Washing your car...

[bobby]

Thought I'd post to inform you of my new purchase - a Pressure washer!

It was reduced in halfords from £70 to £35, so I bit the bullet. Living in Central London, the car gets dirty very quickly, and I like the car to be clean. In these credit-conscious times, I can't justify paying £5-£10 each time I want a sparkly motor - and I do a better job than the guys at the wash.

The only downpoint is that on my street, you get quite a few people tutting and saying "look at all that water being wasted" - I refer them to the fact that I pay all my bills and taxes and that the car wash down the road is using a lot more... before turning the spray on them

I now enjoy a lovely saturday ritual, and have got to know my car even better (I find you bond with it a lot more when you wash it yourself !!) - it also gets me out of the house ;-)

How do you wash yours, and how often?

 

[Dec]

I never use a power wash and never use detergents, just a garden hose with soft brush attachment. I wax the car about twice a year, stubborned marks I remove by waxing the area affected, takes 35 minutes, expect to live 10 years longer due to all the exercise.

Dec

 

[The Terminator]

Normally once a week with autoglym wash and wax.
It brings it up like its been polished.

 

[The Terminator]

I never use a power wash and never use detergents, just a garden hose with soft brush attachment. I wax the car about twice a year, stubborned marks I remove by waxing the area affected, takes 35 minutes, expect to live 10 years longer due to all the exercise.

Dec

How do you remove stubborned dirt with wax ???

 

[verytalldave]

Pressure washers actually use very little water when compared to other hose wash methods. Turn off the power and see how little water used. Its a very economical way to wash anything. If anyone complains, it just shows their ignorance.

 

[The Terminator]

Pressure washers actually use very little water when compared to other hose wash methods. Turn off the power and see how little water used. Its a very economical way to wash anything. If anyone complains, it just shows their ignorance.

You are so right just watch how long it takes to fill a bucket with one.

 

[mb240]

is it not quite hard on the paintwork?

I use a pair of buckets and some lambswool mitts, only takes a few minutes (and then an hour on the wheels!).

 

[A210AMG]

I wash ours once a week unless we have a special 'do' to go to and I want it clean.

Washing the wifes A class and my ML I can do them quickly in 30mins and I reckon they look pretty smart.

Would NEVER take a car to a car wash place, I've used the jet wash to do under the arches and in the areas you cannot get to once on both cars. Not sure I would use it ever week I've seen what it can do to our path...

Love washing the cars, maybe its sad but I like them clean and keeping them clean means it takes less time to wash them.

Every now and again (once a month) I do the harder to reach bits and hover them.

 

[SilverSaloon]

be careful. BMW dealer took off some of my bumper and mirror paint with a pressure washer.... apparently if there is a stone chip there, it will cause paint to flake around it.

i stick with a hand sponge and a hose pipe.

 

[verytalldave]

is it not quite hard on the paintwork?...................

No worse than doing 70mph in the driving rain. If a cars paintwork cant take that, then somethings wrong.

















So its not recommended for BMW's........

 

[BTB 500]

Pressure washer can also damage parking sensors.

 

[un1l]

Depending on how often i drive, normally every Saturday morning i wipe the car over with a microfibre cloth and a bit of water.
Takes 5 - 10 min and gives it a good shine.
Every other week it is washed in and out, depending on weather of course.
Wheels are done every few days with a new coat of tyre shine weekly!:bannana:

 

[portzy]

There is no such thing as wasting water. Money?, maybe, for water that has been purchased that is. There is the exact same amount of water, to the drop, on or in the planet now as there has been for centuries.

Its just that some (most) of it is at various stages of its natural cycle, dont buy all that "precious resource" tosh, its just another wooly thinking scary myth .

Portzy.

 

[Ade B]

Used our local hand car wash centre twice and never again.

+ve
its £6
its quick
the car comes out very clean
they shifted all baked on brake dust from the wheels

-ve
my grey radiator grille has jetwash zigzag stripes across it
its lifted lacquer around stone chips
you can see where its eaten away the polish on the bonnet (hopefully not the clearcoat )
I've lost a wheel weight (with no noticable effect)
they miss quite a lot (window rubbers, brightwork)

I wash mine with 2 buckets every couple of weeks or whenever you get dirty touching it rolleyes:), takes about 20 mins for the bodywork, 1/2 hour for the wheels..

Ade

 

[Ade B]

No worse than doing 70mph in the driving rain. If a cars paintwork cant take that, then somethings wrong.

I'd say its quite a lot worse. You can stick your hand out the window at 70mph in driving rain and it gets a bit wet, I wouldn't stick my hand infront of a jet wash and expect it to look the same again - especially the commercial variety.


Ade

 

[gina2201]

I wash it when it looks/gets dirty, (being white doesn't take too long) just had some bodywork done so it looks pristine at the moment!

 

[Dec]

How do you remove stubborned dirt with wax ???

The dirt is nearly always organic, for bugs/bird droppings, just wet the area to soften the stain and come back to that area later, the brush will then remove the dirt with the aid of the water, anything remaining or stubborned I just wipe on wax for a few minutes and buff up. Any thing else on the car is general dust/grime, which will just flow off if it is a well waxed surface.

For tar spots I use either petrol or white spirits. I have heard people say white spirits is a no no but I can’t see any damage to my paintwork through its use.

The water acts as a lubricant if you wet the car first it will soften the dirt so I don’t think it is hard on the paintwork if you are reasonably gentle, remember most of the dirt is just sitting on the paintwork, its not glued to it.


Dec

 

[crockers]

I wouldn't recommend using a brush ...causes too many swirls .. lambswool mit is much better...

I use the flash system -- nice to rinse off with ionised water to stop stains.....

I do live in a hard water area ...........

 

[74merc]

I use a foam gun attached to a pressure washer to leave a thick layer of foam over the car. Then it's washed by hand using a microfibre washmitt, rinsed regularly in a bucket of clean water. That's followed by a rinse of with water and if I have the time and can be bothered, leathered off with a chamois.

 

[tromppost]

Have a look at this site, some good tips on car cleaning.

http://detailingworld.com/