SuperBee364
10-28-2008, 04:45 PM
There`s been alot of talk about a bunch of different methods of car washing. Which is good; this is, after all, Autopia! Well, after reading them all, and experimenting a whole bunch, I`ve come up with a car wash that does a pretty good job. It`s mostly based on a very old post that I can`t find anymore. I can`t even remember the author, but it was an outstanding read. He talks about how the stuff sitting on your paint (road grime, dust, dirt, bug guts, *anything*) is an abrasive, and that it is just waiting to scratch/mar your paint when you try and get it off. So successfully washing your car is all about successfully removing the abrasives from the paint, and reducing the potential of these abrasives to mar your paint in the process. Get out of the "my car is dirty, I need to wash it" mindset, and into the "my car is covered in abrasives, I need to remove them safely" mindset.
Think about this... if you have a brand new car, with completely swirl free paint on it, and stuck it in storage for five years (without ever touching it), the car would be swirl free five years later. What I`m getting at here is that *something* has to ocur in order for swirls/marring to happen; *something must abrade the paint*. 99.99% of the time, that *something* is washing the car. Think about the only times the car is touched (which is the only time marring can occur... when the car is touched. If it isn`t touched, it *can`t* be marred): washing, drying, QD`ing, polishing, waxing. Those are the times of "potential"; anything that is on the car when you touch it has the potential to mar the paint. Unless the paint is *completely* contaminant free, when you touch it, you`re *going* to mar the paint. Even an innocent finger swipe to see how dirty your car is will mar the paint. You might not be able to see it, but it is there.
OK, so washing the car without marring means removing these abrasive particles in a way which greatly reduces their potential to scratch the paint.
Step 1: Thoroughly rinse the car with a pressure washer. This is the very first step in removing abrasives. This step alone will remove some of the dirt (abrasives) from your paint.
Step 2: Apply a layer of a *good cleaning* foam. Alot of car wash soaps are heavy on lubricants, and shy on cleaners. For this step, lubrication means nada. All we want are cleaners. Using an aggressive cleaner like CG`s CW&G is good. Since we aren`t going to use mechanical agitation for the next step, CW&G is *not* likely to remove your LSP when used in this manner. At least, I`ve never had a problem with it. The success of this step is *directly dependent* on the quality of the car washing soap you are using, as well as the ability of your LSP to easily shed dirt (abrasives!).
Step 3: Let the foam dwell for a few minutes, but be careful not to let it dry. Then blast it off with your PW. Now we have removed even more abrasives from the clear coat, and have done so without yet touching the paint, thereby "reducing the potential" for marring.
Step 4: Evaluate the paint. Hopefully, the vast majority of the abrasives are now gone, and your car is clean. If so, spray your car off with a spot free water source, blow dry it, and go watch TV. If not, continue on...
Think about your decision a bit more... is your car clean enough to now blow dry it, and you`ll be happy with it? Or is it still dirty enough to warrant the increased potential of marring by continuing on with the next step? Too dirty? OK, let`s keep going...
So now we have removed *alot* of abrasives from the paint. So we have reduced the potential of marring alot, which is good, because we want the very *minimum* amount of abrasives left on the paint before we start touching it.
Step 5: Fill a five gallon bucket with water, then after it`s full, stir in the appropriate amount of soap. I use CW&G at LSP safe dilution for this step. And I mix it so there is absolutely no suds to get in the way. Now drop your Boar`s Hair Brush (BHB) in the bucket. Thoroughly rinse your car again. Now take the BHB out of the bucket, and immediately go to work on the roof of the car. Using gentle strokes, allow the wash solution to flow freely as you brush. When the solution stops coming out of the brush, dunk it again. You want the solution running *freely* to carry the abrasives away. This process removes abrasives using the most gentle touch method. It "sweeps" them off of the paint, rather than getting them trapped under a mitt. Do a small section with the brush, then pressure wash everywhere the solution was, and where it ran to. Repeat over the whole car, top to bottom.
Step 6: High pressure rinse, and again, evaluate the paint. Clean enough? Spot free rinse it, blow dry it, and go watch TV. Not happy with how clean it is yet, or you want ot make sure it is absolutely free of *everything* cause you`re gonna polish or wax? Then continue on.
Step 7: Now we have removed darn near all the abrasives. And we`ve done so as carefully as we can. Whatever is left on the paint is going to require serious kinetic motion to get off. That means going to a traditional wash media. Without going into a huge disertation on "The Best Wash Media", I`ll just say that I like the MF wash mitts that have tufts of MF all over them....Anyway, there is very little stuff left on the paint now to mar it. Which is good, because I am totally convinced that *anything* left on the paint for the next step is gonna cause marring. And that`s why we did the previous steps first. Fill up your five gallon bucket again, add your favorite *highly lubricating* car soap. I like Zaino`s car wash for this step. Again, suds are evil and get in the way...they prevent the solution from running freely and carrying away the abrasives. Proceed to wash the car just like you did with the BHB: lot`s of free flowing solution, rinsing often.
Step 8. Spot free rinse.
Step 9: Dry the car, using the method appropriate for "Reducing the Potential". What I mean is this... by now you *should* have completely clean paint, and you *should* be ok to dry it with a soft MF towel. But is it worth taking the chance? If you are going to be following up this washing job with a polish or wax, then yes, it is worth the chance. Go ahead and dry it with a towel. *But*, if it`s not worth the chance, blow dry it. Keep in mind that I *absoutely never* QD or in any way, shape, or form touch the paint after blow drying. It`s just not worth the marring potential. The only way I`ll use a QD or touch the paint in any way after a wash is if I did the full 9 steps and dried the car with a towel.
Now, as an alternate to step 7, you could do ONR instead. Just use your best judgment as to which is most appropriate... ONR or a traditional wash. I do the traditional step 7 if the car is still dirty with bug guts, or other difficult contaminants, and if I`m concerned that I won`t be able to get the car *completely* abrasive-free with ONR. I`ll also do a traditional step 7 if I`m still trying to get LSP off.
There are *alot* of methods for washing a car, and i`m not saying that my way is better than anyone elses, it`s just an alternative that works for me, and I hope it`ll work for others. All the standard disclaimers apply: YMMV, etc. etc. etc.
No matter *how* you wash your car, have fun! This *is* supposed to be fun, remember?? :)
Now go out there, and safely remove the abrasives from your car! ;)
Think about this... if you have a brand new car, with completely swirl free paint on it, and stuck it in storage for five years (without ever touching it), the car would be swirl free five years later. What I`m getting at here is that *something* has to ocur in order for swirls/marring to happen; *something must abrade the paint*. 99.99% of the time, that *something* is washing the car. Think about the only times the car is touched (which is the only time marring can occur... when the car is touched. If it isn`t touched, it *can`t* be marred): washing, drying, QD`ing, polishing, waxing. Those are the times of "potential"; anything that is on the car when you touch it has the potential to mar the paint. Unless the paint is *completely* contaminant free, when you touch it, you`re *going* to mar the paint. Even an innocent finger swipe to see how dirty your car is will mar the paint. You might not be able to see it, but it is there.
OK, so washing the car without marring means removing these abrasive particles in a way which greatly reduces their potential to scratch the paint.
Step 1: Thoroughly rinse the car with a pressure washer. This is the very first step in removing abrasives. This step alone will remove some of the dirt (abrasives) from your paint.
Step 2: Apply a layer of a *good cleaning* foam. Alot of car wash soaps are heavy on lubricants, and shy on cleaners. For this step, lubrication means nada. All we want are cleaners. Using an aggressive cleaner like CG`s CW&G is good. Since we aren`t going to use mechanical agitation for the next step, CW&G is *not* likely to remove your LSP when used in this manner. At least, I`ve never had a problem with it. The success of this step is *directly dependent* on the quality of the car washing soap you are using, as well as the ability of your LSP to easily shed dirt (abrasives!).
Step 3: Let the foam dwell for a few minutes, but be careful not to let it dry. Then blast it off with your PW. Now we have removed even more abrasives from the clear coat, and have done so without yet touching the paint, thereby "reducing the potential" for marring.
Step 4: Evaluate the paint. Hopefully, the vast majority of the abrasives are now gone, and your car is clean. If so, spray your car off with a spot free water source, blow dry it, and go watch TV. If not, continue on...
Think about your decision a bit more... is your car clean enough to now blow dry it, and you`ll be happy with it? Or is it still dirty enough to warrant the increased potential of marring by continuing on with the next step? Too dirty? OK, let`s keep going...
So now we have removed *alot* of abrasives from the paint. So we have reduced the potential of marring alot, which is good, because we want the very *minimum* amount of abrasives left on the paint before we start touching it.
Step 5: Fill a five gallon bucket with water, then after it`s full, stir in the appropriate amount of soap. I use CW&G at LSP safe dilution for this step. And I mix it so there is absolutely no suds to get in the way. Now drop your Boar`s Hair Brush (BHB) in the bucket. Thoroughly rinse your car again. Now take the BHB out of the bucket, and immediately go to work on the roof of the car. Using gentle strokes, allow the wash solution to flow freely as you brush. When the solution stops coming out of the brush, dunk it again. You want the solution running *freely* to carry the abrasives away. This process removes abrasives using the most gentle touch method. It "sweeps" them off of the paint, rather than getting them trapped under a mitt. Do a small section with the brush, then pressure wash everywhere the solution was, and where it ran to. Repeat over the whole car, top to bottom.
Step 6: High pressure rinse, and again, evaluate the paint. Clean enough? Spot free rinse it, blow dry it, and go watch TV. Not happy with how clean it is yet, or you want ot make sure it is absolutely free of *everything* cause you`re gonna polish or wax? Then continue on.
Step 7: Now we have removed darn near all the abrasives. And we`ve done so as carefully as we can. Whatever is left on the paint is going to require serious kinetic motion to get off. That means going to a traditional wash media. Without going into a huge disertation on "The Best Wash Media", I`ll just say that I like the MF wash mitts that have tufts of MF all over them....Anyway, there is very little stuff left on the paint now to mar it. Which is good, because I am totally convinced that *anything* left on the paint for the next step is gonna cause marring. And that`s why we did the previous steps first. Fill up your five gallon bucket again, add your favorite *highly lubricating* car soap. I like Zaino`s car wash for this step. Again, suds are evil and get in the way...they prevent the solution from running freely and carrying away the abrasives. Proceed to wash the car just like you did with the BHB: lot`s of free flowing solution, rinsing often.
Step 8. Spot free rinse.
Step 9: Dry the car, using the method appropriate for "Reducing the Potential". What I mean is this... by now you *should* have completely clean paint, and you *should* be ok to dry it with a soft MF towel. But is it worth taking the chance? If you are going to be following up this washing job with a polish or wax, then yes, it is worth the chance. Go ahead and dry it with a towel. *But*, if it`s not worth the chance, blow dry it. Keep in mind that I *absoutely never* QD or in any way, shape, or form touch the paint after blow drying. It`s just not worth the marring potential. The only way I`ll use a QD or touch the paint in any way after a wash is if I did the full 9 steps and dried the car with a towel.
Now, as an alternate to step 7, you could do ONR instead. Just use your best judgment as to which is most appropriate... ONR or a traditional wash. I do the traditional step 7 if the car is still dirty with bug guts, or other difficult contaminants, and if I`m concerned that I won`t be able to get the car *completely* abrasive-free with ONR. I`ll also do a traditional step 7 if I`m still trying to get LSP off.
There are *alot* of methods for washing a car, and i`m not saying that my way is better than anyone elses, it`s just an alternative that works for me, and I hope it`ll work for others. All the standard disclaimers apply: YMMV, etc. etc. etc.
No matter *how* you wash your car, have fun! This *is* supposed to be fun, remember?? :)
Now go out there, and safely remove the abrasives from your car! ;)