help me wash and detail my car

[zworld]

I want to get better at washing my car and going the extra mile and detailing it. Tired of carwashes that leaves water spots all over the car! I would like to hand wash and then apply a detailer or was spray wax detailer, Can anyone help this ole guy out? product recommendations would be helpful too. thanks for any help

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[vernonator]

I want to get better at washing my car and going the extra mile and detailing it. Tired of carwashes that leaves water spots all over the car! I would like to hand wash and then apply a detailer or was spray wax detailer, Can anyone help this ole guy out? product recommendations would be helpful too. thanks for any help

There are a lot of good products out there but you asked for opinions so. I am an Adams Polishes user, great products, user friendly, ALL made in the USA. They have lots of good videos online for each of their products and how to use them.

Start slow with some shampoo, good tools (wash pad, micro fibre towels etc) and their H2O guard and Detail Spray and you will be amazed at how good your car can look. After that watch out as you will get the bug, I now have a cart with probably 20 different bottles on it plus an air dryer, 3 buckets (one for JUST the wheels) and all the paint correction paraphernalia...its a slippery slope but I LOVE just going out and washing the car....

 

[Timeless]

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE0kcuDlwjfP2982jVH6WkQ

Pan TheOrganizer
426K subscribers

Follow this guy and watch the vids you think apply to you. It is an addiction so be warned!

 

[wade001]

i use a 2 bucket method. for my wash bucket i use hot/warm water, warm water cleans better than cold.for the rinse/dirty bucket i use cold water. also helps me remember which bucket is which sometimes, as all my buckets look the same. dont forget grit guards in both buckets.

you dont want to bring dirt from the bottom of the car, to the roof, hood, and doors, etc.. so wash from the top -> down. roof first, then side windows, rear window and windshield, hood and trunk, doors and qtr panels, front and rear bumpers, then running boards.

dont use the same wash mit you use on your paint as you do your wheels. my wash mits start out for painted surfaces, when they get dirty or older, they get demoted as a wheel mit and the wheel mit gets tossed in the trash. same for microfiber towels, dont use your towels you use for paint on wheels and other "dirty" surfaces.

dont wash in direct sun, most of the products you'll end up using probably tell you this already. just wash in the shade of some sort. also, wash in sections, so you can rinse off the soap in a timely fashion

a leaf blower can help get some stubborn water out from around the emblems, front grill, vent pockets, wheel lug pockets, side mirrors, etc.. then you can dry the car without without it just getting dripped on again.

dont wash or dry in circular motions. straight up and down, back and forth motions to help reduce swirl marks in your paints finish.

if your wash mit or towel hits the ground.. its done, no excuses. it goes into the dirty pile and a new one must replace it. just because you might not see any dirt on the towel or mit, doesnt mean it did not pick up any dirt from the ground.

i see someone linked Pan the organizer, hes a good guy, great info, definitely watch some of his videos

 

[Bikeman315]

I want to get better at washing my car and going the extra mile and detailing it. Tired of carwashes that leaves water spots all over the car! I would like to hand wash and then apply a detailer or was spray wax detailer, Can anyone help this ole guy out? product recommendations would be helpful too. thanks for any help

Hi Zane, here is a great place to start.



Larry Kosilla is a total wack job, in a good way, but he really knows his stuff.

 

[BluePonyGT]

i use a 2 bucket method. for my wash bucket i use hot/warm water, warm water cleans better than cold.for the rinse/dirty bucket i use cold water. also helps me remember which bucket is which sometimes, as all my buckets look the same. dont forget grit guards in both buckets.

you dont want to bring dirt from the bottom of the car, to the roof, hood, and doors, etc.. so wash from the top -> down. roof first, then side windows, rear window and windshield, hood and trunk, doors and qtr panels, front and rear bumpers, then running boards.

dont use the same wash mit you use on your paint as you do your wheels. my wash mits start out for painted surfaces, when they get dirty or older, they get demoted as a wheel mit and the wheel mit gets tossed in the trash. same for microfiber towels, dont use your towels you use for paint on wheels and other "dirty" surfaces.

dont wash in direct sun, most of the products you'll end up using probably tell you this already. just wash in the shade of some sort. also, wash in sections, so you can rinse off the soap in a timely fashion

a leaf blower can help get some stubborn water out from around the emblems, front grill, vent pockets, wheel lug pockets, side mirrors, etc.. then you can dry the car without without it just getting dripped on again.

dont wash or dry in circular motions. straight up and down, back and forth motions to help reduce swirl marks in your paints finish.

if your wash mit or towel hits the ground.. its done, no excuses. it goes into the dirty pile and a new one must replace it. just because you might not see any dirt on the towel or mit, doesnt mean it did not pick up any dirt from the ground.

i see someone linked Pan the organizer, hes a good guy, great info, definitely watch some of his videos

Awesome advice right there.

I love these threads b/c it shows how similar-yet-different we all are.

I'm a HUGE fan of Griot's Garage products. I ended up leaving Mother's and Meguiar's in the dust. They have exactly one retail store, and luckily that's in Tacoma, WA just south of me. However the stuff on their website is great, and I'd highly recommend you check them out:

I do just about everything stated above with a few differences:

• I rinse the whole car off thoroughly before I start to knock off any loose stuff: top-down, around the front/side splitters, rear valance, wheels and wheel wells, etc.
• I use one bucket but empty and re-fill if I get a lot of dirt in it.
• I keep the car evenly wet as long as I'm washing the car (spray sides I haven't done yet or have already done).
• I use a wash mat (again Griot's). I do NOT use brushes, harsh sponges, or cheap rags or even the usual wash mits that will collect dirt. I store these up and away from areas where they can dry and won't collect dirt.
• I usually go over each area twice to avoid missing spots. This means I overlap wash those areas as I move from roof/hood and trunk to doors, fenders, and front/rear.
• I take note of anything I find (tree sap, tar off the roads, etc.) or my worst enemy: rock chips. I have to take care of those later.
• I take the spray head off the hose and rinse the entire car top to bottom with just a regular flow of cool water. Griot's Garage videos cover that and I found that it helps avoid water spots if I can't get the entire car dry fast enough (low humidity, etc.).
• I use a drying towel. I started back in the day with natural chamois, upgraded to a synthetic one, then a microfiber towel, then finally the edgeless large drying towel they sell at Griot's. It's awesome.
• I use separate smaller drying microfiber towels to dry in the door jams, trunk lid, and around the front grill and splitter, and wheels.
• I air dry all of my towels when I'm done, and I launder all of my microfiber and drying towels after a use or two, and as mentioned above they get demoted when they start to wear out.
• I take care of the above mentioned issues I find like the tree sap and rock chip issues.
• When I know the car is dry and I don't have any other issues going on with the car I'll usually use the Speed Shine from Griot's. This is because a newly washed car is actually fairly sticky. It loves to collect dirt immediately. The polymer layer of the Speed Shine lets stuff come right off.

 

[BluePonyGT]

Awesome advice right there.

I love these threads b/c it shows how similar-yet-different we all are.

I'm a HUGE fan of Griot's Garage products. I ended up leaving Mother's and Meguiar's in the dust. They have exactly one retail store, and luckily that's in Tacoma, WA just south of me. However the stuff on their website is great, and I'd highly recommend you check them out:

I do just about everything stated above with a few differences:

• I rinse the whole car off thoroughly before I start to knock off any loose stuff: top-down, around the front/side splitters, rear valance, wheels and wheel wells, etc.
• I use one bucket but empty and re-fill if I get a lot of dirt in it.
• I keep the car evenly wet as long as I'm washing the car (spray sides I haven't done yet or have already done).
• I use a wash mat (again Griot's). I do NOT use brushes, harsh sponges, or cheap rags or even the usual wash mits that will collect dirt. I store these up and away from areas where they can dry and won't collect dirt.
• I usually go over each area twice to avoid missing spots. This means I overlap wash those areas as I move from roof/hood and trunk to doors, fenders, and front/rear.
• I take note of anything I find (tree sap, tar off the roads, etc.) or my worst enemy: rock chips. I have to take care of those later.
• I take the spray head off the hose and rinse the entire car top to bottom with just a regular flow of cool water. Griot's Garage videos cover that and I found that it helps avoid water spots if I can't get the entire car dry fast enough (low humidity, etc.).
• I use a drying towel. I started back in the day with natural chamois, upgraded to a synthetic one, then a microfiber towel, then finally the edgeless large drying towel they sell at Griot's. It's awesome.
• I use separate smaller drying microfiber towels to dry in the door jams, trunk lid, and around the front grill and splitter, and wheels.
• I air dry all of my towels when I'm done, and I launder all of my microfiber and drying towels after a use or two, and as mentioned above they get demoted when they start to wear out.
• I take care of the above mentioned issues I find like the tree sap and rock chip issues.
• When I know the car is dry and I don't have any other issues going on with the car I'll usually use the Speed Shine from Griot's. This is because a newly washed car is actually fairly sticky. It loves to collect dirt immediately. The polymer layer of the Speed Shine lets stuff come right off.

Oh something I forgot to mention. I'll rinse the soap off the car after I do each section. I don't wait until the end.

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