Right guys here's a question for all of you
What is the best method to use to wash the car if you don't have several hours available to really do a thorough detailing job? I'd imagine that quite a few of us perhaps have kids or other things in life that take up a great deal of our time. So what are best tips if you only have an hour or two spare so you still can get great results without causing any undue problems. I.e. Swirls on the paintwork
Cheers
Craig
Hi Craig,
A normal wash sound only take between 1 - 2 hours max. It's only when you start adding sealing, waxing etc that time gets expanded, and I think most of us spend much of our time doing maintenance cleans, it's not always full details every week.
IMO, best method is as follows
- Pre wash such as snow foam or citrus pre wash, either applied with snow foam lance (Bilberry sprayed on wheels of desired)
- Pressure wash rinse
- Wash wheels with dedicated shampoo bucket and wheel mitt/wheel woolies
- Wash bodywork using lambswool or microfibre wash mitt. Start top and work down - roof - upper panels - lower panels - lower front, lower rear etc. Mitt action should be gentle (pre wash should have brought loose dirt off) and side to side action, NOT circular motion. Use a decent shampoo with good lubricitywhich means the mitt will glide better over the paint and much less friction required between mitt and paint.
- Pressure wash rinse whole car
- Final open ended hose rinse. No spray or lance attachement for this, just a free flow of water, which massively reduces the amount of standing water left on the car to dry off. Drying is often when swirls are inflicted.
- Dry car (top down again) with either a hot air blower, or microfibre drying towels. Dab gently with towel, do not drag or pull over paintwork. Dab, lift towel off, dab, lift towel off, dab, and so on. Start with towel very slightly moistened by laying it in damp front windscreen first as a very slightly dampened towel is more absorbent than fully dry one. Once towel gets too wet, either wring out, or switch to fresh towel. Use separate towels for wheels, can use cut down towels or dedicated wheel towels which are smaller towels so they don't drag on the floor. Remember to do door shuts (open doors) and boot lid (open boot and allow water to run off then dry) and inside fuel flap.
That's the basic wash. Then if desired:
- Dress tyres with tyre gel
- Polish tailpipes with metal polish
- Clean glass - glass cleaner
- Quick Detailer on bodywork to refresh Gloss in between proper sealing or waxing
There's some useful washing guides here.
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/car-care-advice.htmlhttp://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27http://www.autogeek.net/exterior.htmlHope this helps.