Peace of mind, or am I worrying too much

[Mindflux]

I recently (today) got in a discussion with a friend of mine about car care. I explained to him that I have tons of supplies he was welcome to come over and use/try out so he can decide what he liked best.



We got to discussing hand washing the car with wash mitts and wash buckets, and he started telling me how he quit doing the manual method and would just go down to his local coin-operated pressure "do it yourself" wash and hose the car down.



Now, he said he started doing this because no matter HOW careful he was he`d get swirl marks in his clearcoat/paint. And then he continued to mention with his next car he did NO hand prep to the car ever, just sprayed it down with at the "do it yourself" places and never experienced any swirling.



Of course, this makes sense since you`re not making contact with the car with a wash mitt, towel or whatever.



As some of you know I just bought a new car. I`ve already hand washed it once... I can`t say I`ve done any damage yet, but now I`m starting to wonder, "why do I go through the trouble to do it myself if I`m going to cause marring?"



So that is my question to you folks, why DO we spend the time doing ourselves, just to (somewhere down the road) get out the rubbing compound and rub the swirls away? :nixweiss



Am I just being paranoid? I know I do it because I love my car to be clean.. but at the cost of possibly swirling my paint? I don`t know.

[Sharkie]

I think hand washing autopia style is the best way to go by far. Just rinse thoroughly (!), use a good amount of suds and keep the wash mitt clean. That versus blasting away with possibly re-circulated water and goodness knows what kind of soap…My last prep before Zaino on my wife’s dark blue Subaru this spring still looks awesome, you have to twist, turn and squint to see any imperfections. It’s still in the 99.9th percentile of cars I see on the road, and it’s a very unforgiving color. Impressive post count on the ‘tex there by the way! I’m just a n00b, my nick is "Ag GTI"



Adam



Edit: I have considered getting a pressure washer to improve the rinsing aspect. It’s a valid point that it’s a good method to remove grit and grime before touching the paint.

[chevyguy28]

You bring up some valid points, but I also think the autopia way is the better way.



However, this also gives great validity to carguy`s methodology, which I have adopted. The more you wash, the higher chance of a possible mistake or of some minor marring. Therefore, I`ve gotten CCD and plan to use it often. Can I wash once every two weeks instead of every week using it? That remains to be seen.

[couch16]

I`ve found that just washing with high-pressure water & soap does not remove all the stuck on dirt. A good quality MF mit, car soap, and one wipe will remove more than just high-pressure water & soap. The pressure wash removes most visible dirt, but there seems to be a thin, stuck on layer that needs to be forcibly removed.



If you then begin to dry the car with MF towels, you`re dragging the dirt across the car and creating swirls. And if try waxing, you`re going to have serious swirls!



You might try a little experiment. Wait until your car is REALLY dirty. Then wash your car with high-pressure water and soap. Then clean your windshield with Stoner`s IG or Windex. I bet that you`re going to find more dirt on your MF than you expected.



I vote for the Autopia method. Keep in mind that I`m very careful about creating swirls. I use three buckets, three or more Pinnacle MF wash mits, frequent rinsing, only pass the wash mit one time over the surface in a front to back manner, wash top to bottom (leaving the very bottom as a separate last step), use the "perfect drying technique", an air compressor, and sometimes a leaf blower to dry the car. If high-pressure washing really worked, I`d be using it.

[imported_memnuts]

I would say that a coin wash would create more swirls than a autopian-style hand wash. First of all I have never met a coin washer that actually cleans a car. Second I am :scared by the pressure require to even come close to clean. How does one wipe down a semi-dirty finish and not create swirls/marring?

My brother`s Dark Green Metallic Land Cruiser does not have any swirls.... He does not wash it!!

The most damage I ever caused the Z28 was at a coin wash which I used one day because of my anal desire to wax the car one cold winter day and the hose was frozen.The car was actually dirtier after the wash and rinse. . Some type of filmy residue. Never again. :wavey

[HellrotCi]

I never realized how poorly a job the coin-operated car washes did until I washed my white Camaro using only the spray wand. After I was done, the car looked really clean until I used my CWB to dry it off. You should`ve seen the dirty water coming off my car.:shocked



That showed me looks can be deceiving and there`s no substitution for a wash mitt/sponge for actually getting your car clean.

[laynlow]

I hate to tell your friend, but the real dirt removal he is doing happens when he dries the car. You just can`t wash a car with enough pressure to break the bond between the dirt and the paint. You can remove the majority of the loose stuff, and that`s what I use mine for. I still wash with two buckets afterward.



I would suggest a test for your friend. Have him go to the carwash, wash his car, and then come over and wash it with the two-bucket method. Don`t let him dry the car at the car wash. Then see how dirty the rinse water is.

[Lowejackson]

I take the point about hand washing causing swirls but blasting the car with dirty water - not for me. Using a low pressure unit with a clean water supply, that is a different game, for doing certain jobs.



Steven

[imported_Erik Mejia]

In my opinion, it is VERY hard to cause swirls while washing the car.......I think the swirls are far more likely to appear while drying.....how do they dry the cars at these do it yourself places?

[imported_Intermezzo]

Originally posted by laynlow

I would suggest a test for your friend. Have him go to the carwash, wash his car, and then come over and wash it with the two-bucket method. Don`t let him dry the car at the car wash. Then see how dirty the rinse water is.

Good idea! Or maybe he can try drying his car with a clean white bath towel after doing the pressure wash only and see just how dirty the towel gets. Believe me, I know how dirty it gets. I`m speaking from personal experience!