Car washing at home

[JayP1]

Curious what systems people use for the light washing down and drying of their car between the more thorough detailing. I’ve looked at some de-ionised water systems and air blowers to save having to put sponge/cloth the paintwork which leads to scratching over time. Any recommendations for what works for you?

[Ferruccio]

My children.

[JayP1]

Ferruccio said:

My children.

Haha

[sardis]

Ferruccio said:

My children.

Brilliant response, but my goodness the thought of my son going anywhere near my car with a sponge

[sardis]

To answer the original question I stick to the two bucket, lambs wool mitt, grit guard method. Dry off with multiple microfibre towels, don’t rub with them, just lay flat to absorb and flip them over. I have three decent sized ones and rinse and spin dry them prior to using them. I find having them already damp seems to actually improve the absorbency.
No doubt there are flaws in this method so any professional detailers out there please feel free to chip in thanks.
Of course the first fundamental step is to take the car out for a drive beforehand, this is often overlooked.

Edited by sardis on Sunday 7th March 10:13

[willy wombat]

And for a quick blast afterwards to dry out the brakes etc (in fact I normally do this instead of drying them and just use a chamois or microfibre cloth to dry off the bits that the airflow hasn’t reached. But then, I’m not very fastidious)

[KingofKong]

Jetwash and foam lance, snow foam and wash mitt, the foam gives plenty of lube to help reduce marring.

And then as above, two buckets, wash from top down, use one mitt for the top half of the car and another mitt for lower down where grit is more likely to sit in accumulated mud and another mitt/brush for wheels.

Always pat dry, but better still use a blower to limit contact.

Then a good quality detailing spray to finish off and remove smudges or finger prints.

Loads of videos on YouTube.

You can’t go wrong with any of the main brands like Autoglym, Dodo, Meguiars, Gtechniq, Chemical Guys etc

[Ferruccio]

If you guys go to that level of care with washing, haven’t you ppf’d the car?

[JayP1]

willy wombat said:

And for a quick blast afterwards to dry out the brakes etc (in fact I normally do this instead of drying them and just use a chamois or microfibre cloth to dry off the bits that the airflow hasn’t reached. But then, I’m not very fastidious)

This is a novel way of drying off that I hadnt thought of! Will implement that one straight away!

[Lee Jones Jnr]

I must be incredibly lazy.
Whenever I have got a toy car I have it detailed once a month and don’t do anything with it myself.
I’ve only got one car at the moment and just power wash it when it looks dirty.
As a deeply childish man I do always enjoy telling the detailer that ‘that’s even better than the £4 Polish car wash’ or similar.

[Trev450]

JayP1 said:

willy wombat said:

And for a quick blast afterwards to dry out the brakes etc (in fact I normally do this instead of drying them and just use a chamois or microfibre cloth to dry off the bits that the airflow hasn’t reached. But then, I’m not very fastidious)

This is a novel way of drying off that I hadnt thought of! Will implement that one straight away!

Been doing this for years - the best part of washing the car. lol

[craig511]

Pre rinse car with jet wash.
Snow foam and wait 2 mins
Lambs wool mitt and two buckets.
Rinse with jet wash.
Then.... take car for drive around the block, it’s amazing the water that comes out of all the nooks etc. It also dries off the brake disks so they don’t go all orange.
The using a blue drying towel from gtechniq dry her off.
Quick wipe down of the engine bay and door thresholds.
Done. Take about 30 mins all in.

For more detail cleans same as above but throw in glass cleaner , wax and polish etc .

[paddy328]

For those that say they have their car detailed regularly, unless you are having it machine polished to remove imperfects, then it’s just being valeted. Nothing wrong with that, but so many valeters are calling themselves detailers these days when they just do “safe washes” and valeting. Nothing wrong with valeting, but it’s not the same thing. Anyway...

Just be safe when you wash it. Firstly, get a decent pressure washer with a long flexible hose. This will make life much easier and make it quicker to was the car. Follow this formula:

Clean the wheels first with either a decent wheel cleaner or soap and water with a mild degreaser for cars with carbon brakes. Rinse well first and after.

Snow foam the car, leave to deal for 5 mins and rinse off from top to bottom.

Use two buckets, one soapy one and one plain with two sponges (kamikaze collection wash sponge) or wash mitts. One for the top of the car down to the bottom of the doors and the other for the bumpers and sills. Wash in straight lines and do a panel at a time in between each dip in the buckets

Rinse well and either use an open hose or a couple of watering cans to flood the water off the car to remove the most amount of water as possible before drying.

For drying, the best thing to use is a blower such as the metro blaster and use a soft cloth to remove any drips or excess. Having good protection is the key to fast and safe drying. If you have a water filter, then you don’t have to worry about drying with a cloth. No, be aware that driving off in the car to dry the car will pick up all sorts of dust and grit that you could wipe on the surface should you choose to give it a wipe when you get back. Make sure to use the blower to dry the wheels and brakes too.

[av185]

Lee Jones Jnr said:

As a deeply childish man I do always enjoy telling the detailer that ‘that’s even better than the £4 Polish car wash’ or similar.

'polish' being the operative word...

[Lee Jones Jnr]

paddy328 said:

For those that say they have their car detailed regularly, unless you are having it machine polished to remove imperfects, then it’s just being valeted. Nothing wrong with that, but so many valeters are calling themselves detailers these days when they just do “safe washes” and valeting. Nothing wrong with valeting, but it’s not the same thing. Anyway...

(Presumably that’s for my benefit as I haven’t noticed anyone else mention detailing. Rest easy: I know what detailing is)

[drcarrera]

As well as a method similar to many mentioned above I use a Raceglaze water purifier as I live in a very hard water area.
In theory it means you don't need to dry the car afterwards but I've always found it necessary to wipe it down or it still leaves a few marks.

I may invest in a blow drier this year as I think it would make life easier.

[Insert Coin]

You don’t need to invest very much, I use a generic variant of this -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M0IX2EU/ref=cm_sw_r...

[rriggs]

For me:
- Thorough rinse with hose
- Wash section by section from top down with warm soapy water and microfibre mitt
- Rinsing each section with hose as I go
- Try and keep panels wet to avoid any early drying while still washing
- Do door, boot and bonnet shuts with damp microfibre towel
- Do wheels with warm soapy water using wheel brush for between spokes and inside wheel and sponge for faces
- Rinse whole car and wheels from rain water butt using watering can

I never wash in bright sun or strong winds as it’s too much of a fight against drying badly

After rinsing with rain water I just leave it and don’t dry it unless I am waxing too. Rain water dries cleanly and leaves no marks (assuming again no sun or strong wind)

[Rick101]

Insert Coin said:

You don’t need to invest very much, I use a generic variant of this -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M0IX2EU/ref=cm_sw_r...

Nice had considered something like that.
Does all you need, or second in any way to spending three figures on a 'detailing' blower?

[s p a c e m a n]

And as for water... https://www.spotlesswater.co.uk