QEW tutorial (NOT 56k friendly) PART 1

**dgraupman** · 01-21-2004, 12:44 PM

I moved from a townhouse into a 2-car garage with an attached house in late October and have really come to appreciate QEW. With the low temperatures on the East Coast I`ve used it exclusively to wash the cars.

I don`t have large windows of time to do all I want in one session (remove scratches and swirls, polish, and protect), so I QEW a couple panels at a time and just focus my work on those areas for a couple hours. After I wash, I place foil over the bucket and use my solution the next day to wash a couple more panels. It took me 4 sessions last week to complete the exterior work, but it only took one bucket of QEW solution.

I don`t understand why anyone would have any hesitations about using this product after all the good write ups it has received. Especially since it is ideal for winter use (if you have a garage).

**raymond_ho2002** · 01-21-2004, 01:16 PM

I often qew in the garage, and since there`s no sun to evaporate the product, I`ve found it much quicker to wash the entire car first before starting to dry. I then do short-stroked, blotting wipes with a cotton towel to dry the car, leaving some residual qew, and then do a final pass with a waffleweave to dry. I then go around the car qd`ing and buffing with a soft microfiber to get rid of any possible qew haze. This cuts down my wash time from a little over 20 minutes to just under 15 minutes, including wheels, which are done last after drying the body.

**Spilchy** · 01-21-2004, 01:42 PM

BEAUTIFUL! Great job! Pat on the back!

We`re talkin` Hall of Fame post!

Too bad about the pics.

**DefBringer** · 01-21-2004, 04:25 PM

Mosca - this is a great post. If you don`t have another host I can try hosting them for you so you can imbed them into the thread. Or is it the forum software that is causing the limitation?

**kg/cmÂ²** · 01-21-2004, 04:47 PM

Originally posted by Spilchy

BEAUTIFUL! Great job! Pat on the back!

We`re talkin` Hall of Fame post!

Too bad about the pics.

I agree! ...nice job Mosca! :xyxthumbs

**JustinR32** · 01-21-2004, 09:36 PM

Thanks, guys! So many times I go into the garage to do a process, and forget to document it; this time I wasn`t going to let that happen!

I`ll keep trying with the pics. It might be a bandwidth limitation from cardomain; I`ve been linking a lot to there. I don`t have all THAT many pictures linked to here. But, tomorrow. It`s 9:40 and I just got home from a 13 hour work day from hell... a 2.5 hour staff meeting in the middle of the day, and of course I`m stuck doing 5 o`clock`s work at... 7:30.

Tom

**mx5gary** · 01-21-2004, 11:49 PM

Starting using QEW last winter, also works great in the middle of nowhere

http://www.autopia.org/gallery/showp...papass=&sort=1

**Inzane** · 01-21-2004, 11:57 PM

Originally posted by Pats300zx

Bookmarked...:up

Hey Pat, how do you "bookmark" a post on this style of forums? (its so easy on tt.net). Or were you just referring to bookmarking the http: link to that post via your browser? Thx.

**JustinR32** · 01-22-2004, 04:23 PM

Pix fixed. I don`t know how, though, I re-entered them and they worked this time.

Tom

**imported_Intermezzo** · 01-22-2004, 04:56 PM

Originally posted by stevet

Luster,

Am I reading your post correctly? Are you not using QEW in the water and replacing it with Zaino Car Wash?

QEW is made to be used without a pre-rinse and doesn`t need to be rinsed off the car, you can dry with a towel and it doesn`t leave a residue. Regular car soaps are not made to be used this way. How do you manage not to swirl your paint and not leave soap residue all over the car?

stevet,

I`ve been using QEW for almost two years now and I`ve come to the conclusion that it`s a great product, but there really isn`t anything special or unique about it. I agree with BW when he says that the entire scratch-free cleaning we get are largely the result of the refined and careful procedures we follow as opposed to any special characteristics of the product (imagine that...it`s not the product but the technique!).

With that said I`ve tried varying combinations of QEW, shampoo & QD mixed in a bucket and I`ve found that using shampoo (& QD)instead of QEW can be done successfully. In fact, I kinda like that combination better than QEW on a carnauba`d car because of the way it gives your car a "mercury-like" shine. Rd_volvo and his tireless experimenting with carnauba products (especially from One Grand!) told me about this effect which I`ve been using on my car for a while now. It`s almost as if the trace amount of soap distorts the reflectivity and adds to the car`s wet look.

**Pats300zx** · 01-22-2004, 05:38 PM

Hey Pat, how do you "bookmark" a post on this style of forums? (its so easy on tt.net). Or were you just referring to bookmarking the http: link to that post via your browser? Thx

Inzane...

Bookmarks are found in your User CP..

Just click on Add...

**stevet** · 01-23-2004, 02:51 PM

Intermezzo,

What you are saying about using a regular car soap instead of QEW is interesting. Prior to trying QEW I did regular car washes and would never have even considered for a minute to try applying a mitt to the car without a pre-rinse and then drying the residue off without a final rinse. Then I heard about QEW and gave it a try and it works great. I have been thinking that it is something different about the QEW that makes it possible to wash this way, that is how it is advertised, and now you say it`s more the technique than it is the product. I wonder what some of the long time QEW users think about this?

**raymond_ho2002** · 01-23-2004, 03:01 PM

Originally posted by stevet

I have been thinking that it is something different about the QEW that makes it possible to wash this way, that is how it is advertised, and now you say it`s more the technique than it is the product. I wonder what some of the long time QEW users think about this?

Anyone out there brave enough to do split their hood into three sections, using the no-rinse QEW method to test qew versus soap-water, versus plain water?

**Magellan498** · 01-23-2004, 04:36 PM

Great post Tom!! Very informative. :up

**eclemens** · 02-06-2004, 09:14 AM

Getting ready to try it myself for the first time. Thanks for the writeup!

It isn`t available locally, so I got some from the protect-all store; they are running a special: 2 16 oz. bottles plus sample of protect all cleaner/wax for $10. Shipping was a (somewhat) reasonable $5.00

http://www.protectall.com/qe.aspx

On a side note, anyone ever used their polish wax and treatment? Thinking of giving it a shot on the boat (gelcoated glass).

VV