Car Washing...what are your tips and tricks

[CLTGT]

Heck, I have the same thing happen with my wife's GLS 450 with respect to water dripping for an extended period of time from both her side view mirrors and her lift gate.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Agreed, I was being a bit tongue and cheek before but water dripping has been an issue with every car I've owned since 1992. I just haven't used a leaf blower.

I do plan on getting a deionized water filter. That bugged me more yesterday than the dripping.

 

[BruceH]

I know this thread is a bit old, but thought I'd throw in my two cents. I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to cleaning my car. As hydbob said, you can spend a lot of money on this! I have a Kranzle pressure washer, a foam cannon, lots of chemicals, clay bars and microfiber towel, heck, I even have an 8ph warm filtered air car dryer and a wall mounted garage vacuum! I know, I'm an idiot, but with the kids grown I have more time on the weekends. I will say that my favorite drying towel is the Luxury Microfiber Sucker drying towel. This thing is amazing and I highly recommend it. If you want to go down a rabbit hole on this topic, there's a professional car detailing guy out of Canada who has an awesome YouTube channel with all kinds of helpful information. His name is Pan the Organizer and he has tons of content.

 

[Bus Driver]

I know this thread is a bit old, but thought I'd throw in my two cents. I'm a bit of a fanatic when it comes to cleaning my car. As hydbob said, you can spend a lot of money on this! I have a Kranzle pressure washer, a foam cannon, lots of chemicals, clay bars and microfiber towel, heck, I even have an 8ph warm filtered air car dryer and a wall mounted garage vacuum! I know, I'm an idiot, but with the kids grown I have more time on the weekends. I will say that my favorite drying towel is the Luxury Microfiber Sucker drying towel. This thing is amazing and I highly recommend it. If you want to go down a rabbit hole on this topic, there's a professional car detailing guy out of Canada who has an awesome YouTube channel with all kinds of helpful information. His name is Pan the Organizer and he has tons of content.

Pan the Organiser is very charming and very informative, but for OCD goofiness you can’t beat Larry Kosilla at AMMO NYC.

 

[BruceH]

Pan the Organiser is very charming and very informative, but for OCD goofiness you can’t beat Larry Kosilla at AMMO NYC.

Yes, there are a lot of talented detailers on YouTube and they are all OCD!

 

[EVCar]

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.

Since the DI unit is not used daily, and unless there’s a way to drain, I wonder if the inside will get moldy.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Since the DI unit is not used daily, and unless there’s a way to drain, I wonder if the inside will get moldy.

What is your water type well or city?

 

[emoylv]

Okay so here we go, prepare to spend money!

Since you have a pressure washer, buy this

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-EQP_312-Professional-Honeydew/dp/B00OA66IG0/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=DWHQK13EWTGB&keywords=foam+cannon&qid=1650075918&sprefix=foam+cannon%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExTEQ0S0NXOEFQRFhGJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTY3MjkwMTExNDRWU1NHT0JaRSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzc4ODQxMzRRUTJBU1VXVU5EWSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Also buy 2 5 gallon buckets and...

A Grit Guard

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-Cyclone-Bucket-Insert/dp/B01CJEBH0G/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=18ZQK9O9K5JXM&keywords=grit+guard&qid=1650076063&s=automotive&sprefix=grit+guar%2Cautomotive%2C130&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUE1MjVUWUdWQTMxQTYmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAxNzIwMzgzVTBFSTdFSTRZSVlSJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTAwMjkwNTVKUFdSOUxEVUg2ODAmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

Get 2 of these in different colors

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-Scratch-Free-Microfiber-MIC493/dp/B086HKHWZ4/ref=sr_1_4?crid=VDMW638ZCXZC&keywords=car+wash+mitt&qid=1650076096&s=automotive&sprefix=car+wash+mit%2Cautomotive%2C135&sr=1-4

A LOT of microfiber towels

https://www.amazon.com/Chemical-Guys-MIC_506_12-Professional-Microfiber/dp/B00A8MZ7IA/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1BRJ6PUV7OQL4&keywords=microfiber+towels&qid=1650076131&s=automotive&sprefix=microfiber+towels%2Cautomotive%2C139&sr=1-4

Some window towels

https://www.amazon.com/RAG-COMPANY-Waffle-Weave-Microfiber-Detailing/dp/B019YG8WW8/ref=sr_1_12?crid=3RJHA03BCZ9BJ&keywords=window+towels&qid=1650076164&s=automotive&sprefix=window+towels%2Cautomotive%2C136&sr=1-12

Glass Cleaner

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

Wheel Cleaner

https://www.amazon.com/Adams-Wheel-Tire-Cleaner-16oz/dp/B07X5N24PM/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3EW9QH9BW2FGP&keywords=tire+wash&qid=1650076460&s=automotive&sprefix=tire+wash%2Cautomotive%2C163&sr=1-5

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.

Echo hydbob on the Honeydew wash; it's terrific. Trinova makes a nice foam cannon that won't break the bank. Nice machined brass fittings. Bought cheap de-ionizer from Costco on sale. Also a cheap pressurized washer from Home Depot with a nozzle that "twirls" the water. The water here in Vegas is extremely hard. I don't pre-rinse, waste of water. I spray the foam on and let it work.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

Echo hydbob on the Honeydew wash; it's terrific. Trinova makes a nice foam cannon that won't break the bank. Nice machined brass fittings. Bought cheap de-ionizer from Costco on sale. Also a cheap pressurized washer from Home Depot with a nozzle that "twirls" the water. The water here in Vegas is extremely hard. I don't pre-rinse, waste of water. I spray the foam on and let it work.

I think in the manual it says not to use that type of nozzle on a pressure washer.

 

[emoylv]

I think in the manual it says not to use that type of nozzle on a pressure washer.

What manual?

 

[Grubie]

Pay a professional detailer to wash your car. $35.00, once a week, ought to do it.

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

What manual?

Paper or on the app. Someone with more knowledge would have to say whether circular jet is the same as spinning...

 

[hydbob]

Pay a professional detailer to wash your car. $35.00, once a week, ought to do it.

Where do you live where someone will wash your car for $35!?!?!

 

[MoniputerLM]

Where do you live where someone will wash your car for $35!?!?!

Not in Houston!

 

[EVCar]

What is your water type well or city?

We're in Arizona where the water is very hard.

 

[Coltonw011]

Since the DI unit is not used daily, and unless there’s a way to drain, I wonder if the inside will get moldy.

I expect no mold/algae growth. Purchase a black tank unit, store out of sunlight, it will be fine. For me, when I set up these units, since they are flow through heads, I plumb in an upflow configuration with an upper screen assembly on the base of the control head. This creates a “back flush” to prevent fouling of the units, while preventing any larger debris to escape the upper screen on the head. I was once a month so far on my daily without issues (I live on city water with carbon and softening ahead of my DI unit).

 

[emoylv]

Pay a professional detailer to wash your car. $35.00, once a week, ought to do it.

In Vegas, $35 won't get you a professional or a detailer :-(

 

[emoylv]

Paper or on the app. Someone with more knowledge would have to say whether circular jet is the same as spinning...

View attachment 4480

A BIG thank you. You just prevented a grown man crying over a new Lucid after he washed his car

 

[dawktah LucidGT]

A BIG thank you. You just prevented a grown man crying over a new Lucid after he washed his car

You're welcome

 

[RGS_AZ]

I never knew washing a car with hot water was a thing until now

Most of the time here in Arizona my COLD water is never below 100 degrees!