Best way to clean your pride & joy?

[ChrisRs]

Lots of people who love detailing on here but my firm favourite thats never done me wrong is hose rinse, warm bucket and sponge with half decent car shampoo, rinse and chamois off.

When the weather is nice and I can spare the time (rare and cant remember the last time I did it now) I might give it a polish with some Auto Glym Resin polish but thats as far as it goes. Dont use tyre gel as if you kerb a wheel and it needs a smart repair makes it a ballache for the smart repairers to get a good finish as it binds to alloys like grease in a chip pan

I'm afraid that whilst I appreciate that you are not into detailing...things have moved on...as well as modern paints that are easily damaged by your products and technique...as far your comments on tyre gel go...you could not be further away from the facts!!

[littleade]

So when jet washing the body, keeping about 1 meter away seems to be the way to go. When it comes to rims (anthracite Gemini's on my O3 vRS), is it safe to get in there close to get the muck off or is that a no no too?

Most domestic jet washers will never cause you any problems. People only tend to have problems when they use high powered commercial ones like they use on lorries etc. too close with the wrong nozzle. The rule I use for my paintwork is if the water is uncomfortable/ hurts my hand I'm too close. As far as your lurvely Geminis are concerned the alloys get more grief so although it sounds mad you need to spend more effort keeping them in tip top nick than your paintwork as once they deteriorate its hard to get them looking their best. They get bombarded by hot dust off your pads as well as all the other crud like dirt and tar. I detar mine with tardis and use ironx to neutralise the iron in the drake dust as that'll eat into your lacquer. I then seal the alloys with a proper wheel sealer like bilberry wheel wax while others use gtechnik nano products but if you use the proper stuff they will remain protected for up to 6 months. Again as above I regularly use a non acidic cleaner like billberry wheel cleaner which doesn't attack your alloys, but gets them clean. As above dont spray directly on the hub at close range but your alloys will be ok

[Titanium_Man]

I have to echo what has been said already....

 

Sponges keep crap that will scratch your paint too close to the paintwork and it's pretty much well agreed that something like a mit, sheepskin glove etc will help minimise this type of damage to your car as they help keeps the contaminants away from the body of the car.

 

Don't get me wrong, I can "clean" my car with a sponge or the 1 bucket method, but in my OWN experience, not taking care when cleaning your car can and will come back to bite you in the arse if you are not careful. Likewise, if you are not particularly observant, you wont notice the new hairline scratches in your paintwork, nor will you see the remaining tar spots left on your car and none of this means anything to you

 

It's all down to how bothered are you about how your car looks?!?!?

[Svend]

Car cleaning has come on leaps and bounds over the years. Sponges themselves aren't inherently dangerous or damaging, it's done to how they are used. The safer option is a good prewash (like a washing machine, it helps loosen and soften the dirt, making it a lot easier when it comes to actually shampooing the car with a noodle wash mitt and two bucket method. Chamois also, like sponges aren't dangerous, but they are invariably quite hard, dense and need a little pressure so if the odd bit of grit has escaped the wash mitt and rinsem it'll be more likely to do damage than a microfibre drying towel you can either drag it loosely over the car or pat the car dry by placing the towel over an area and patting it all over beore moving onto the next area. The good thing is, car cleaning can be as cheap or as expensive as you want or can afford.

[banksie]

Lots of people who love detailing on here but my firm favourite thats never done me wrong is hose rinse, warm bucket and sponge with half decent car shampoo, rinse and chamois off.

When the weather is nice and I can spare the time (rare and cant remember the last time I did it now) I might give it a polish with some Auto Glym Resin polish but thats as far as it goes. Dont use tyre gel as if you kerb a wheel and it needs a smart repair makes it a ballache for the smart repairers to get a good finish as it binds to alloys like grease in a chip pan

  This time of year I thought you shouldn't use warm water as it activates the salt that will be covering the car, so therefore the bits of water that are in all the nooks and crannies that you just can't get to are actually doing more harm

Car cleaning has come on leaps and bounds over the years. Sponges themselves aren't inherently dangerous or damaging, it's done to how they are used. The safer option is a good prewash (like a washing machine, it helps loosen and soften the dirt, making it a lot easier when it comes to actually shampooing the car with a noodle wash mitt and two bucket method. Chamois also, like sponges aren't dangerous, but they are invariably quite hard, dense and need a little pressure so if the odd bit of grit has escaped the wash mitt and rinsem it'll be more likely to do damage than a microfibre drying towel you can either drag it loosely over the car or pat the car dry by placing the towel over an area and patting it all over beore moving onto the next area. The good thing is, car cleaning can be as cheap or as expensive as you want or can afford.

Totally agree. That's why I'm finding it difficult to get my head round the wash mitt over a brush. I can see that a brush will scratch the car if used incorrectly but a jet wash without soap doesn't remove everything and then to pull a wash mitt along the car the dirt between the mitt and the car surely must scratch it? I understand that the dirt is supposed to go into the mitt but when I've seen pictures of wet mitts I can't see how its any better that a brush or am I missing something?

[ChrisRs]

It is safer than a brush.......proven

BUT

At the end of the day..you prefer a brush..go ahead

 

All I have ever used on my Octavia is a sheepskin washpad.......

Result..car nearly 4 years old and no scratches

God knows what it would look like if I used a brush!!!

[oxonboxn]

It is safer than a brush.......proven

BUT

At the end of the day..you prefer a brush..go ahead

 

All I have ever used on my Octavia is a sheepskin washpad.......

Result..car nearly 4 years old and no scratches

God knows what it would look like if I used a brush!!!

Willing guinea-pig needed....one half of bonnet always washed with a brush, other half with mitt. Two years on, compare results.

It won't be me though. I used to use a (top-quality) brush on previous cars...I now use a mitt on current car. Difference is already obvious.

[banksie]

It is safer than a brush.......proven

BUT

At the end of the day..you prefer a brush..go ahead

 

All I have ever used on my Octavia is a sheepskin washpad.......

Result..car nearly 4 years old and no scratches

God knows what it would look like if I used a brush!!!

Not saying I prefer a brush!

If there is something better I want to use it and I'm trying to find out why a wash mitt is better having never used one!

If its proven where is the evidence - do you have a link?

[ChrisRs]

LOL...Not me either!!

[ChrisRs]

Wash Mitts
Lambswool and Sheepswool wash mitts have been developed to get around the problems of sponges and soft brushes trapping grit particles by the flat face. If you run your fingers through a lambwool mitt, you can see that it is deep pile and not flat faced:



Returning to the grit partciles on paintwork, when the wash mitt is placed onto them, the grit particles are absorbed into the mitt - safely away from paintwork so that they cannot scratch the paint:



Therefore, sweeping the mitt across the paint doesn't sweep the grit over the paint also and so you don't inflict lots of tiny hairline scratches.

 

[LeeHarrison]

Returning to the grit partciles on paintwork, when the wash mitt is placed onto them, the grit particles are absorbed into the mitt - safely away from paintwork so that they cannot scratch the paint:

Therefore, sweeping the mitt across the paint doesn't sweep the grit over the paint also and so you don't inflict lots of tiny hairline scratches.

 

 

Chris, stupid question maybe but barring obvious cost differences is the same applicable for the 'Noodle' type wash mitts?

[ChrisRs]

Only ever used one on my wheels

They appear harsh to me...but I don't imagine they will remove dirt as effectively or as safely from the pile surface

[Sparkly]

On the noodles there is a big variation in quality out there some good and some cheap and nasty ones.

 

Microfibre as a principle will clean very effectively and safely lift dirt into it's pile (otherwise we wouldn't use the stuff so much) but just like MF drying towels, buffing towels etc quality varies immensely.

 

It should also be considered that looking after a good lambswool mitt can be a bit tricky and once they go bad they simply need replacing.  Equally, if you are fastidious they will last a long time

 

Don't get me wrong if I had infinite funds I would go for a Dooka Wooly Wash Mitt or Pad this (woolly) type are the best.

 

However a good quality MF Noodle Washmitt (I have a few pink ones from Muc Off which I like) is I think more than acceptable, it holds a tonne of water, has good quality soft MF Noodles tightly packed which clean very well with little to no pressure applied and they were cheap enough that I just bin them once they get past there prime.  Oh and I can machine wash them along with my other MF cloths.

 

After a good prewash routine I personally feel the good noodle mitts are safe.

[banksie]

OK Guys your almost convincing me!

Dooka or Adams then if I'm buying?

[Sparkly]

Think that's my bad.  Dooka is only available as a Wash Pad.

 

Perhaps take a look at the Dodo Juice Yeti's Fist if you want a mitt (such a good name)

[GBHam]

I am with Baz555, give the wife the keys and tell her to get on with it.

[Svend]

Not saying I prefer a brush!

If there is something better I want to use it and I'm trying to find out why a wash mitt is better having never used one!

If its proven where is the evidence - do you have a link?

I brings you video, yes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_cq2PtYRD8

The last one is the hand wash with wash mitt, which is the safest but the 'blade' put paid to the hard work.

[littleade]

If like me you don't want the faff of looking after a lambs wool mit try the meguiars mf one. Its the 1 I use and has the advantage of having the mf all round while the lambs wool ones tend to be 1 sided so you effectively get double the area of mit available between dunks though ultimately the lambs wool is probably the better of the 2 but by how much I couldn't say

[baz555]

I take my car down the road to be hand washed

they do a great job the car is spotless including the rims all for £7.00 or £15 inside and outside.. 

been doing that for over 7 years now.. 

[ChrisRs]

A really useful contribution to this thread!!

BTW....... it will be covered in micro scratches

So who's laughing now??

[Sparkly]

I take my car down the road to be hand washed

they do a great job the car is spotless including the rims all for £7.00 or £15 inside and outside.. 

been doing that for over 7 years now.. 

 

Please enlighten us as to their routine?

 

My guess is

 

Prewash with highly aggressive TFR stripping any protection that may (probably not) have been on the car already.

Acidic wheel cleaner in a pump sprayer on the wheels - watch out damaged lacquer.

Perhaps cheap snowfoam - followed by what I like to call the no bucket method whereby the attendants take the mitts they use for every car that comes by (frequently dropped on the floor also) and proceed to take all the grit from the lowdown places on your car and grind it into the whole vehicule using said "snowfoam" as shampoo.  Who needs a bucket.

Rinse with pressure washer on high pressure at 5cm from bodywork (the approved method I believe) to remove/blast/decimate the grime the wash monkeys missed

As this happens a 5 year old with an oily rag will administer lashing of grit to your alloys as he washes them with unmentioned chemicals.

Dry with rubber blades ensuring any grit that was not initially rinsed off is at least deeply embedded enough in your paintwork you hopefully wont notice.

Spray on "wax" protection of Demon Shine grade or most likely lower to temporarily hide all the inflicted damage (at least until it rains and is washed away)

Final stage wipedown with the chamois.

 

Et voila you are officially smarter than everyone else in this subforum because you pay people £7.00 to spoil your paint work

[baz555]

Please enlighten us as to their routine?

 

My guess is

 

Prewash with highly aggressive TFR stripping any protection that may (probably not) have been on the car already.

Acidic wheel cleaner in a pump sprayer on the wheels - watch out damaged lacquer.

Perhaps cheap snowfoam - followed by what I like to call the no bucket method whereby the attendants take the mitts they use for every car that comes by (frequently dropped on the floor also) and proceed to take all the grit from the lowdown places on your car and grind it into the whole vehicule using said "snowfoam" as shampoo.  Who needs a bucket.

Rinse with pressure washer on high pressure at 5cm from bodywork (the approved method I believe) to remove/blast/decimate the grime the wash monkeys missed

As this happens a 5 year old with an oily rag will administer lashing of grit to your alloys as he washes them with unmentioned chemicals.

Dry with rubber blades ensuring any grit that was not initially rinsed off is at least deeply embedded enough in your paintwork you hopefully wont notice.

Spray on "wax" protection of Demon Shine grade or most likely lower to temporarily hide all the inflicted damage (at least until it rains and is washed away)

Final stage wipedown with the chamois.

 

Et voila you are officially smarter than everyone else in this subforum because you pay people £7.00 to spoil your paint work

My paint work & rims are ok I don't have time to spend hours washing my car I have a 2 businesses to run and a life....!!!!!!!!! 

[MozzieOwner]

My paint work & rims are ok I don't have time to spend hours washing my car I have a 2 businesses to run and a life....!!!!!!!!! 

And thats the best way for you. Maybe not the best way for others, but thats why its called choice.

 

The best way to clean your car (motorhome, bike etc) depends what you are trying to achieve and the amount of time/effort/money your willing to invest.

 

For instance, it takes me 4-6 hours just to wash a car and do a quick interior.

 

If you have a busy life (full of work, family, going out etc) then this is alot of time that you will feel can be used in a better way, and thats fine.

 

Some people see cleaning a car as a chore, others as a pleasure and way to relax. Its all down to choice.

[Sparkly]

My paint work & rims are ok I don't have time to spend hours washing my car I have a 2 businesses to run and a life....!!!!!!!!!

Well, I am sorry If I upset you, you are clearly a very important person.

My opinion was simply that your original post was a bit of a silly one to drop into the DETAILING section of a forum for car enthusiasts.

As it stands I also have to work and have a young family, truth be told I don't get to clean my car as often as I would like, however when I do, if it needs to be done quickly, I can match any hand car wash for time, the job is done much much better and safer for my car, all without having to drive to said car wash. In taking an interest in detailing I have learnt a great number of useful things and enjoy nothing more than sharing this with friends be that a forum member asking a question or doing a detail on a family members car before they sell it. Point being if I went into the Octy sub forum and posted "should have bought a golf" I'd expect a reaction.

Again sorry if you are upset at my post, but such is the nature of forums, post something for all to read (especially in a rather erroneous place) and you kind of have to accept the criticism.

[oxonboxn]

I agree totally with Mozzie....it's a trade-off between time expended, money spent, results expected and how much your car means to you. I personally wouldn't let anyone else near my cars to "clean" them....especially the dealers' valeters!