Cleaning car at carshow without swirls?

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dpe_g35

New member
Hey guys,

I have a car show to attend with my black g35, its going in for a full swirl removal detail tommrow, but i was wondering how would i keep the dust off the car while its parked at the carshow without creating swirls/holograms? I was thinking onr but bringing the 2 bucket and all the supplies would be hard to do at the show. What can i do?



Thanks!
 
This is part of why I never show my cars. If you're really careful, and *REALLY* lucky, you might be able to get away with QDing/ONRing.



I myself would just let it get/stay dusty and try to keep people from touching it.
 
if you don't take onr you could try one of the waterless washes. opt power clean or ultima now has one (forgot the name). would try a test spot to make sure that you don't cause swirls. there are several other options but you would have to try them to find the one that works for you and your car. rinsless wash, waterless wash, qd and car dusters like califorina car duster are the options that come to mind. i would opt for the waterless wash first then the waterless wash method and so on. others will surely have somethings to add to this. not sure how hard or soft the clear on your car is as this will greatly affect the methods for dust removal without swirls.
 
When I go to carshows, I'll always have my FK425 with me to get rid of the dust it accumulates throughout the day. If I'm parked anywhere near drift competition, Opti-Clean.
 
AZN_C300 said:
When I go to carshows, I'll always have my FK425 with me to get rid of the dust it accumulates throughout the day...
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Yeah, that's what I gave my pal with the Jag MKII. He didn't mess it up *too* terribly badly over the course of the show season.
 
I attended a large car show last month (Crusin’ for a Cure) and ran into this same dilemma. I don’t normally use QD’s for the purpose of cleaning (with exception of removing some contaminants, etc.). ….I typically just use compressed air or a blower if I want to coax dirt/debris from the surface between washings. However, I had a 60 mile drive to get to the fairgrounds and with a black car it was inevitably going to get dusty. My usual method was out of the question so I brought a lot of my good MF towels and ONR at QD strength. I was going to bring a bucket with the ONR (vs. spray bottles) but I didn’t have room in the trunk/car with everything else we brought in including an EZ-Up, cooler, chairs, etc. ….it was an all day event.



Anyhow, I tried to do as little wiping as possible with one towel and a liberal amount of ONR (to remove the layer of dust) and then re-sprayed/re-wiped with another. Other than some lint that transferred from one of my towels (a whole different story), it worked out ok. I am also discovering the paint on my new car is fairly resilient (which certainly helps).
 
Short of using a leaf blower, I suggest bringing a bunch of brand new microfibers and some quality QD. I prefer Optimum and Zaino offerings myself.
 
BluBrett said:
Some Autopians have recommended a California Duster, but maybe that isn't acceptable any more?
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This is my recommendation. Never had an issue using the California Duster when showing my vehicle at a show. If it does cause swirls or micro marring, they're too small / light to notice with the naked eye in sunlight. Biggest thing to remember is to not apply pressure to the surface of the vehicle when using the California Duster. Let it "glide" over the vehicle.
 
I wopuld use ONR then a QD to keep it looking fresh





when there is just LIGHT dust i like the zymol duster myself





i dont trust the caliduster it is **** imo
 
Accumulator said:
If you're really careful, and *REALLY* lucky, you might be able to get away with QDing/ONRing.
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Variation on that theme, I was going nuts trying to do wipedowns on supersoft CC on my black bike. Many of my finer MFs were either micromarring or linting. ONR at a bit stronger than QD strength followed by FK425 worked real well when using my softest WWs. I've since been using WWs instead of napped MFs on the most sensitive soft or black finishes with considerable improvement.



TL
 
TLMitchell- Hey, that's interesting! I'm a big fan of (very soft) WWs, but I always lean towards plush MFs for stuff like this because of my fear of marring. Glad the WWs are working OK for you in that regard and I bet they leave a better/cleaner/drier/etc. surface.



Yeah, that potent ONR/FK425 combo is what I have my pal using on his Jag :xyxthumbs
 
i tried this when it came to my camaro.........i only drive it on nice days.......so i bought a foam gun and thought i would use that to "wash it" and use a leaf blower to dry....then QD and a MF to prevent water spots.......and low and behold.............massive marring.



i suggest you let it get dusty and wash it when you get home.
 
Accumulator said:
...that's interesting! I'm a big fan of (very soft) WWs, but I always lean towards plush MFs for stuff like this because of my fear of marring. Glad the WWs are working OK for you in that regard and I bet they leave a better/cleaner/drier/etc. surface.



Yeah, that potent ONR/FK425 combo is what I have my pal using on his Jag :xyxthumbs
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Cobra & Little Blue WWs are what kept me from tearing my hair out. I only use the smaller towels because I blow rinse water off leaving little residue to chase. I just kinda stumbled on to them as a fix for the soft black problem. I had trouble getting 205 to finish without micromarring and when 85RD worked out I was inducing marring just wiping off the residue. Nick Chapman posted similar problems with a super-soft CC on black a few places quite a while ago... he ended up finishing 205 with a yellow LC, of all things, to a mirror finish! So I tried thinking outside the box and discovered a firmer cutting pad worked with a finishing polish and finishing pads worked better with 105. Go figure! Which still left me with the marring problem with a residue wipe off.



I started using QDs when wiping off residue and grabbed a WW by mistake. Worked great! Eventually through experimentation I found the recipe for wiping light road dust off the soft black finish. It isn't perfect but it's the best combo I've found so far.



I'm still at a total loss why H-D CC is so soft on metal parts, only on bikes from the York, PA plant. Maybe it's because they don't expect their legions of fans to actually RIDE a Touring bike. Other models from other assembly plants are medium hard as are all the fiberglass bits that come out of WI. :::shrug:::



TL
 
Waterless wash I like the Ultima Waterless wash plus or bring two gallons of water and ONR and clean it that way using waterless before the judges come by
 
TLMitchell- Ah, interesting, thanks for the additional info.



Yeah, I too often like firmer pads than others might reach for, and some compounds work well with finishing pads for me too.
 
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