Author Topic: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing  (Read 13996 times)

Offline Watts

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #20 on: 14 October 2017, 13:01 »
The key to good results is drying the car. (This may be controversial.) If I'm in a hurry I will use a rubber blade to squeegee the cars. (I may have to spend some time in the naughty corner for that :embarrassed:)

I think the key to good results is careful washing with minimal touching of the paintwork, and removing most of the dirt with an effective ‘touchless’ pre-wash stage before a two bucket wash, although like Rebecca (Booth11), I use 3 buckets - the third one for the wheels.

A rubber blade to dry the car  :shocked: :shocked:: that’s almost grounds for being banned from the Detailing section of the forum, using language like that :grin:; IMO, it’s a bit of a contradiction to say the key to good results is drying the car, and then using a rubber blade to dry it! I owned one of these rubber blades in the early 2000’s, long before I was into car detailing - at the time I had a DBP mk4 Golf. Used it a couple of times and saw the scratches in the paintwork and binned it.

I wouldn’t be able to clean my car in 40 minutes and be happy with the results. If there isn’t time for me to clean it properly, it’s left until I do have the time. It usually takes me 2 - 2.5 hours to do a standard maintenance wash.

Very brave though to admit to using a rubber blade for drying :laugh: Must admit to having a few bad habits myself but I'm not made of enough of the tough stuff to say what they are :whistle:

Would add that a snowfoam stage would be very worthwhile particularly since a pressure washer is already there and a citrus prewash which I will add, won't add too much to the overall time taken.
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Offline Booth11

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #21 on: 14 October 2017, 13:43 »
I wash 2 cars most weekends so am always looking ways of speeding it up, while still doing a good job. This section of the website is great for finding ways of slowing me down. :rolleyes:

I spray the lower half of the car with Traffic Film Remover in a garden sprayer. While the car soaks, I set up the pressure washer and fill a bucket (+ grit guard) with car shampoo.

Pressure wash car. Put pressure washer away and attach garden hose gun, set to wide spay. I find this more effective for rinsing the shampoo off the car.

Using a white Megs microfiber mitt - start at the top of the car and wash down. Do the lower panels 1 at a time. Check the mitt for dirt. Reverse the mitt and use the clean side when necessary. When both sides of the mitt are dirty, put it against the outside of the bucket and use the garden hose gun to clean it. Ring out the water. I find this more effective than the 2 bucket method.

Leave the lowest 3 inches around the whole car to the very last. It is the dirtiest part and you don't want to be rubbing a dirty mitt over any of the panels.

Use wheel mitt to wash the wheels.

That takes me 40 minutes per car. I don't think I could do it properly any faster.

The key to good results is drying the car. (This may be controversial.) If I'm in a hurry I will use a rubber blade to squeegee the cars. (I may have to spend some time in the naughty corner for that :embarrassed:) Though I much prefer to use about 12 sprays of  aqua wax over the wet car. Then a microfiber towel to remove the water and a dry microfiber towel to buff the car. This does take a longer, but gives much better results.

When my Aqua Wax runs out I going to try some Gtechniq c2v3 as a drying aid.

Go directly to the naughty corner....or the 'detailing cooler' as it's called in here (it was good enough for Steve McQueen, lol).  You will be there for some time so take something to amuse yourself..... :whistle:  :grin:

SRGTD has it right.....the absolute key to good car washing is the touchless stages of pre-washing.  Valuable time invested at this point saves time later on. Snow foam followed by citrus pre wash stage gets rid of about 80% of the dirt, so the bucket wash is a quick easy affair.  This presupposes decent protection which aids cleaning no end.  Most importantly touchless washing gets the worst of the dirt off without mitt touching paint - equals less swirls. Drying is a very important bookending of the process as often the point at which swirls are inflicted.  I'm not even going to dwell on the damage you are potentially doing to your paintwork with a blade.  :laugh:  But a very good drying towel used after an open ended hose rinse (far less water left than with a spray rinse) will dry your car far quicker than a squeegee blade and without any of the damage.

Washing wheels is a job best done first imo, so you are not dirtying already cleaned paintwork with what is the dirtiest part of the car, the wheels.

40 mins is good going.  I can turn a car around in 45 if pushed but I'd rather take a bit more time. 

What is your priority?  A clean paintwork preserved car or just a clean car.  No right or wrong answer here as we all have our different priorities. 

All good debate.  :smiley:
 
« Last Edit: 14 October 2017, 13:46 by Booth11 »
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Offline Daz Auto

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #22 on: 14 October 2017, 13:46 »
I wouldn’t be able to clean my car in 40 minutes and be happy with the results. If there isn’t time for me to clean it properly, it’s left until I do have the time. It usually takes me 2 - 2.5 hours to do a standard maintenance wash.
There is just no point in me spending that much time on 2 maintenance washes.

Fertilizer spreading season ends tomorrow. So the farmers are all out in force spreading. It has been wet and the roads around me are covered in muck from the tractors. I will be lucky if I can make it to the nearest town without my car looking like it has been in a stage of world rally championships. In just a few days both our cars can look like they have not been washed in a month! :angry: So both our cars need washed a lot!

I'm not aiming for perfection. I'm happy with the results.
« Last Edit: 14 October 2017, 14:19 by Daz Auto »

10/8/2017 - GTI Performance, Red,5dr DS

Offline Daz Auto

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #23 on: 14 October 2017, 13:55 »
Go directly to the naughty corner....or the 'detailing cooler' as it's called in here (it was good enough for Steve McQueen, lol).  You will be there for some time so take something to amuse yourself..... :whistle:  :grin:

What is your priority?  A clean paintwork preserved car or just a clean car.  No right or wrong answer here as we all have our different priorities.

My wife tells me that the rules for the naught corner are 1 minute for every year of age. I'll be standing there for longer than it takes me to wash the car! :embarrassed:

I guess my priorities are 2 cars that look clean clean and shiny, most of the time, despite our dirty roads. :embarrassed:
« Last Edit: 14 October 2017, 14:01 by Daz Auto »

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Offline SRGTD

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #24 on: 14 October 2017, 14:16 »
Daz Auto, you have my sympathies with the dirty, rural roads. I have relatives who live on a farm, and I know what a dirty state my car gets in when I visit them during the winter months. My car gets washed very soon after a visit!
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Offline Booth11

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #25 on: 14 October 2017, 14:54 »
Go directly to the naughty corner....or the 'detailing cooler' as it's called in here (it was good enough for Steve McQueen, lol).  You will be there for some time so take something to amuse yourself..... :whistle:  :grin:

What is your priority?  A clean paintwork preserved car or just a clean car.  No right or wrong answer here as we all have our different priorities.

My wife tells me that the rules for the naught corner are 1 minute for every year of age. I'll be standing there for longer than it takes me to wash the car! :embarrassed:

I guess my priorities are 2 cars that look clean clean and shiny, most of the time, despite our dirty roads. :embarrassed:

Lol, well I don't think we'll be quite so harsh. 5 minutes repentance is enough.  :laugh:

It is challenging living in rural areas, I have a farm opposite me and rural school run every day, but it just spurs me on to keeping it at bay.  2 cars is an added challenge and if you are keeping on top of them in those conditions you are doing well.  :smiley:
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Offline Jim_mk7.5

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #26 on: 03 November 2017, 12:35 »

I spray the lower half of the car with Traffic Film Remover in a garden sprayer. While the car soaks, I set up the pressure washer and fill a bucket (+ grit guard) with car shampoo


TFR - be very careful which one you use as this could strip off any wax you may have sealed your car with. Better to use a citrus pre-wash as this won't remove wax.
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Offline Daz Auto

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #27 on: 06 November 2017, 20:33 »
On Saturday I gave the car a pressure wash and told my wife to take it to the hairdressers while I washed her car. The car was driven 4 miles. The roads in both directions are brown. :angry:

This is why there is little point in being too fussy when I clean the cars. :cry:

WARNING: dirty pictures -



« Last Edit: 06 November 2017, 20:59 by Daz Auto »

10/8/2017 - GTI Performance, Red,5dr DS

Offline Jim_mk7.5

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #28 on: 06 November 2017, 20:53 »
WARNING: dirty pictures -





Nice!  :cool:

Did you change the std Bridgestones for the Michelins rather than wear them out?! I know lots of discussions on other threads but assuming they've made a big difference?
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Offline Daz Auto

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Re: Question on Washing rather than full on detailing
« Reply #29 on: 07 November 2017, 14:51 »
TFR - be very careful which one you use as this could strip off any wax you may have sealed your car with. Better to use a citrus pre-wash as this won't remove wax.
The TFR website says - Will not strip wax or sealant (completely LSP safe - Minimum dilution rate of 9:1)

I pressure washed the car 3 times on Saturday, once on Monday and this morning. We might as well be driving it through a field :angry:

I have even asked my wife to slow down for the muddy bits and to pull over and stop for other vehicles. At least until reaching main road. Though parts of it are muddy too. :rolleyes:

Did you change the std Bridgestones for the Michelins rather than wear them out?! I know lots of discussions on other threads but assuming they've made a big difference?

I find the Michelin tyres have the same noise level as the Bridgestones tyres. Though the car feels more comfortable. It's only just turned cold enough to see if the grip is similar in most conditions.


10/8/2017 - GTI Performance, Red,5dr DS