The non marring results of how I wash cars.

David Fermani

David Fermani

Forza Auto Salon
The vehicle below is my 2006 Chevy Malibu (company car) that currently has 42,000 miles. I received it brand new about 10 months ago and I usually wash it once per week. I have NOT hand waxed or machine polished it EVER! Also keep in mind that this vehicle is not garage kept and is in the hot Florida sun. Below are pictures of before and after the bath I gave it today. I have not washed this car in over a month(probably 5-6 weeks) because of the current Florida drought/water shortage. We're only allowed to use water outside twice per week right now! This post is to show the effects of what not waxing a vehicle can do if maintained properly in alternative ways. Again, this car has no prior LSP on it. The only thing that this vehicle sees is claying every other month and a product called Hydro Shine from Auto Magic once per month. It's a liquid polymer that you spray on a clean wet surface that gets soaked into the finish as you dry the vehicle.

WASH PROCESS:

*Power wash the entire vehicle from top to bottom to ensure that any and all loose dirt is removed before touching/handwashing it

*Hand wash with AM Wash & Wax with a Shmitt wash mitt (1 five gallon bucket only)

*Rinse

*Blue Clay Magic with AM Body Shine (every other month)

*Rinse

*AM Hydro Shine (once per month) / 1 squirt per panel and dry with COTTON LINT FREE TOWELS

*Done!!



Here's the car dirty/not washed for well over a month:

malibu004.jpg


malibu003-1.jpg




This picture is to show how this vehicle beeds water after just washing it with plain water through a 1500 psi power washer. I believe it to still have a reasonable amount of protection for it not being Hydroshined for about 2 months. Keep in mind that this car is dirty and has a think film and still beads.

malibu013.jpg




Here's a picture of it beeding after hand washing and claying:

malibu018.jpg




Here's a picture inside my garage under incandesant light with a flash:

malibu022.jpg




This one is a close up with a flash - notice how the metalic stands out and there are no signs of micro marring:

malibu026.jpg




Here's another closeup without a flash to show the depth of the reflection. Again - no micro marring:

malibu027.jpg




This is to show how very basic products and processes can maintain a perfect finish on a dark colored vehicle. Here's the only products I've used to maintain this vehicle. Very simple but effective:



malibu011.jpg
 
David F.- Heh heh, you *knew* the title of this thread would catch my eye :D



You're doing a great job with that regimen :xyxthumbs



I give a lot of the credit to your powerwash, and FWIW I'm still incorporating a version of that (siphon feed gizmo hooked to the air compressor) as per our earlier discussions.



Oh, and your cotton towels must be staying nice and soft...lucky you :D



That HydroShine seems to be protecting against bird bombs too (I assume that's what the spot on the hood was).
 
toyotaguy said:
dark color vehicle....it looks metallic silver????



does the hydroshine has fillers in it?
Click to expand...



They call it Medium Gray Metallic. It's definately not silver. :grinno: It probably has tons of fillers in it. It also has a slight kerosene smell too.
 
How much do you pay for each of the products in gallon sizes...do you get them locally. I really like your initial powerwash step...
 
Accumulator said:
That HydroShine seems to be protecting against bird bombs too (I assume that's what the spot on the hood was).
Click to expand...



Yup - That was there for a couple of weeks and didn't do any damage. :chuckle:
 
awahl63 said:
How much do you pay for each of the products in gallon sizes...do you get them locally. I really like your initial powerwash step...
Click to expand...



They only sell it in the 32 oz bottles. I think I usually pay about $9 and I can do about 20-25 cars with it. There's AM distributors in every state and most of them will ship to you. Thanks.
 
I use AM's wash and wax, tire dressing, clay and interior dressing. I like their products plus they are only 20 min. from me so I get most of my regular wash stuff from them. I have to try the Hydro Shine.
 
itb76 said:
That's a lot of claying; is there a specific reason you clay so often?
Click to expand...



I also suspect that David has found that very gentle claying can be safer than more aggressive washing when it comes to tenacious stuff on the paint. I'd much rather use a gentle clay than risk inducing some marring by srubbing with wash media.
 
Accumulator said:
I also suspect that David has found that very gentle claying can be safer than more aggressive washing when it comes to tenacious stuff on the paint. I'd much rather use a gentle clay than risk inducing some marring by srubbing with wash media.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, and I'm sure the finish feels great. Bugs in particular can be tempting to scrub during a regular wash.



I clay once or twice per year, mainly because it's so time consuming. I clayed last night, it must have taken 90 minutes. Used to have to clay more often when I worked at a plant that let iron dust out somewhat regularly. This is the first I'd heard of anyone claying so frequently.
 
Frito Bandito said:
So if Hydro Shine has fillers how do you know there is no marring?



Looks nice regardless.
Click to expand...

Good question. I've looked at the finish under almost every light imaginable and there's not a trace of mico-marring. You'd figure after this long a period of time, something would surface? Even the continuous use of an LSP won't hide that? I'm not about to marr up the finish with IA to see. Is there another way to disprove this outcome? Is a product like this with a high level of fillers a bad thing? What if this maintenence regiment could be continued for multiple years with nothing else added and still produce this level of results? It kinda goes against the Autopian principles in a way? :scared: :secret
 
David Fermani said:
Good question. I've looked at the finish under almost every light imaginable and there's not a trace of mico-marring. You'd figure after this long a period of time, something would surface? Even the continuous use of an LSP won't hide that? I'm not about to marr up the finish with IA to see. Is there another way to disprove this outcome? Is a product like this with a high level of fillers a bad thing? What if this maintenence regiment could be continued for multiple years with nothing else added and still produce this level of results? It's kinda goes against the Autopian principles in a way? :scared: :secret
Click to expand...



It looks good to me, in my experience fillers will only hide more minor marring. On a DD 24/7 outdoors, I wouldn't personally strive for perfection, and the maintenance regimen that you have incorporated seems well thought out and most importantly, REASONABLE.



David you always seem to provide a FRESH approach to auto maintaining. Good work.
 
I have to clay every month, i work next to heavily used train tracks. Ive gotten so efficient that i can do all 3 of my vehicles in under 2 hours easy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top