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View Full Version : Cleaning in Las Vegas HELP



b8factor
04-01-2008, 06:20 PM
Greetings,



I normally hire a detailer to do my car but since I am in between contracts right now I decided to start doing it myself to save some doe! In the process I have a few questions:



1) I am in Las Vegas at the moment and they have HARD water. I use the double bucket method and rinse car, wash panel at a time with heavy suds and wash and dry quickly. This has worked for me, but there are times I have spots on windows and some panels after the fact. Should I just use quick detailer on this?



2) My Cayman is 1.5 years old now and I have had to start cleaning the windows inside and out. Before now they were invisible to me they were so clean. I am having streak problems that are annoying me. Any suggestions?



3) I clean my car at 3PM when drive way in in full shade. This last cleaning I noticed several sticky spots after the clean and I could not figure out what they were. It looked as if something sticky, like adhesive or something, was in my towels. BUt then I noticed all these tiny little flies, hard to see, all over the car. I think they either like my car shampoo or the water I do not know. I believe they are flying on to surface as I am drying and I am smearing the critters over the surface... very annoying. Anyone from Vegas have this problem?



-Billy

Sprzout
04-01-2008, 08:56 PM
Greetings,



I normally hire a detailer to do my car but since I am in between contracts right now I decided to start doing it myself to save some doe! In the process I have a few questions:



1) I am in Las Vegas at the moment and they have HARD water. I use the double bucket method and rinse car, wash panel at a time with heavy suds and wash and dry quickly. This has worked for me, but there are times I have spots on windows and some panels after the fact. Should I just use quick detailer on this?



2) My Cayman is 1.5 years old now and I have had to start cleaning the windows inside and out. Before now they were invisible to me they were so clean. I am having streak problems that are annoying me. Any suggestions?



3) I clean my car at 3PM when drive way in in full shade. This last cleaning I noticed several sticky spots after the clean and I could not figure out what they were. It looked as if something sticky, like adhesive or something, was in my towels. BUt then I noticed all these tiny little flies, hard to see, all over the car. I think they either like my car shampoo or the water I do not know. I believe they are flying on to surface as I am drying and I am smearing the critters over the surface... very annoying. Anyone from Vegas have this problem?



-Billy



1) I know where you`re coming from on the hard water issue; I live in San Diego and have hard water as well. If you`re getting water spots, that could be due to a) the water drying out before you have a chance to wipe it off of the car (which would be highly possible, as Vegas can be very hot and very dry), b) it could be that you`re not using enough soap in the water, and not getting a good enough sheeting action from the water. You can try using the Mr. Clean AutoDry washer, since it`s got a filter in it to remove minerals and soften up the water for you, but I dunno how well it works (I haven`t tried it yet).



2) Glass Streaking - Try using a microfiber towel to wipe it down, if you haven`t already; I found that using either Stoner`s Invisible Glass or Meguiar`s NXT Glass cleaner and a MF towel worked great at getting the windows clean, without streaks. Whatever you do, DO NOT USE WINDEX, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE TINTED WINDOWS!!! Windex contains ammonia, which will peel the tint right off the glass or cause it to bubble.



3) The dreaded bugs are something that are most likely caused by your car wash. If it`s got a scent to it, bugs will land on the car, most likely thinking it`s some sort of flower that they can get nectar from. I have this same problem when I`m applying car wax, since it`s got this nice, fruit scent to it. Unfortunately, I haven`t found a way around it, short of pulling the car into the garage to finish drying & waxing the car.