekindled, at least at the beginning.
 
Pete44 said:
Please please someone tell me this is overkill? I washed it once with my standard hose, car detergent, mitt and shammy. If I am as diligent as @hydbod, I’ll never wash my car!
Click to expand...
There’s a guy on YouTube IMJOSHV I think that does a simpler version. The trick to avoid water spots is to dry it FAST using a couple large twist loop style towel and then blow off the remaining droplets off with a high powered leaf blower (I use craftsman electric one). If you let it get too warm in the sun it will make water spots. I use the chemical guys foam cannon like Hydbob posted hooked up with quick connects to Ryobi 1800psi pressure washer with Mr Pink soap in the foam cannon, I don’t use 2 bucket method though, too much work with no benefit. Just use edgeless microfiber towels to gently clean sections of the car once you’ve foamed, you need about 5 towels, then discard each one when it’s saturated (you can reuse later, just wash them in the washing machine with warm water with gentle detergent, NEVER use fabric softener and then air dry in the drier). After foam wash with the microfiber towels then just blast-rinse it with the 15mm power-washer attachment then towel dry with twist loop towels then air dry with the leaf blower. It’s still work, but a little less fussy than the pro detailer 2 bucket/mitt method and works great on my current car, way better than any car wash and it was about $250 total to get everything I needed.
 
2 bucket is probably overkill unless you have A LOT OF DIRT. It's really just to avoid getting swirls in your paint.
 
I knew this would be a fun thread :).
 
These are great.

www.griotsgarage.com

PFM® Crinkle Glass Towels, Set of 3

Get a streak-free shine every time with PFM® Crinkle Glass Towels. Dual-sided weave design for superior cleaning. Set of 3, each 16" x 16".
www.griotsgarage.com www.griotsgarage.com

www.griotsgarage.com

Extra-Large PFM® Edgeless Drying Towel

Experience superior drying power with our Extra-Large PFM® Edgeless Drying Towel. Unleash 1,044 square inches of thirsty microfiber for faster vehicle drying.
www.griotsgarage.com www.griotsgarage.com
 
Serious question as someone who has always been too lazy to wash my cars...what is the purpose of the soap? I'm sure a stupid question but with water and hand drying, what does the soap actually do?
 
Yea, all the members with classic cars will know a lot more than I do. My buddy who used to do car shows with his heavily modded WRX showed me what to do. Plus I have 3 helpers (my kids) who I'm trying to teach about taking care of their important possessions to help me dry off.

Grainy pics but you guys get the point!

VideoCapture_20220415-204200.webp
VideoCapture_20220415-204114.webp
 
Maverick said:
Serious question as someone who has always been too lazy to wash my cars...what is the purpose of the soap? I'm sure a stupid question but with water and hand drying, what does the soap actually do?
Click to expand...
Water alone won't get the grime off, and soap help breaks up the stuff clinging to your car. Water is good if you want to get all those fine swirl marks into your paint because the soap didn't break up the dirt bonding to your car. Do you only wash dishes with water? Why do you use soap?!?!
 
Of course that could just be what the powerful soap lobby is telling you to believe.
 
Coltonw011 said:
I own a water filtration company - I build DI resin wash stations. I pre wash, then rinse with DI water and air dry with an electric leaf blower. No water spots.
Click to expand...
Is there an at home DI kit? I had one forever ago that used filters but they were only good for 2 washes...
 
hydbob said:
Is there an at home DI kit? I had one forever ago that used filters but they were only good for 2 washes...
Click to expand...
The problem is those are all far too small. I build them by the cubic ft - DI resin requires backwashing with sodium hydroxide which is why most people sell just the cartridges. I’ve found that depending on water quality being fed to the unit, a 1 cubic ft system is good for about 6-12 months depending on washing frequency. At that point it’s easiest to rebed the filter, a cubic ft of DI resin is about $200-$300 online and it’s very simple to rebed one.
 
EVCar said:
Any thoughts on:
rv-mods.com

CR Spotless water systems conversion kit

Spot Free Finish supply window washing equipment, RV Mods Di Rinse, Resin Refill Funnel, Norwex bug cloth and more at reasonable pricing.
rv-mods.com rv-mods.com
Click to expand...
Good unit! Almost exactly how I build mine - makes them nice and mobile. I would recommend checking your TDS (cheap Amazon meter does the trick) before buying it. As @hydbob said, the media can get spent pretty quickly. The higher the TDS the less life it will have. Not only that, 2000 gallons sounds like a lot, but it also goes quickly. I recommend getting a 1.5 GPM low pressure washer to feed the DI water to. This will restrict flow while keeping pressure high so you can maximize the life of the media.
 
Coltonw011 said:
Good unit! Almost exactly how I build mine - makes them nice and mobile. I would recommend checking your TDS (cheap Amazon meter does the trick) before buying it. As @hydbob said, the media can get spent pretty quickly. The higher the TDS the less life it will have. Not only that, 2000 gallons sounds like a lot, but it also goes quickly. I recommend getting a 1.5 GPM low pressure washer to feed the DI water to. This will restrict flow while keeping pressure high so you can maximize the life of the media.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice, @Coltonw011.
The Arizona water is notoriously bad so I'll keep my expectation low.
If there's sufficient interest, perhaps we can add this to the group buy list, too.
 
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