Washing Recommendations

[mbenz76]

OK, so my new E350 Sport arrives in March, and having gone for Obsidian Black, I am conscious of ruining the new look with poor cleaning.

My current car is black, and it didn't take long to get fine swirly marks in the paint from washing - normally used either a sponge and did it by hand or the brush with jetwash at the petrol station.

What do people recommend for keeping it looking new?

Should I hand wash or jet wash?

I was thinking hand was better , if so what should I use etc. for best looks?

Thanks

 

[wemorgan]

I hose (standard tap pressure) my car first, then hand wash, then rinse with a hose again.

Usually once a year I clay the car to remove some of the fine scratches,

Can't say whether that's the best (I doubt) but that's what I do.

I think the forum is working on a show and shine section, so hopefully when that's ready all will be clear

 

[tromppost]

Try some of the Aytoglym products, the car shampoo is great and the quick was is also very good and easy to use.

 

[GeorgeA]

A lambs wool mitt is much kinder to paintwork that a sponge or brush

Supersoft Lambswool Polishing Mitt @ Performance Motorcare Products Ltd

Can recommend the company for car cleaning kit also, very prompt efficient service.

 

[Will]

Best to buy a wash mitt as above rather than a sponge - much better for the paintwork and easier to use once you try it

Carefully rinse the worst of the dirt of with a hose first, then wash it in straight motions with a decent car shampoo and the wash mitt starting at the top. Use a seperate mitt or sponge for the wheels, and perhaps the lowest bits of the bumpers/sills.

Rinse it off and dry it using either a drying towel or similar.

Should keep it looking good for quite a while

There's further steps that you can take and additonal products to improve the shine, protect the paintwork etc but I guess that's more of an enthusiast's area - I'm sure we can all advise on that if needed too

Will

 

[AANDYY]

2 bucket method.

 

[wemorgan]

Rinse it off and dry it using either a drying towel or similar.

Any drying tips?

I use a synthetic chamois, but usually find after drying 1/2 when wringing the chamois dry the water is slightly dirty. So I then run it under the tap to clean it, then dry the other 1/2. Sounds like I'm not cleaning the ca properly maybe?

 

[fuzzer]

pressure washer with ph neutral snow foam to start

leave for 5 mins , rinse

use two bucket method in large buckets with the cleaner water with grit guard in the bottom with a microfiber/lambswool mit

dry with a synthetic chamois leather or air dry.

you can buy the lot on here

The finest car care and automotive detailing products available.

 

[Will]

Any drying tips?

I use a synthetic chamois, but usually find after drying 1/2 when wringing the chamois dry the water is slightly dirty. So I then run it under the tap to clean it, then dry the other 1/2. Sounds like I'm not cleaning the ca properly maybe?

After washing and rinsing the car I do as follows:

Mist the bodywork down with a 'detailing' spray (Meguiars 'Last Touch')

Wipe the water away using a large damp microfibre towel, wringing out as needed along the way. Normally have a small amount of clean water in a bucket to rinse if needed after a while.

Once the car is nearly dry, I normally mist some more detailing spray onto a fresh microfibre and wipe the panels down one at a time, leaving them properly dry and with a light coat of the last touch all over - leaves a slight 'waxy' feel to the paint and helps to repel water/dirt/dust etc I find

Normally give the windows a clean with glass cleaner after, then wipe any later drips away with the microfibre from under the mirrors/door shuts/lights etc.

Will

 

[matt17081]

personally id say you may be better off by using a pressure wash to clean the dirt off the use a CLEAN ! sponge to hand wash followed by a hose off then chamoix the car dry and as already suggested autoglym products are widely used throught the motor trade (as they are superb) polish any light scratches out with autoglym paint renovator (not T-Cut) and i use the "ultra deep shine" every time for the final wax polish

 

[A210AMG]

Hello

Two bucket method, mits etc

Have a look here, nothing these people don't know about cleaning...

A world for detailers...


Have to say having owned black cars and I agree clean they look great, they ARE very hard to keep looking nice.

 

[nigel cross]

pressure washer with ph neutral snow foam to start

leave for 5 mins , rinse

use two bucket method in large buckets with the cleaner water with grit guard in the bottom with a microfiber/lambswool mit

dry with a synthetic chamois leather or air dry.

you can buy the lot on here

The finest car care and automotive detailing products available.

Agree with all this but use large drying towels, and have a look for a Wookies fist to wash with , as Tony the tiger used to say:-They're grreeatt

 

[mbenz76]

Thanks everyone for the replies. The mit certainly sounds/looks like the better option instead of a sponge.

I have paid for the Supaguard treatment at the dealer. I had it done (or rather the same thing by a different name) on a Renault I owned and it was very good indeed.

I never polished the car once in the years I owned it and after every wash it looked like I had spent hours buffing it. Water would 'bobble' all the time and the sun glinted a treat off it.

Yes, I know the stuff costs about £20 and they charge you £200 or so, but I am happy to pay for someone else to apply it

The trouble with the one I had done to the Renault was that you couldn't use wax on the car as it woul ddamage the treatment. Finding car polish without wax in was something of a quest! Halfords own brand was what I always ended up using.

Has anyone had Supaguard done, and do you have to avoid wax with this as well?

 

[D-18]

My last Vauxhall was black and was a nightmare to wash as it had very soft paint. It didn't seem to matter what I did, I still ended up putting fine (and some not so fine) scratches on it. The best compromise I found was to give it a quick power wash, then use a two-handed approach with garden watering rose attachment on the hose keeping a constant stream of water on the car whilst gently cleaning it with a lambswool washmitt.

I'm not an obsessive car washer/detailer and this seemed to be a reasonable balance between time spent washing and the results achieved.

 

[Roygarth]

To dry car quickly after washing use a 'leaf blower'! Water will bead and roll off...plus avoids wax being gradually removed by chamois.....

 

[AANDYY]

To dry car quickly after washing use a 'leaf blower'! Water will bead and roll off...plus avoids wax being gradually removed by chamois.....

I tried that, it didn't work for me plus it's hard work on the roof.

 

[Baron_Samedi]

I picture the sight as your neighbours behold you wielding a leaf blower over your cars...

Fawlty Towers springs to mind!

Oh and I would echo the two bucket technique and a pre-wash with a Daisy concentrate (all the way round the car upto the top of the wheel arches) to dislodge the road gunk before washing in earnest.

And... just how hard are you rubbing the paintwork to introduce swirls?

 

[Chrishazle]

1. Do not use a cellulose sponge for washing the car - it holds little bits of grit in the pores, causing swirl marks! Use a merino wash mitt for the upper part and a microfibre wash mitt for the dirtier lower part and wheels - the microfibre mitt can go in the washing machine whereas the merino can't!
2. For the same reason, do not use a chamois to dry the car - microfibre cloths instead.
3. There's a lot of stuff on detailingworld.com, especially about black cars.
4. The Claybar trick once or twice a year is worthwhile - first time you clay what you think is a clean car you'll be amazed how much muck the clay picks up!

 

[Gridlock]

Best way to dry a car is to use a hose with no attachment as a final rinse - the water should largely just sheet off leaving only small bits to be picked up with a large microfibre drying towel, then finished with a small mf cloth.

Another vote for snow foam though, definitely reduces the risk of swirls, but it does take a bit of practice to get the foaming right;

 

[iscaboy]

Gawd... at the risk of starting a fist fight.

1 clean bucket
1 bottle washing up liquid
1 bottle of liquid car wax
1 old pressure washer
1 short piece of hose.

Don't use the pressure washer closer than 12 inches / 30 cm from paint, feel free to use it 2 inches / 5 cm from tyres and bare metal.

1/ pressure wash car with just water to get the dirt off. Do a good job with this bit.

2/ use short hose to "feed" pressure washer by sticking it in the bucket.

3/ fill the bucket with water and washing up liquid, mix, pressure wash car again

4/ rinse the bucket, then fill with water and liquid car wax, mix well, pressure wash car again

5/ walk away

You don't need to blow dry, just don't drive it for 30 minutes.

This way NOTHING non-liquid touches your paint.

Car wash machines (this has been tested) if cleaned and maintained on average do far less paint damage than commercial hand car washes.

At 12 inches if a domestic karcher type pressure washer has enough force to lift paint, even on a flake/chipped edge, then you already have serious paint adhesion problems.

A good test is stick some insulation tape to a sheet of dry glass, insulation tape is a lot easier to lift than dried and bonded paint.