My first attempt at keeping black car swirl/scratch free?

[WD Pro]

@hellohello123

Yes, I think your foam cannon got mentioned a few times further up this thread ...

I know you have seen this thread now : https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...oam-cannon-pressure-washer-no-contact.155177/

I actually took those pictures to update this thread for you, but them added them there first ...

Just to add for this thread - My foam cannon can be seen here :

It's an early Autobrite version that at the time I bought it (circa 10 years ago) was the recommended UK option (they also supported forum discounts). I think cannons might have moved on a little now, but it has served me well with the only maintenance / repairs required being replacement connector o rings. After use I let clean water run through it (run the bottle empty) and then I leave it soaking in my rinse bucket (bottle removed) sat on the grit guard and shake it off / dry it off when the buckets are going away. I heard the woolly thing inside can gum up with soap residue if you don't flush them through reducing its foaming ability.

My only criticism and if I was buying again, would be to buy one with a short fat bottle rather than a tall thin one like it has. These things are top heavy anyway (all brass and stainless) and once the bottle is empty it topples easily - especially when you look at the surface my drive has.

Similar to @DFB5.0 I mix at 160ml per L and those yellow tape lines on my bottle are my guides that I added after I got fed up of measuring foam every week. The other thing I do is have a spare bottle so I only need to decant from the big container every three washes (start with two empty, fill both, use one, refill it and then store both full ones ready for the next two washes). Having kids at home, anything to save a bit of time is a good thing My stalker on here will see the humour in the kid comment and they will know its directed at them ...

One mixed bottle will foam two reasonable / mustang sized cars so I tend to do both of mine on the same day, or miss my daily and alternate it with the misses daily. Yes, the daily's have been missing out a little since the mustang arrived ... lol

WD

Sponsored

 

[hellohello123]

just a question,

have been learning all the techniques to keep your car scratch/swirl/haze free, especially on dark colours

so if you car gets those random fairly small scratches from when someone walks past with the zip on their clothes, or when you are carrying something eh a box and it rubs against the car body,

are these not so bad because all you need is some scratch removal polish and it will buff out in like 5 mins, whilst the swirls made from inproper washing you need to do your whole car and most likely a professional?

 

[kilobravo]

Johnny: In my experience, very few marks will come off in five minutes <smile> but you have the correct idea. The washing marks, while not deep, will be everywhere and hence the need to do the entire vehicle with a polisher.

 

[Jeff58]

Exactly why I will never own a black car again, had many over the years and it wasn't worth it.....white and silver for me now.

 

[br_an]

I had a shadow black F150 that would scratch if you looked at it wrong. Black is a great color, but very high maintenance. Even with special care I couldn't prevent all swirls and scratches. It's a reality of having a black car. I bought an orbital polisher and a cabinet full of compounds, polishes and sealers, and would do "paint correction" once or twice a year when the mood struck me.

My advice is don't stress about keeping the paint perfect because unless you do PPF/wrap, it's going to have imperfections.

 

[hellohello123]

Just a question folks.
I'm using the big green sucker towel to dry off for the first time. Excited, . Brand new towel

It sucks well but it sort of leaves a fine cloud of moisture behind , is this how it's supposed to be. Obviously it dries off pretty quickly. But the youtube videos seem to be dry even with a cheap mf towel

I'm drying to plot dry rather than wipe, if that might be the cause

also, another question to the detailing experts, so based on your last advice I upped the concentration of the foam soap

my container for the foam device is literally 400-450ml, I put in 100ml-125ml of this stuff
https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/autoglym-autoglym-foaming-car-wash-2.5-litre/544171.html
(yes I know I probably bought the wrong one, but I saw it at super cheap auto and it specifcally said suitable for foam guns)

this is what I got, it took 2 of those containers, so 1L of water and 250ml of soap,
fairly happy with it, however im still trying to work out if its the soap im using, or its the foam cannon (its a cheap generic chinese one that came with my washer) or does it need to be like whipped cream). It seemed to get everything off except the few specs of bird poo

thanks everyone

 

[kilobravo]

It's the cannon...for sure as virtually any "foaming" soap can be used equally well. The small size of your liquid container tells the story, sorry. As I often say to myself,

"Buy cheap, buy twice."

I'd recommend ordering a gun from Obsessed Garage. Here's what the foam looks like using one of those after a couple minutes to go find my phone. <grin>

The OG Cannon

 

[Kristian87]

It sucks well but it sort of leaves a fine cloud of moisture behind , is this how it's supposed to be. Obviously it dries off pretty quickly. But the youtube videos seem to be dry even with a cheap mf towel

I personally think there is some camera trickery there on those particular videos, I've got a nice plush drying towel and never have I had a completely dry panel after a single wipe, even if I do it slowly. A good drying towel will take up 95%+ of water from the panel but a follow up "courtesy wipe" is needed IMO.

Re your foam gun - 100% it's the gun, I don't think these "foam sprayers" that come with pressure washers work in the same way as the detailer foam cannons do. They seem to just spray the mixture striaght out, rather than putting any real pressure behind it to give that nice foam.

I'd also say a 10:1 ratio of product to water is the norm - for a maintenance wash. Nothing wrong with Autoglym - they produce some decent products, but from my experience, they are a mid range brand. Definitely more premium products out there for not much more.

 

[hellohello123]

It's the cannon...for sure as virtually any "foaming" soap can be used equally well. The small size of your liquid container tells the story, sorry. As I often say to myself,

"Buy cheap, buy twice."

I'd recommend ordering a gun from Obsessed Garage. Here's what the foam looks like using one of those after a couple minutes to go find my phone. <grin>

The OG Cannon

I personally think there is some camera trickery there on those particular videos, I've got a nice plush drying towel and never have I had a completely dry panel after a single wipe, even if I do it slowly. A good drying towel will take up 95%+ of water from the panel but a follow up "courtesy wipe" is needed IMO.

Re your foam gun - 100% it's the gun, I don't think these "foam sprayers" that come with pressure washers work in the same way as the detailer foam cannons do. They seem to just spray the mixture striaght out, rather than putting any real pressure behind it to give that nice foam.

I'd also say a 10:1 ratio of product to water is the norm - for a maintenance wash. Nothing wrong with Autoglym - they produce some decent products, but from my experience, they are a mid range brand. Definitely more premium products out there for not much more.

Thabks for the feedback guys,
Still playing around with the combinations,
The autogylm product , they actually have a dedicated foam wash soap which is different so i thoguht maybe that's why it didn't foam up

And yes some of those videos make it look really easy in reality it's not as easy...

 

[GT 550]

Hey Johnny if you're looking for a good and easy solution you could just go for a Bowdens Foam Cannon. There are other good products out there for sure but you can get one at Repco, Supercheap etc and while not cheap at $90 or so (and seem to not go on sale much) they last for ever. Even has the correct dosage marked on the bottle.

It comes with adapters but the only thing to be aware of is whether it will work with your pressure washer.

 

[WD Pro]

Just thought I would update this thread as I've done a little work on my roof today and thought it a good example of how a good wash technique and good equipment can help maintain a nice finish and save a lot of work in the long run.

The car is now nine months old, it’s been outside all winter, it’s washed on average once a week and from me pulling the shipment wrap off it when it rolled off the transporter, it has never had any paint correction or polishing (I was lucky and got good condition paint straight from the factory)

When new / tail end of last summer I clayed it, sealed it with meguiars ultimate quick wax and topped it with two layers of sovereign.

Over winter it just got good maintenance - foam, two buckets both with grit guards, thick lambs wool wash mitt and meguiars shampoo plus.

Now our weather is finally picking up I decided to get it ready for summer so I’ve just washed and clayed it again. I expected that I might need to polish but nope, not a swirl or scratch.

Photos like this are easy to shoot :

But a direct reflection of the sun straight into the camera isn’t quite as forgiving, however I’m still very happy with what I (can’t) see :

Note the single fleck of blue in the shadow black choosing to reveal itself just above the sun at 1 o’clock.

Now we’re on the summer months I’m confident this finish is getting me though until next year without the use of a buffer / polish and with maximum retention of clear coat for future longevity / future corrections

WD

 

[Dr. Norts]

Just thought I would update this thread as I've done a little work on my roof today and thought it a good example of how a good wash technique and good equipment can help maintain a nice finish and save a lot of work in the long run.

The car is now nine months old, it’s been outside all winter, it’s washed on average once a week and from me pulling the shipment wrap off it when it rolled off the transporter, it has never had any paint correction or polishing (I was lucky and got good condition paint straight from the factory)

When new / tail end of last summer I clayed it, sealed it with meguiars ultimate quick wax and topped it with two layers of sovereign.

Over winter it just got good maintenance - foam, two buckets both with grit guards, thick lambs wool wash mitt and meguiars shampoo plus.

Now our weather is finally picking up I decided to get it ready for summer so I’ve just washed and clayed it again. I expected that I might need to polish but nope, not a swirl or scratch.

Photos like this are easy to shoot :

But a direct reflection of the sun straight into the camera isn’t quite as forgiving, however I’m still very happy with what I (can’t) see :

Note the single fleck of blue in the shadow black choosing to reveal itself just above the sun at 1 o’clock.

Now we’re on the summer months I’m confident this finish is getting me though until next year without the use of a buffer / polish and with maximum retention of clear coat for future longevity / future corrections

WD

The meguire's quick wax doesn't last very long. It's meant as a topper / booster.

You should use a long lasting sealant after the clay bar then the wax over top of that. The wax will be the sacrificial layer and the megs spray wax adds some more sacrificial topper over the wax.

Using the quick wax as your base layer after the clay is the only thing I can find wrong with your technique. Otherwise everything else you do is perfect.

For curiosity sake, take a picture at night using a bright LED flashlight to illuminate the roof.

 

[WD Pro]

I’ve just switched to turtle wax hybrid.

I used the spray and I have the wet wax for maintenance.

I’ve put two coats on the hood and trunk but only one on the roof up to now (first one today)

I wouldn’t be put off by the name of the last product (quick wax) it lasts surprisingly well and outlasts most traditional products - I have been impressed with it

WD

 

[WD Pro]

For curiosity sake, take a picture at night using a bright LED flashlight to illuminate the roof.

Well it’s collected plenty dust since I worked on it this morning and a light sprinkle of rain, but here it is with my head torch and no flash with both torch and camera about 6” away :

And the camera only, parallel to the roof, with flash from about 6” away :

Don’t believe anyone who tells you the roofs / shadow black doesn’t have any flake …

WD

 

[Roy_Steeda]

I never had this problem with my black s197. Seems like the paint on the s550 is more soft or more easily scratch

Sponsored