First Black car

[imported_Intermezzo]

Does everyone out there use soap when washing their car? I wash my car every week and my wash mitt doesn`t get dirty at all. Eventually I figured it would be best if I didn`t use any soap when washing. I`ve been doing that for about a month now and there hasn`t been any noticable difference in how dirty my Absorber gets when drying. So why bother with soap, especially when this will allow my protectant to last that much longer?

[BradE]

The soap acts as a lubricant between your wash mitt and the car. And the soap helps lift embedded dirt off the surface of the car.



It is simple really. The lubricant action of the soap allows the mitt to pass over the surface of the car with less friction. The more friction you have between the mitt and the car, the more chance that you may cause scratches or swirls.

[rstype]

I wash my older black Bimmer without car wash soap every other week, because its not a daily driver and rarely gets dirty. Then, I finish with One Grand Show-Off quick detailer with an original MT.



I`m 99.99999999999% sure Brad B. doesn`t wash with soap once in a while too.

[YoSteve]

Intermezzo330I good expansion of what I do inbetween washings. I have visible stuff on my car, so I need to soap. What I do inbetween soap washing is rinsing (no duster, no way) and QDing. I dry with a QD dampened miracle towel, then follow up with fresh MT and QD.



If you don`t need to soap (do you drive the car? :D) then you should use water as your solvent and QD as your lubricant.

[ISLANDSBEST]

whoa! I think ShowroomLincoln has it nailed. I would never take the chance of washing without an auto shampoo. Yes, you may not have a problem, but what is the benefit? 10 to 30 cents of shampoo and, maybe, you save on 4 minutes of rinsing? As to the Blitz, a mild shampoo for cars should not significantly remove the wax.



I don`t see what significant advantage would come from running the risk. Now, if you just rinsed the car and dryed it, the benefit would be that you don`t have to do the work of going over the car with a mitt. But, if you are doing the work anyway, why not add some shampoo to the water? Friends, what am I missing?

[rstype]

I think you said it perfectly and you`re not missing anything, except in my case, it really isn`t too necessary for shampoo on the "garage-queen." It never gets dirt on it, only dust.



I simply rinse it with a nozzle-less hose, and wipe it dry with a bath towel. When done, the bath towel is perfectly clean, just wet with no sign of dirtiness.

[ALM]

I agree with Showroomlincoln, soap is a lubercant to help prevent the dirt from scratching your car when you run a wash mitt over the surface. If all you do is "wash" your car with plain water, why do you even bother in the first place? Why don`t you just QD instead? Any QD is probably safer to use than plain water, as they are designed to help remove contaminants (granted some are better than others at this task).

IMHO, if your not going to wash your car with soap, then QD instead, and save the water.

[ISLANDSBEST]

Ahh, just as I thought! You are really doing a "liquid dusting."



From reading your posts over the last several months, I knew you were smart. I could not imagine you "washing" your car with a mitt but without shampoo.



Of course, you do not need my agreement or two cents, but what you wrote and what you are doing makes complete sense to me.



Steve9185 - Good thoughts. Extending what you wrote, I guess if it was not hot and not too dry, you could first rinse the car and then QD it, without shampooing it. Of course, the QD product would get diluted by the standing water, so I guess you might have to use more of it, and you would need more towels, as they got wet.



I don`t know when I would ever do this (I live in So Cal, so I could only do it in the evening), but I would guess it would not be harmful, and, come to think of it, except for the "many towels and lots of QD product" detriment, it would have the benefit of rinsing off dust before the QD.





[Edited by darbh on 08-17-2001 at 06:48 PM]

[ALM]

darbh- I can`t totally agree with you when you say that you could rinse the car then QD it.



IMHO, the QD should take the place of the rinse, the way i see it rinsing is an unecessary step, cuz your gonna hafta QD anyway to remove the water spots.



And if your car is too dusty to QD why only rinse, when you really should break out the soap and water to help ensure the safe removal of the dirt. And if you dont have time to wash, then don`t risk QD`ing and scracthing your paint!





Just IMHO!

[ISLANDSBEST]

LOL :)



Good points.



I had similar ideas when writing my last post, then, near the end of writing the post, I thought, "well, if you were a total maniac, you could rinse the car to get off light dust, because you were so fanatic that you did not want to risk QDing when the car had light dust on it."



Frankly, I do something like this. I very lightly, using no pressure whatsoever and a clean, BIG fluffy towel, "dust" the car before QD, but only if the dust is very, very light and it flyes off. Anything more serious, and its wash time.

[rstype]

<strong class=`bbc`><em class=`bbc`>Hmmm... why don`t I just QD?[/i][/b]

Simply because I`m still a bit afraid that the dust may scratch the paint. In addition, the towels will get dirty more often.

<strong class=`bbc`><em class=`bbc`>So why not wash the car if it`s so dirty?[/i][/b]

Well, the car gets dusty, not exactly dirty. Usually, grabbing a hose and rinsing the car leaves nothing but a clean surface.
______________________

In conclusion, I think it is best for me to QD more often, so the car always stays spotless. <em class=`bbc`>And about that HEPA air filter... ;)[/i]

~bw

Btw, thanks for the compliment darbh.

[ALM]

darbh-Have you noticed any scratches when doing this? Cuz it seems that recently there is some contraversey over how safe the Cali duster is at removing dust.

I agree with you, anything heavier than light dust, its wash time.

[ISLANDSBEST]

BW -- we share the same sentiments on QDing when the car is a bit dusty (not dirty, as you point out). See my comments to Zav, below. (HEPA, heck, we need clean rooms, like they use when making computer chips; or the sort of bubble that the Boy in the Bubble was in - LOL). BTW, I really like the politenss of your responses. You just supply info or correct misunderstanding or clarify the point, rather than insulting the questioner.



Steve9185

-- Re your duster question. I have been really torn on using the Duster. I bought it a over month ago and did not use it. I started a thread on this site, seeking others opinions, while the Duster sat unused. About 60% said it was OK. Others claimed the Duster was invented by the Devil. Sal said that used properly and with care, it was OK.



I still hesitated. After much hand wringing, I started using it just a few days ago. I only use it if there is VERY light DUST (no dirt, nothing that is "chunky"). There is a very strong advantage. I can dust the car REALLY quickly. And, I suspect that dusting the sides of the car with the Duster, is safer than trying to dust the sides with a fluffy towel. And, I feel better about doing a Z6 QD AFTER I have brushed the light dust off the car. I do not want to be rubbing the paint with dust on the car, even with QD product. I just don`t feel good about it.



I dust with just the TIPS of the Duster. I shake out the Duster after every two passes. So far so good. But, of course, that is what the optimist was heard to say as he passed the tenth floor, after falling off a twenty story building.



Hopefully, I will not be reporting disaster, but if it occurs, I will let everyone know.

[ALM]

Correct me if im wrong, but i belive that one of the problems when using the duster is that it is layed on the car and "pushed around" to pick up the dust, when in fact it is suppost to be used as you just explained, lightly dragging the tips accross the surface.

Im going to contiune to use mine under a watchful eye....likewise ill let you know if anything turns up.

[Ron Ketcham]

Who ever started this thread, let me ask this one question.



WOULD YOU WASH YOUR SKIN OR YOUR HAIR WITH WATER AND EXPECT THEM TO BE FREE OF OILS, BACTERIA, ETC.



Suggest you contact the EPA in your area regarding the number of airborne contiminates in your city or local, what they are and then consider what happens when they are combined with water, heat and ozone.



The other issues brought forth in this thread, lubrication, etc are to be considered, but just apply basic chemistry to the "soup" of chemicals that your vehicles paint system is exposed to every bleeding day.



How the introduction of water and it`s oxygen molecule, high ozone days,(ozone being a more active oxidizer than oxygen) may affect the paint system on your vehicle.