I don't use water to clean my car

[DuncanM]

Intrigued to see how this may go down on here, but I don't use water to clean my car anymore, and I bloody love it.

3 microfiber cloths
Mer polish

One cloth to dust off the car quickly.

One polish sodden cloth to clean the car.

One cloth to buff off.

My car looks great, no extra swirl marks or scratches, and no more water creeping out of nooks and crannies to annoy me.

I honestly am getting a cleaner car, and it takes no time at all really.

I use Poor Boy's wheel cleaner which needs water, so that's the only water used.

Interested in people's thoughts on this

[thebraketester]

Try it on a black car and let us know how you get on.

[av185]

Only works if you have no grit whatsoever on your car. Which is virtually impossible. So you will invitably be polishing grit into your paint so scratching it.

Mer polish used to be quality but now its the usual diluted substandard stuff which will last a few days at best.

[Chubbyross]

Look closely under decent lighting. Do this over a few years and it will need correcting.

[Leptons]

Good luck in winter.

[anonymous-user]

Nice car , is it a daily driver ?

How do you get mud and salt etc off it ?

[Lemanandbeyond]

OK (ish) in summer if its light dust but there is still a risk of introducing swirls, in winter it will destroy the clear-coat.

I wouldn't want to do it on mine but everyone's different and if it works for you and you're happy then that's all that matters.

[23.7]

A few yrs ago I purchased some waterless wash and wax, I always use water


The wax bit is easy to apply and quite good. I can see it being after driving to a car show for instance, just to but a finish on an already clean car.

[steveo3002]

good luck when its caked in mud and grit

whats the advantage here ...using an abravise polish weekly/ often instead of some soapy water? why?

[DuncanM]

Chubbyross said:

Look closely under decent lighting. Do this over a few years and it will need correcting.

Oh definitely, however everything I've read on the subject of swirl marks, have pointed to them being inevitable, with correction needing doing once a year at least.

I'm planning on trying this through the winter and will update accordingly, the goal is laziness with a good result (so far) and I hate using water and always have!

I know it's a bit nuts and that's why I've posted, I'm incredibly pleased so far, but then perhaps I'm easily pleased too?

I'm not one for washing cars much, once a month, and through winter I'll be polishing and waxing to protect, again, Mer liquid wax finish.

The winter will be the test

[DuncanM]

Iwantafusca said:

Nice car , is it a daily driver ?

How do you get mud and salt etc off it ?

Thank you, yes a daily driver but I'm not doing many miles since covid wfh etc .

I bloody love it, paintwork is very good for an 8 year old red car, I plan on doing some correction next spring, but it's very nice overall.

[Dolf Stoppard]

How do you clean your wheels? With the same damp cloth you 'clean' the car?

[mmm-five]

Not sure that'd work on mine, but then I actually drive the fekkin' thing in all weathers!

[DuncanM]

Dolf Stoppard said:

How do you clean your wheels? With the same damp cloth you 'clean' the car?

I use Poor Boy's wheel cleaner which needs water, so that's the only water used.

[Smiljan]

Sounds very much like the OP is actually polishing his car regularly without first washing it - bizarre.

[sortedcossie]

Guy opposite me did this for over 12 months on a dark grey Audi A3. The outcome wasn't pretty.

[DuncanM]

sortedcossie said:

Guy opposite me did this for over 12 months on a dark grey Audi A3. The outcome wasn't pretty.

Oh dear!

[Dolf Stoppard]

DuncanM said:

Dolf Stoppard said:

How do you clean your wheels? With the same damp cloth you 'clean' the car?

I use Poor Boy's wheel cleaner which needs water, so that's the only water used.

Sorry, missed that bit!

I genuinely don't get though how you're not damaging your paintwork. Wiping a dirty car with a damp cloth as the main method of cleaning seems entirely mental to me.

Do us a favour and start a thread on Detailing World. They'd like you over there!

[markymarkthree]

Sorry if i have missed the reason but why don't you use water ?

[rjfp1962]

markymarkthree said:

Sorry if i have missed the reason but why don't you use water ?

He does, but apparently on the wheels only....!