My car sits in an open car park at work, it's very rural and surrounded by farmland and currently there is some major building work going on.

The paint on my car feels like fine sandpaper and a quick wipe with a wet finger clears is but I'm not sure how to go about washing it without

rubbing the dust/dirt/grit into the paintwork.

 

Does it just need a good soaking first? The thing is I don't think the grittiness will just run off without rubbing it.

 

Any advice, other than working somewhere else!

Clay it. 

 

Personal suggestion: rinse with clean water, maybe power wash if you can. Then wash with two-bucket method (dip washmitt into clean soapy water, rinse in another bucket, repeat - this way all the junk stays in your rinse bucket rather than in the soapy one), and then clay it. I like the Bilt Hamber stuff, it only requires water as a lubricant, so you just don't bother to dry the car and then you can clay from top to bottom. Don't press, just wipe the clay over the surface and it will pick up the contaminants. You'll see just how much comes off. 

 

There will be lots of youtube videos on this stuff, but clay is the stuff you want. Afterwards, I'd wash it once more, dry, and then seal and wax - I personally use Extra Gloss Protection (EGP) from Autoglym and then Collinite on top. It lasts well and has a good shine, though it does work better when outside temps are above 20C. The EGP requires some time to cure, but it's not too bad and the whole process is probably an afternoon's worth of work. I do my cars twice a year; once before and once after winter, because we scratch the hell out of the paintwork pushing snow off.

 

 - Bret

We live on a new home building site and my 245 gets very dusty and as you say gritty. I use traffic film remover, leave it a couple of minutes then pressure wash off. Then  just wash and dry the car as normal.  The less you touch it the less chance of scratching it.

Decontaminate first before moving onto any contact based methods like claying. Iron-X, a tar remover, maybe a traffic film remover and a bug spray should be used first. See how that fairs then make a judgement on claying after. 

 

I personally like the CarPro products. Iron X and Tar X are what I’m currently using. 

You need to try and remove as much of the contaminants before even going near it with a mitt/sponge.  You'll just 'exfoliate' the paint/topcoat by working the grit/dust/dirt in, which will then require some sort of correction. 

 

Personally I would: 

 

Snowfoam

Rinse

Spray on a heavy solution of all purpose cleaner/traffic film remover

Rinse

Two bucket wash 

Rinse

Fallout remover

Rinse

Clay

Correction

Polish

Seal/wax

 

This may seem quite involved but getting as much crud off the car before applying pressure is quicker and cheaper than correcting any paint damage, later on. 

Snow foam then rinse is a prerequisite imo to remove or loosen as much as possible before putting a sponge/mitt to the paintwork.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

Does anyone use an attachment for a pressure washer that can apply a suitable foam/degreaser? This is more for the times

when I don't actually have a lot of time to wash the car!

I've seen some snow-foam type applicators but it looks like it would turn the driveway into an Ibiza style rave foam party!

42 minutes ago, ItalianJob said:

looks like it would turn the driveway into an Ibiza style rave foam party!

 

That's part of the fun!! 😎

I'm still experimenting but aiming for a foam that is wet enough to run off and not stay too bubbly.  Should run into the drain then.  Reminds my I need to clean the drain out!

Some of us have requirements that we're not allowed to use stronger chemicals as we're too close to ground water, so don't get the luxury and anything "stronger than shampoo" is out. So no foam, no degreasers in large quantities; diluted APC is about as much as I can get away with with a clean conscience.

 

Also only allowed to wash once a month max.

I can't say the paintwork is any the worse for it; it's soft but the damage really is at a reasonable level. And that's including months at a time in winter with no wash, salt and moving snow all over the place. Agreed, foam would be better, but it's not always possible.

 

 - Bret

As also said above, I use autogylm polar snow foam and leave that to soak in for a good 10/15 minutes. Pressure wash it off and then do the normal bucket and sponge wash.

 

In theory, aiming a strong spray onto your car should lift up any gritty bits, but the snow foam aids seeping in to lift as much as possible.

 

I've a Karcher K4 pressure washer with the karcher foam attachment thingymajig.

 

46 minutes ago, ItalianJob said:

looks like it would turn the driveway into an Ibiza style rave foam party!

 

Adjusting the nozzle and you're able to get the majority to go on your car, but yes, when you start rinsing it off your drive looks a mess.

 

One thing I'd advise if you're concerned about the amount of dust and the need for regular cleaning, is get it cleaned up properly, polished and waxed within an inch of it's life. That will both protect the paintwork, but aid in cleaning. I've started to use Bilt Hamber products and I'm very impressed.

7 minutes ago, brettikivi said:

Some of us have requirements that we're not allowed to use stronger chemicals as we're too close to ground water, so don't get the luxury and anything "stronger than shampoo" is out. So no foam, no degreasers in large quantities; diluted APC is about as much as I can get away with with a clean conscience.

 

Also only allowed to wash once a month max.

I can't say the paintwork is any the worse for it; it's soft but the damage really is at a reasonable level. And that's including months at a time in winter with no wash, salt and moving snow all over the place. Agreed, foam would be better, but it's not always possible.

 

 - Bret

 

Bret, I'm pretty sure the bilt hamber APC is bio-degradable.  Does this help with your limitations on chemical use?

The one time I clayed one of my old cars all I did was scratch it.... And o was careful, folded clay etc -  I'd never clay again.

 

I generally Snowfoam, rinse, wash, dry and then spray tar and glue onto car and leave for 5 mins, wipe off and wash again - then polish, then wax.  It works well for me.

 

I did Machine one side of the car and bonnet ..... super smooth and most swirling from previous owner now removed.  Just need to do other side if I'm keeping it.

8 hours ago, MarkyG82 said:

 

Bret, I'm pretty sure the bilt hamber APC is bio-degradable.  Does this help with your limitations on chemical use?

I don't know, I have to ask at some point but don't really want a complete ban 😞 

It actually turns out I can get Surfex at the local store (!). I don't need it often, I may well go and look for some specifics.

 

Thanks!

 

 - Bret

 

Given your user name my advice would be to "Blow The Bloody Doors Off" that should remove any dust or grit build up. My name is Michael Caine.

I use snowfoam in a pump up garden sprayer. Doesn’t foam up but still works really well.

 

Gaz