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1) Washing Your Car Safetly

44K views 77 replies 32 participants last post by  takobro 
#1 ·
After a brief chat with Colin, he has kindly agreed to let me put some Sticky threads together to help people make a more informed choice when it comes to buying and using car washing / valeting / detailing products. As part of it - I will put 'HOW TO' guides to getting the best from the products that you own. Their is nothing worse after-all than buying a product, but not using it because it doesn't perform how you thought it would.

I get loads of PMs and regarding how to use a product, or what to buy, so instead of constantly typing and re-iterating the same stuff, its easier to do this and answer peoples comments along the way - then direct new people to these links in the future..

Please feel free to comment on - or add to any of the products I use. There is SO MANY products on the market these days, that its impossible to have used them all. Ill freely recommend any products I've used and would highly suggest for people to buy.

There will be all the different stages covered on different stickies, so I will add them on during the week :p

This is the very first thread - Pre-Wash and Washing your car...

In this thread, I am going to look at the stages of pre-washing and washing that have a big part to play in how your paintwork can look.

Most swirl damage and hollogramming happen at this stage. FACT! Poor wash technique, especially over time can really inflict a serious level of paint damage that can affect its value in the future. You also have to embrace the fact that some swirling is inevitable, but you can influence by how much :wink:

So if you are using washing up liquid, sponges and chamois leathers because its what your Dad used (yup mine did too) then you need to do some shopping soon!!!! We will look at products as we go.

Pre-Wash

Pre-washing is designed to remove all of the loose and rough dirt and grit that sticks to your paint, these of course would stick to your wash mitt and cause the fine scratches that blight so many cars paint. You can of course try and use your hose or pressure washer over the car first as a pre-wash first, but in my experience, you end up simply blasting the dirt and fine grit actually back onto the car, so not removing them at all.

There are two products that I use for Pre-Washing (especially in the winter) - A Citrus Pre-Wash and Snow Foam.

Now Snow Foam is one of those products that looks ace. Its a real crowd pleaser of a product! People come and watch you using it sometimes! Its designed to be sprayed over the car in a thick foam, it then needs to 'dwell' for 10 minutes or so before pressure washing it off. However.....many people have expectations that after this process, their car will be gleaming and will require little to no effort to clean it. Unfortunately, this isn't the case, especially in the winter with all the road salt and grime all over your car. It will however soak off bird poo and caked on mud, and it also gets under-neath loose dirt and grit, and removes it as it runs off the car.

Citrus Pre-washes are different. They are not foamy at all, and are as the title suggests Citrus based, and cut through dirt and grease - making the product stronger at removing dirt and grime on your car. They can also soak off bird poo and dirt, but not as well as snow Foam, so in many cases, is all the pre-wash product you actually need..Indeed there is a current shift amongst Detailers to only use the Citrus route on cars because it achieves a better 'clean'.

I tend to use both products at this time of year though where I can, however, on Mobile Jobs I don't always have access to a water supply, so the cars get a Citrus Pre-Wash only. When I use both, the citrus pre-wash gets put on first, left for 5 minutes, then Snow Foam on top.

Lets look at the products:

Snow Foam:



Citrus Pre-Wash



The Citrus Pre-Wash is actually called an APC - All Purpose Cleaner. It can be used in lots of different ways, and I use it in different dilution ratios for different areas of the car.



The main pump sprayer is filled a quarter of solution to the rest water. I spray this over the whole car, then leave it for 5 minutes. If I'm on a Mobile Job, ill add a little bit of car shampoo too it as well, to aid the washing process. If you do not have a pressure washer or Snow Foam attachment, this is a good way to still pre-wash your car and get very good results. This is it in use:









After 5 minutes of dwelling, I start on the snow foam..

First of all, fill your Foam Lance bottle about an inch in solution, and top up the rest in WARM water. Cold can be used, but I find I get better results with warm water.



Make sure your adjuster dial is set all the way to the - function. This dial lets more air in, to create the foam. Some dials work the opposite so just play with the dial until you are happy with your foam.



And away you go!!!











You should see dirt and much starting to run off



Leave it for 10 minutes (less if its hot and sunny) then pressure wash off





It should look quite clean, up close it will still need some cleaning though.



Washing and Buckets

Time to get rid of your sponge!!! Sponges allow dirt and muck to sit on the surface, and this again is a major contributer of scratches and swirls. Wash Mitts are better because dirt gets pushed up inside the fibres, leaving clean outer areas to wash with



Wash Mitts do not need to be expensive. Natural Sheep Wool ones can be found on eBay for £10, synthetic ones (seen here) are much cheaper. Microfibre ones are also fine, you can pick these up for a few pounds at Tesco or Asda. Of course, you can spend up to £25 on one if you feel the need.....I manage perfectly well on the synthetic ones above, and an Autosmart lambswool ones.

Grit Guards, buckets and shmpoo's - You may hear of something called the 'Two Bucket Method' when you wash a car, this refers to one full of your car shampoo, and one full of clean water.



The idea is to rinse the wash mitt after every time you have washed your car, then put it into your soapy bucket to re-apply to your car. The dirt ends up in the clean water bucket and not in the one you are putting onto your car.

There is nothing wrong with using 'builders' buckets for car washing, although I would recommend a Grit Guard to sit at the bottom of them if this is your choice.



The bigger ones that you see on any car care website are a touch pricey for me at £15-£20 a go, so I use one of these:

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Almost the same size as the ones on detailing sites but a fraction of the cost!

When it comes to shampoo's, lubricity of product is what you are after, not how many bubbles it produces! I use Autobrite Banana Gloss, and Auto Finesse Lather - both have great lubricity (how easy the Mitt glides over your paint) and smell great (not essential - but always a bonus!) Both are wax free - so leave a clean paintwork that will not harm any LSP.



I generally wash a panel at a time, rinsing as I go to avoid water marks - I use either a watering can or the pressure washer to rinse down at this stage. Remember to always start at the top of your car and work down, so as to avoid getting dirty water over clean :cool:

I tend to use the Citrus PW at this point, in a water sprayer bottle to tackle all of the nooks and crannies on the bodywork -







The key really here is to rinse as you wash, all the way around the car, that way you avoid all water marks from dried on bubbles and dirty water.

So thats washing your car done! :D
 
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#52 ·
Blackroc said:
Harvey321 said:
Would I have to polish and wax it again though?
Nope - the polish and wax you apply should last you anywhere from 2-5 months , dependant on what you applied, so watch for the wax failing (lack of water sheeting / lack of beading after a wash) and apply a fresh coat :)

Other than that, wash as little or as much as you want :)
cheers mate for clearing that up, used my snow foam for the first tie today, didnt work quite aswell as id hoped. didnt really make a difference to the dirt and didnt stick to the car. im thinking i didnt leave it long enough and it too diluted
 
#54 ·
Harvey321 said:
Blackroc said:
Harvey321 said:
Would I have to polish and wax it again though?
Nope - the polish and wax you apply should last you anywhere from 2-5 months , dependant on what you applied, so watch for the wax failing (lack of water sheeting / lack of beading after a wash) and apply a fresh coat :)

Other than that, wash as little or as much as you want :)
cheers mate for clearing that up, used my snow foam for the first tie today, didnt work quite aswell as id hoped. didnt really make a difference to the dirt and didnt stick to the car. im thinking i didnt leave it long enough and it too diluted
What foam lance are you using? The standard ones that come with pressure washers? Or the specific snow foam lances?
 
#55 ·
#56 ·
Blackroc said:
Quikrex said:
what about drying? any preference on drying cloths?
I've got 3 sets I use -

Kent Yellow drying towels (actually very good!)

Blue / red ones you see everywhere (BOGOF at Monza Car Care)

And these awesome ones:

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They are superb! Soft, thick and great to use. Sometimes they hold too much water though!
Cheers :D
 
#59 ·
Quikrex said:
Was looking for any recommended electric applicators for waxes?
It's not something (electric ones) that gets used - mainly because applying wax is very difficult using a polisher due to the product nature.

Sealants and cleansing polish is much easier to apply with them, and ultimately I'd use a proper DA rather than an electric buffer for the job.
 
#60 ·
Blackroc said:
Quikrex said:
Was looking for any recommended electric applicators for waxes?
It's not something (electric ones) that gets used - mainly because applying wax is very difficult using a polisher due to the product nature.

Sealants and cleansing polish is much easier to apply with them, and ultimately I'd use a proper DA rather than an electric buffer for the job.
Cheers thought I was on the right track with good old manual labour :D
 
#63 ·
This is a great topic, ive always had a bit of a fear of polishing and waxing old cars due to fear of messing it up! Now ive got the BMW I want to try and get the paint looking great. Its obviously been washed with sponges in the past, so I've picked up a few bits on recommendation from this forum to see if it makes a difference, critically the lambswool mitt and some of the autobrite bits.
 
#65 ·
#67 ·
HughesD03 said:
Not a big fan of the Valet Pro PH Neutral Snow Foam I recently bought. Went to use it yesterday and it had pretty much solidified. I'm assuming it's because of the cold weather.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Bring it into the warm and shake it.
 
#68 ·
RBS Bob said:
HughesD03 said:
Not a big fan of the Valet Pro PH Neutral Snow Foam I recently bought. Went to use it yesterday and it had pretty much solidified. I'm assuming it's because of the cold weather.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Bring it into the warm and shake it.
^ this

It's well known ValetPro foams do this. They are perfectly fine once warmed up again [emoji106]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#69 ·
Blackroc said:
RBS Bob said:
HughesD03 said:
Not a big fan of the Valet Pro PH Neutral Snow Foam I recently bought. Went to use it yesterday and it had pretty much solidified. I'm assuming it's because of the cold weather.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Bring it into the warm and shake it.
^ this

It's well known ValetPro foams do this. They are perfectly fine once warmed up again [emoji106]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yep same happened to mine so kept it in the house for the Last week and it sorted itself , it was back to normal on Sunday
 
#72 ·
Bit of Pro advice please Blackroc.

Despite following your excellent guide I'm still getting small scratches on the 1M's paint after washing - it's black so they are obvious.

Are there any other tips for avoiding them?

Lambs wool mit is put though washing machine (separately) after each use. Drying microfibres also and I've tried using a quick detailer spray as a drying aid, which helped a little.

It's doing my head in!

And finally is a citrus Pre wash safe to use on the wax (Poorboys black) that's on the car.

Thanks
Swanny
 
#73 ·
swanny71 said:
Bit of Pro advice...................
Probably wise to set out what your wash routine is.

Without knowing what stages you've gone through it's hard to help.

Are you pre-washing? Are you removing contaminants? Are you washing in straight lines? Two bucket method or three?
 
#74 ·
.Griff. said:
swanny71 said:
Bit of Pro advice...................
Probably wise to set out what your wash routine is.

Without knowing what stages you've gone through it's hard to help.

Are you pre-washing? Are you removing contaminants? Are you washing in straight lines? Two bucket method or three?
As per Blackroc's guide, except no citrus Pre-wash and car never really gets that dirty.

Rinse with power washer
Bilt Hamber snow foam via power washer
Rinse
2 buckets with grit guard, Meguiars Hyper Wash, Meguiars lambs wool mitt.
Rinse as I go with power wash
Dry carefully (patting) with drying towel (silverback?). Even tried blow dry with leaf blower - much to the amusement of the Mrs :redface:
As I mentioned all wash gear is put through washing machine separately afterwards and stored carefully.

Maybe this particular black paintwork is just a nightmare....... :?
 
#75 ·
swanny71 said:
.Griff. said:
swanny71 said:
Bit of Pro advice...................
Probably wise to set out what your wash routine is.

Without knowing what stages you've gone through it's hard to help.

Are you pre-washing? Are you removing contaminants? Are you washing in straight lines? Two bucket method or three?
As per Blackroc's guide, except no citrus Pre-wash and car never really gets that dirty.

Rinse with power washer
Bilt Hamber snow foam via power washer
Rinse
2 buckets with grit guard, Meguiars Hyper Wash, Meguiars lambs wool mitt.
Rinse as I go with power wash
Dry carefully (patting) with drying towel (silverback?). Even tried blow dry with leaf blower - much to the amusement of the Mrs :redface:
As I mentioned all wash gear is put through washing machine separately afterwards and stored carefully.

Maybe this particular black paintwork is just a nightmare....... :?
I think it's always worth remembering that ANY contact with the paintwork has the ability to leave swirlmarks so I wouldn't be too hard on yourself.

That said even after pre-wash and physically washing the car some contaminants will remain. Have you tried using fallout remover to see if there's anything bonded to the clearcoat you're not aware of?
 
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