what happened to using a bucket and a sponge?

[PH User]

Froomee said:

Before (albeit about a month ago)



After (Today as it happens)







I use my car as a daily and dont currently have a garage. The only way to keep the car in the condition it deserves is by thorough cleaning (it’s also fairly easy to maintain once up to scratch and stays cleaner for longer).

Careful, you might end up in the bad parking thread

[Cyder]

I sometimes choose the £12 option at the IMO car wash when I’m feeling really generous to the car.

[CooperS]

I bought a house with a north facing garden...... No trouble I get good light most of the year for a decent BBQ.

Biggest issue is that my driveway is south facing and a right pain to wash the car in the summer at any other point than first in the morning or late in the afternoon.

I am a 2 bucket multi mitt and towel kinda of guy.

Tbh I'm a either leave it dirty or wash it properly.

[MG CHRIS]

Can't think of anything more boring than washing a car tbh hence mine hasn't been touched since about September might do it next week as it's stinking made worse by being white or I might pop into the local car cleaners in the area.

[Chicken_Satay]

I don't bother with two buckets either. I just wash and go.

[foggy]

Chubbyross said:

Look at my beading...

Porsche badge shedding a tear - car wants driving, not polishing!

[Mr Tidy]

I got a bit sucked into this malarkey a couple of years ago and do now use 2 buckets and a poly-fibre mitt followed by a poly-fibre towel, instead of the sponge and chamois I used before.

But I don't do it that often as both of mine live outdoors and I'd rather drive them than wash them!

[Chubbyross]

foggy said:

Chubbyross said:

Look at my beading...

Porsche badge shedding a tear - car wants driving, not polishing!

Don’t worry. It gets plenty of that too. I like driving AND detailing.

[E63eeeeee...]

Froomee said:

I use my car as a daily and dont currently have a garage. The only way to keep the car in the condition it deserves is by thorough cleaning (it’s also fairly easy to maintain once up to scratch and stays cleaner for longer).

That's lovely and shiny. I'm not a fan of the blue trim though.

I have limited spare time, so if it's a choice between fix car, drive car or wash car, guess what happens. A clean car is a lovely thing though, so possibly if I had more time I'd get into this stuff. Mine get washed when they go in for a service.

[Paul_M3]

As others have said, a car is often the second most expensive thing a person will buy, so it’s understandable you’d want to look after it.

I think many people also don’t realise how good paint can look, and probably think that swirl marks in the sun are normal on cars.

Here’s what an Audi I bought looked like after years of being washed ‘normally’...



And here’s how half the bonnet looked after a decent polish...



After getting the whole car back to a decent condition, damn right I’ll use any recommended methods to try and delay further scratches.

I actually hate cleaning cars, unlike a lot of the ‘detailing’ people who consider it an enjoyable hobby. I do like the finished result though.

[swisstoni]

I was happier before I knew what a swirl was.

[Paul_M3]

swisstoni said:

I was happier before I knew what a swirl was.

Me too! I spent years thinking that was just how paint looked in direct sunlight.

[Pommy]

Pistonheader101 said:

where have the days gone where you could wash a car with just using a bucket and a sponge?

Nowadays it seems to be all this detail correction 5 bucket system snow foam etc.


does anyone still use the good old fashioned method anymore?

Because its not a 'good' old fashioned method.

It's just an old fashioned method.

Do you still wipe your arse with the tracing paper stuff in the old school days? If not, why not.

[anonymous-user]

Is there anyone here who, like me, sometimes really enjoys an utterly filthy .... car. You know: when it's the dead of winter and the car is mega grimy. Someone will wet a finger and daub "I wish my wife was this dirty" on the back. Someone else will daub "she is".

Don't get me wrong, I like shineeeeeeey cars, although I have never made much effort myself to get cars shiny (I sometimes get a bloke I know who owns a car storage place to give a car a good seeing to, and this even extends to prising the squished Maltesers out of the carpets if I am feeling flush).

[Ian Geary]

MG CHRIS said:

Can't think of anything more boring than washing a car tbh .

Well, this weekend I washed my cars afte painting several fence panels

Take your pick

[Chubbyross]

swisstoni said:

I was happier before I knew what a swirl was.

I certainly had more time!

[wiliferus]

I think I’m somewhere middle ground.

Two buckets, microfibre wash mitt, Dodo Juice shampoo, normal hose, and micro fibre cloths instead of a chamois. Once a year both cars get a wax paste coat, and now and again they get a Sonax quick wax.

That said the other half has just purchased a new car, and the bloody thing is black, so I suspect things may just be about to get much harder

[InitialDave]

Pommy said:

Do you still wipe your arse with the tracing paper stuff in the old school days? If not, why not.

My ring involuntarily clenched reading that! How long did it hang around for? I'm not even 40, and I remember the hateful stuff. My gran insisted on using it, too.

[jamei303]

Demelitia said:

For some people, cars are the second most expensive thing they’ll ever buy after a house, and so they’re understandably keen to keep them in good condition.

How many people wash the outside of their house, other than the windows?

I haven't washed my car since it was delivered new last June. The interior is immaculate though.

[johnoz]

Do we all have Paul Dalton to thank for all this! after all was he not the first £5000 car wash all those years ago.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/may/...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNAmZPgcBzU