Why is it taking so long?

Flynn · 09-12-05, 05:04

I've recently started cleaning my car in a more Autopian way. Out have gone the cheap car shampoo, dirty buckets and sponge. And in has come Meg's GC Car Shampoo, MF Wash Mitt, Hydra Aqua Blade and MF cloths.

It's made a heck of a difference to how good the car looks after I've washed it. But my problem is that it's just taking me so long to clean the car now.

I know I must be doing something wrong because it shouldn't take 2 1/2 hours to clean a Toyota Supra.

The method I'm using is to split the car into section:

Roof, windows, hood, trunk, sides, front bumper, rear bumper & skirts.

Then for each section I'm cleaning the car carefully with the wash mitt, using two buckets. Then using the hose to sheet water off, then use the blade to remove most of the water. Then MF clothes to carefully remove any water that is left.

As I said, using this method it's taking me forever to clean the car.

How can I speed things up and still get the desired quality of cleaning?

White95Max · 09-12-05, 05:30

Are you saying that you wash/rinse/dry one section at a time?

klnyc · 09-12-05, 05:41

2.5hr it's kinda long to me. I washed a Lexus GS470 in 1.20hr.

Flynn · 09-12-05, 06:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by White95Max

Are you saying that you wash/rinse/dry one section at a time?

Exactly. One section at a time.

truzoom · 09-12-05, 06:29

You dont' want to dry each section after you wash it because you'll just get it soapy/watery again when you wash an adjacent section. You want to wash a section with the mit, rinse it off, then go to another section. This is why it helps to wash in the shade, so the water on the rinsed sections doesn't dry.

Flynn · 09-12-05, 06:31

So it's OK to leave clean water on the car whilst you finish getting the dirt off the rest of the car?

Is it worth getting the hose over the bits you've already done to stop water marks, or is that a waste of time?

klnyc · 09-12-05, 06:58

Dont worry about water spot. Unless you wash your car under a extreme heat/sun. If you wash under a shade, you shouldnt have any problem.

Flynn · 09-12-05, 07:03

Excellent. Thanks for the advice. I shall continue to rinse in sections but I wont try to dry the car off until it's all been cleaned.

Accumulator · 09-12-05, 08:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flynn

Is it worth getting the hose over the bits you've already done to stop water marks, or is that a waste of time?

I would do this, it'll only take a few seconds and it's better than having it spot. Some water will *really* mess up your finish if it dries and I'd hate for you to find out the hard way.

Heh heh, I'm the wrong guy to ask about the time it takes to wash

but IMO if you wash it without marring the finish (which would require hours of polishing/waxing to fix) it's time well spent.

White95Max · 09-12-05, 10:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by klnyc

Dont worry about water spot. Unless you wash your car under a extreme heat/sun. If you wash under a shade, you shouldnt have any problem.

Klync - you can't say that for sure. In a dry or windy climate, the water can evaporate off of the surface faster. The amount of time it takes to evaporate depends on the area.

I think it will still take a long time to wash/rinse each section at a time. I wash my car entirely (redip the wash mitt after every 1/2 of a panel), then rinse the whole thing, then do the wheels, and then sheet the water off of everything. Then dry.
That takes me about 30-35 minutes. A little longer if the car is very dirty.

If you don't want to do it that way, I'd try rinsing it a little less infrequently to save time. Maybe wash 1/3 of the car and then rinse. Each time you rinse the 1/3, rinse the other areas again to prevent spotting.