I would think that washing your car during the winter is possibly more important than doing so in the summer. However, with this weekend looking like it is going to be freezing yet sunny and the evenings being to dark to wash the car, how do you lot keep your cars clean over the winter months? I dont fancy the thought of pouring water on the car,around door seals etc. just before it freezes.

Wash it, dry it and then drive it before parking up for the night. A brisk drive after washing and drying should get rid of any residual water.

I don't mind it freezing cold and sunny.When I take a chunk out of my knuckles,I never notice till I see the water going red (cleaning under the arches you understand)

A weekend morning usually, if it's dry!

Will try and do a full clean this weekend, polish and wax etc which should hopefully see me through until it gets light again! Will just wash paintwork and do wheels when necessary through the winter months.

Can be difficult fitting the cleaning in though, I know, especially if you've got other stuff on over weekends.

Steve

How do polishes work in the cold weather? I remember trying to use turtle wax on my first car, years ago, and it was a pain to remove if the bodywork was too cold.

I've since moved on to Autoglym but not tried this during the winter months.

EDIT: Just rang AutoGlym who say it should work fine so long as the product is not at zero degrees. The guy said it will work just as well though it may take a little more work.

How do polishes work in the cold weather? I remember trying to use turtle wax on my first car' date=' years ago, and it was a pain to remove if the bodywork was too cold.

I've since moved on to Autoglym but not tried this during the winter months.[/quote']

I know what you mean, I use Meguiars polishes and waxes and they are a little bit more difficult to remove than when it's warmer but not a biggie. And, as I said, probably won't use them until the New Year, after this weekend.

Remember Turtle Wax being a pain ALL the time when I used to use it; bloody white residue all over the place

Steve

Washing car in winter is easy

drive into local hand car wash, pay a fiver, drive through the relevent wash and wax bays, drive out....job done

:D:D:D:D:D

I am going to give the car a good wash and top up the wax, then during the next few months, use our local handwash guys, to use their jetwash hose to get rid of salt etc.

Car was all waxed and protected at the end of the summer - just planning on jet-washing it at Tesco over the winter to wash all the surface cr@p off

Chris

Daytime washes with a neutral Ph detergent. I like Brazilian carnauba wax, 'cause its easy on / easy off. Its not a hard synthetic wax, so you can re-apply again and again to build up a deep showroom shine. I also use a high-temp wax for the wheels (Poorboy's World Wheel Sealant): break dust just wipes off, easy-peasy, lemon sqeezy!

Verr.

Washing car in winter is easy

drive into local hand car wash' date=' pay a fiver, drive through the relevent wash and wax bays, drive out....job done

:D:D:D:D:D[/quote']

:eek: Aaaaggggghhhhh. They drop the sponge too Aaaaagggghhh

DONT GO THERE !!!! :thumbdwn:

Daytime washes with a neutral Ph detergent. I like Brazilian carnauba wax' date=' 'cause its easy on / easy off. Its not a hard synthetic wax, so you can re-apply again and again to build up a deep showroom shine. I also use a high-temp wax for the wheels (Poorboy's World Wheel Sealant): break dust just wipes off, easy-peasy, lemon sqeezy!

Verr.[/quote']

Swissol and Meguires pH neutral car wash (NXT) in conjunction with my jet washer

frack, washing it in the summer is hard enough for me at the moment...

Left my jet wash somewhere...oh well I'll have to get closer to the lorrys on the M40.

frack' date=' washing it in the summer is hard enough for me at the moment...

Left my jet wash somewhere...oh well I'll have to get closer to the lorrys on the M40.[/quote']

I'm with you on this one put a good dose of grease on things and leave alone till next May.

I put a layer or two of wax on the paintwork before the winter.

Infact, I've tried a new doublecoat type of wax this year. Must say, it's brilliant stuff!

Put it on about a month ago & it's still doing the biz!

Have a look here

Wash with Meguiars Gold Class & dry with microfibre cloth every Sunday without fail & then a 5 min drive to blow the standing water off.

Sad, I know!

:eek: Aaaaggggghhhhh. They drop the sponge too Aaaaagggghhh

DONT GO THERE !!!! :thumbdwn:

Yep, does happen :eek:

Saw this happen once when I was in my Dad's car and he couldn't be bothered to wash it himself

We were behind this absolutely filthy 4x4 and the cleaning monkey was the same sponge to clean out the mud and cr@p from the arches as he was for the bodywork. When it was our turn I asked him if he was gonna use the same sponge for all of our car. He promptly told me to f*ck off and mind my own business! :eek: :thumbdwn: Cue my Dad heading for the exit pronto, nearly taking the said monkey along with us in the process

Anyway, that's the last time he's ever gone to one of those dodgy 'handwash' places!!

Steve

Give it a good wax asap & that wuill get you through the winter,on cold days take Eddies advice & take it for a good spin after youve cleaned it.

Easiest time to wash it round here where the water is very hard is when its raining, cars already wet & it gets a rinse from water that leaves less deposits than the stuff that comes out of the tap

I gave mine the winter pamper last weekend. A good wash with Meguiars Gold Class then the Meguiars 3 stage treatment - paint cleaner, polish, wax. It looks superb and I also got to try out my new Halfords car polisher. The whole thing took nearly two days and the pain in my lower back is only just starting to go but well worth it :eek:

Also, the definative answer to the removal not the covering up of old wax/polish residue on black trim. I still had some small patches from earlier on this year and I can confirm that Meguiars Step 1 Paint Cleaner takes it straight off. I found this out by accident when I was cleaning the paintwork. Bonus!

And while I'm in the mood to impart new (to me anyway) info. Ever fancied one of these http://shop.meguiars.co.uk/cgi-bin/specwd.pl?pc=G104&tp=0 ? Why not try one of these http://www.motor-world.co.uk/kroozin/show_prod.php?prod_id=4120 instead? Notice any similarity?

Easiest time to wash it round here where the water is very hard is when its raining, cars already wet & it gets a rinse from water that leaves less deposits than the stuff that comes out of the tap

Blimey, that's not good :eek: I'd get a water filter on the outside tap myself

Seems a bit counterproductive, as the rainwater will have all sorts of deposits in it...

Steve

Blimey' date=' that's not good :eek: I'd get a water filter on the outside tap myself

Seems a bit counterproductive, as the rainwater will have all sorts of deposits in it...

Steve[/quote']

Do you not use a water softener? One of those plug in coil things that goes around the water main

Got a proper softener and it sure makes a difference to the amount of cleaning to do.

I am too lazy to polish it (the car, the car :P ) but I will probably do it sometime this year. Pressure washer sounds like a great gift as it may just allow me to get rid of the blasted salty gunk when they go crazy again.

(I know, it serves a purpose, but it still sux)

Do you not use a water softener? One of those plug in coil things that goes around the water main

Yep got 2 of those & they work a treat, problem is they dont soften the water, just stop the deposits from sticking to anything so shower heads, taps etc can just be wiped over to remove the deposits but they are still there, just easier to remove

Sorry to hop on the thread but what would you guy suggest I use on my car. I'm going to try Collinite #476 Super doublecoat auto wax last but what should I use for the pre-wash, wash, pre-waxing etc? Is it worth using clay bars if so which one?

Thanks

Sorry to hop on the thread but what would you guy suggest I use on my car. I'm going to try Collinite #476 Super doublecoat auto wax last but what should I use for the pre-wash' date=' wash, pre-waxing etc? Is it worth using clay bars if so which one?

Thanks [/quote']

I'd probably go with Meguiars Gold Glass or their NXT shampoo if I needed some now. Again, I've used the Meguiars Claybar and was impressed with the results.

Steve

I just used a Halfords claybar, some Halfords shampoo (with car wax built in apparently) and then some Meguiars polish to finish it off. Looked the dogs danglies after I'd finished it and didn't require too much elbow grease

Chris