Perfect Car Wash???
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 49
From: LA
Perfect Car Wash???
Perfect Car Wash??? Hi'ya there Scion Life!!! I'm About 2 Purchase A Scion XB & I Wanna Know What Is The Perfect Way 2 Wash It!!! Now, I've Heard Tons Of Horror Stories About Washing New Vehicles The Wrong Way!!! I Simply Wanna Wash My XB For My Personal Satisfaction (Not For Car Shows Etc...) & I Wanna Do It In A Healthy Way For The Box!!! I've Heard Of Liquid Detergents Damaging A New Vehicle's Clear Coats & Several Other Disasterous Ways Of How Not To Wash A Car!!! Can Anyone Help Me Out??? Submitting A List Would Also Be Helpful!!! Oh & I'm Gettin A Black XB!!! 
Senior Member
Team ScionEyed
SL Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,122
From: Austin, TX
Armoral soap, water, one of those furry mits. Wash panel by panel. Dry with chammis (sp?), or the water blade thing. Proceed to wax, Meguiars NXT wax is good.
Stand back, and admire your handy work.
Stand back, and admire your handy work.
Member
SL Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 78
From: Las Vegas
just use a good soap meant for cars (meguiars, mothers etc) and wash from the top down, one panel at a time. i use a natural sponge, and i use a seperate sponge just for the rocker panels and other lower areas of the car. i also use a waterblade and a few cotton towels to get what the blade doesn't.
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SL Member
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,170
From: Los Angeles
If you are a novice to car washing, go to www.autopia-carcare.com
Or just stick to Mr. Clean Autodry.
-THE DON
Or just stick to Mr. Clean Autodry.
-THE DON
Member
SL Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 89
From: Y-Town Ohio
I usually wash 1/2 the roof and the windows on one side first, then rinse. Then the other side, rinse. Then the hood, grill & maybe a front fender, then rinse. Then a couple more panels, rinse. Etc, etc, etc.
Every time I rinse a section I re-spray the previously done panels to keep them wet until I'm ready to dry.
Every time I rinse a section I re-spray the previously done panels to keep them wet until I'm ready to dry.
Senior Member
SL Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 104
Cleaning the XB for the best shine!
I wash one fender at a time.
It takes me a while to get the fenders off,
but it’s the only way I can wash and wax both the inside and outside of the fender.
I use a soft terry cloth on the disk rotors.
Next I do the doors. They come off a lot easier.
Once I put the rear door and hood back on I start on the interior.
I remove the carpets and seats and send them to the cleaners. The come back looking like new.
I take the windows out and bring them to a professional window washer. He can usually get them back to me in less than a week. Here is an important tip. Only use white gloves when handling a professionally cleaned window!
When I wax the ash tray I only use pure Carnuba. I would advise you to do the same.
I use clear coat on all the light bulbs. The ones in the dash are a pain to get to.
To dry it I use a hand operated bellows I purchased from a blacksmith. This to takes some time but if you want the best from your toaster you better listen to me.
Some question if it’s worth the effort and why don’t I get a life.
But I say “hey an ounce of image is worth a pound of performance”.
Next week – How to clean and wax the inside of your transmission.
Baw haw haw. Just needed to have a laugh at my own expense.
It takes me a while to get the fenders off,
but it’s the only way I can wash and wax both the inside and outside of the fender.
I use a soft terry cloth on the disk rotors.
Next I do the doors. They come off a lot easier.
Once I put the rear door and hood back on I start on the interior.
I remove the carpets and seats and send them to the cleaners. The come back looking like new.
I take the windows out and bring them to a professional window washer. He can usually get them back to me in less than a week. Here is an important tip. Only use white gloves when handling a professionally cleaned window!
When I wax the ash tray I only use pure Carnuba. I would advise you to do the same.
I use clear coat on all the light bulbs. The ones in the dash are a pain to get to.
To dry it I use a hand operated bellows I purchased from a blacksmith. This to takes some time but if you want the best from your toaster you better listen to me.
Some question if it’s worth the effort and why don’t I get a life.
But I say “hey an ounce of image is worth a pound of performance”.
Next week – How to clean and wax the inside of your transmission.
Baw haw haw. Just needed to have a laugh at my own expense.
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 20
From: Vancouver BC
Senior Member
Scikotics
SL Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 7,514
From: Orlando, FL (UCF)
I'm just copying one of my posts that I made in another thread to tell you my method-
I'm an OCD car washer. It normally takes me anywhere between an hour and a half to two hours from making the buckets of soap water to the final dry to wash my car. A long time, I know, but I don't induce any marring (small, fine scratches commonly known as swirl marks) whatsoever in my clearcoat.
I start off with 5 clean buckets. Two are for car was solution, the others are for pure water. When I make the car wash solution buckets and the rinse water buckets, I make them using filtered and de-ionized water (our house has a purifying system that does this and has a spigot comming off of it) and have the car wash be at about double the concentration recommended by the manufacturer. I use Top of the Line's Bubble Bath car wash soap because it is very slick (in other words, good lubricity) and I've noticed that its not as harsh on my sealants and waxes that are on the car (allows them to have better durability). The only drawback to it though is that it doesn't have much bite. It has problems with really caked on, hard to remove dirt. But hey, my car never gets to that point so it's a perfect choice for me! If you do have some really stubborn dirt, NXT car wash is a great choice, just don't expect your waxes and sealants to last a long time because this wash is really harsh to them. One water bucket and one wash solution bucket goes on each side of the car. The fifth bucket is for used wash mitts.
I use meguiar's cotton chenille wash mitts exclusively. The chenille doesnt come out of the mitt like I've noticed with other brands. Its also very soft which helps to not create marring in the clearcoat. Right now I use 13 mitts per wash; enough mitts to use 1 mitt per panel and two per bumper.
I have a spigot splitter attached to the spigot on my water purifying system. This way I can run 2 hoses that supply filtered water. On one hose I have a gilmour brand foam gun and on the other I just have a quick connector with a water shutoff valve attached (so I don't have to run back to the spigot to turn the water off all the time).
So what I first do is have the foam gun shoot pure water at a high pressure. I go over the front clip of the car with this trying to get all the large dirt particles, bugs, etc off. Once I'm satisfied that I've gotten everything that I can off with just water, I turn the switch on the foam gun to start creating foam. I then drench the front clip with it. I let the foam sit on the paint for about a minute then rinse it off with straight water. This step removes even more than the water rinse because the foam actually attaches to the caked on dirt/dust particles and lifts them up. When you rinse the foam off, the dirt is taken with it. Ok, so now I switch the gun again, and spray one panel with foam. I take one cotton chenille mitt and soak it in the wash solution bucket. Once the solution has been absorbed, I take the mitt out of the bucket and put the foam gun into the mitt. I then turn the gun onto a low setting. This lets soapy water flow thru the mitt. With this I gently, as in barely touching the paint, wipe a part of the panel. After this wipe, I turn the mitt over and wipe another part of the panel with the other side of the mitt. After both sides of the mitt have been wiped against the paint once, I take the foam gun out of the mitt, switch it to water spray and completely spray the mitt out. I then dunk the mitt into the rinse water bucket and again agitate the mitt in it trying to get every particle of dirt out of it. I then take it out of the rinse bucket, wring it out, and let it soak in the wash solution bucket again. I keep repeating these steps for the entire car. I normally go front right fender, hood, front left fender, front bumper, right side door, right side rear quarter, hatch, left side rear quarter, rear bumper, left side door, left sideskirt, right sideskirt. After i've cleaned a panel, I completely clean out the wash mitt used on the panel then it goes into the used wash mitt bucket. As I move around the car I periodically respray the cleaned panels with pure water as to keep them wet. Waterspots aren't a huge issue with the water I use, but very faint ones do appear if the water drys on the paint. The thinking behind this wash method is that instead of having dirt and dust move across the panel with the wash mitt pushing down on them and thus causing marring, the mitt dislodges the dirt particles and then the stream of soapy water comming through the mitt flushes them away. For REALLY dirty areas (like behind the tires after a few days) I'll switch to a natural boars hair brush and gentlely wipe away the dirt. When I do this, I have the foam gun supply a constant stream of soapy water going through the brush. Again, dislodge and flush.
So after I've cleaned each panel, I make a final high pressure rinse with straight water with the foam gun. after this, I turn the foam gun off and switch over to the second hose. With the manual shutoff, I open the valve just enough to let a very light stream of water come out of the hose. Using this I go over the entire car, starting at the top. This low pressure water rinse will promote sheeting. This will take off 90% of the water from the car. It leaves only drops here or there on the paint. After the water has sheeted off the car, I take an electric 200 mph leafblower that I have and get all the water out of the cracks in the car. Places that I've noticed that water accumulates are the front grills, the front side vents, the mirrors, the doors, behind the gas cap, and the hatch. I also pop the hood and the hatch and blow the water out of there. After blowdrying there's a few drops here or there left on the paint. I get these up with my Pakshak 25"x36" waffle weave microfiber towels. Instead of wiping them up, I blot at them. After getting the last drops of water off the car, I switch over to a pakshak ultra plush microfiber towel QD the entire car. This gets up any dirt that I may have missed in the wash and removes any waterspots that may have formed as I blowdried the cracks. Once this step is done, I throw the wash mitts in the washing machine and then let them air dry on the line.
This method was not something that I thought up. A member on autopia named Accumulator developed this method, so all props go to him, I just use it.
I'm an OCD car washer. It normally takes me anywhere between an hour and a half to two hours from making the buckets of soap water to the final dry to wash my car. A long time, I know, but I don't induce any marring (small, fine scratches commonly known as swirl marks) whatsoever in my clearcoat.
I start off with 5 clean buckets. Two are for car was solution, the others are for pure water. When I make the car wash solution buckets and the rinse water buckets, I make them using filtered and de-ionized water (our house has a purifying system that does this and has a spigot comming off of it) and have the car wash be at about double the concentration recommended by the manufacturer. I use Top of the Line's Bubble Bath car wash soap because it is very slick (in other words, good lubricity) and I've noticed that its not as harsh on my sealants and waxes that are on the car (allows them to have better durability). The only drawback to it though is that it doesn't have much bite. It has problems with really caked on, hard to remove dirt. But hey, my car never gets to that point so it's a perfect choice for me! If you do have some really stubborn dirt, NXT car wash is a great choice, just don't expect your waxes and sealants to last a long time because this wash is really harsh to them. One water bucket and one wash solution bucket goes on each side of the car. The fifth bucket is for used wash mitts.
I use meguiar's cotton chenille wash mitts exclusively. The chenille doesnt come out of the mitt like I've noticed with other brands. Its also very soft which helps to not create marring in the clearcoat. Right now I use 13 mitts per wash; enough mitts to use 1 mitt per panel and two per bumper.
I have a spigot splitter attached to the spigot on my water purifying system. This way I can run 2 hoses that supply filtered water. On one hose I have a gilmour brand foam gun and on the other I just have a quick connector with a water shutoff valve attached (so I don't have to run back to the spigot to turn the water off all the time).
So what I first do is have the foam gun shoot pure water at a high pressure. I go over the front clip of the car with this trying to get all the large dirt particles, bugs, etc off. Once I'm satisfied that I've gotten everything that I can off with just water, I turn the switch on the foam gun to start creating foam. I then drench the front clip with it. I let the foam sit on the paint for about a minute then rinse it off with straight water. This step removes even more than the water rinse because the foam actually attaches to the caked on dirt/dust particles and lifts them up. When you rinse the foam off, the dirt is taken with it. Ok, so now I switch the gun again, and spray one panel with foam. I take one cotton chenille mitt and soak it in the wash solution bucket. Once the solution has been absorbed, I take the mitt out of the bucket and put the foam gun into the mitt. I then turn the gun onto a low setting. This lets soapy water flow thru the mitt. With this I gently, as in barely touching the paint, wipe a part of the panel. After this wipe, I turn the mitt over and wipe another part of the panel with the other side of the mitt. After both sides of the mitt have been wiped against the paint once, I take the foam gun out of the mitt, switch it to water spray and completely spray the mitt out. I then dunk the mitt into the rinse water bucket and again agitate the mitt in it trying to get every particle of dirt out of it. I then take it out of the rinse bucket, wring it out, and let it soak in the wash solution bucket again. I keep repeating these steps for the entire car. I normally go front right fender, hood, front left fender, front bumper, right side door, right side rear quarter, hatch, left side rear quarter, rear bumper, left side door, left sideskirt, right sideskirt. After i've cleaned a panel, I completely clean out the wash mitt used on the panel then it goes into the used wash mitt bucket. As I move around the car I periodically respray the cleaned panels with pure water as to keep them wet. Waterspots aren't a huge issue with the water I use, but very faint ones do appear if the water drys on the paint. The thinking behind this wash method is that instead of having dirt and dust move across the panel with the wash mitt pushing down on them and thus causing marring, the mitt dislodges the dirt particles and then the stream of soapy water comming through the mitt flushes them away. For REALLY dirty areas (like behind the tires after a few days) I'll switch to a natural boars hair brush and gentlely wipe away the dirt. When I do this, I have the foam gun supply a constant stream of soapy water going through the brush. Again, dislodge and flush.
So after I've cleaned each panel, I make a final high pressure rinse with straight water with the foam gun. after this, I turn the foam gun off and switch over to the second hose. With the manual shutoff, I open the valve just enough to let a very light stream of water come out of the hose. Using this I go over the entire car, starting at the top. This low pressure water rinse will promote sheeting. This will take off 90% of the water from the car. It leaves only drops here or there on the paint. After the water has sheeted off the car, I take an electric 200 mph leafblower that I have and get all the water out of the cracks in the car. Places that I've noticed that water accumulates are the front grills, the front side vents, the mirrors, the doors, behind the gas cap, and the hatch. I also pop the hood and the hatch and blow the water out of there. After blowdrying there's a few drops here or there left on the paint. I get these up with my Pakshak 25"x36" waffle weave microfiber towels. Instead of wiping them up, I blot at them. After getting the last drops of water off the car, I switch over to a pakshak ultra plush microfiber towel QD the entire car. This gets up any dirt that I may have missed in the wash and removes any waterspots that may have formed as I blowdried the cracks. Once this step is done, I throw the wash mitts in the washing machine and then let them air dry on the line.
This method was not something that I thought up. A member on autopia named Accumulator developed this method, so all props go to him, I just use it.
Senior Member
SL Member
Scinergy
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,409
From: Englewood, CO
follow all these methods plus take it to a high tech auto car was. Dont scratch your wheel though when you drive it on the sensor. There is an auto carwash near my house and its awesome. It has laser sensor so the nossle is only a foot away from my car. Plus it dries it really well. You should always follow these :
1. Never use a car wash with brush
2. Never use a car wash with people hand drying (do not trust their wipes nor the people)
3. Wax your car at lease 2 a year after a good wash
4. Never wash your car and let it dry in the sun
I really recommend trying to find a good auto wash. The stuff they spray will really take the water spot out. Plus blow dry is always better than cloth dry (do minor wipes after the auto wash though).
1. Never use a car wash with brush
2. Never use a car wash with people hand drying (do not trust their wipes nor the people)
3. Wax your car at lease 2 a year after a good wash
4. Never wash your car and let it dry in the sun
I really recommend trying to find a good auto wash. The stuff they spray will really take the water spot out. Plus blow dry is always better than cloth dry (do minor wipes after the auto wash though).
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