To clean or not to clean that os the question

[musicegbdf]

So with this rubbish weather, is it wise to avoid cleaning other than say jet wash.
I know however careful we are, there is bound to be a little amount of scratching. So as it is going to get grubby again , I was thinking to just jet wash to get the worse off and wait for better weather for the full monty...

 

[cuke2u]

I clean mine even if it is pee'ing it down with rain, neighbours think I am a nutcase....

 

[steeve]

There is a train of thought that suggests the less often you clean your car the fewer scratches and swirls you're going to get.

Its mechanical contact that does do the damage. If you can stand seeing your pride and joy all **** up then it's perhaps worth doing.

Sadly I have sleepless nights when mine's filthy,

Rather than leave it, use non contact cleaning methods whether its snow foam, or a citrus wash (need to be neutral ph) and then a rinse with filtered water it wont look to bad and keeps the salt off. However you need to keep the wheels clean as they degrade really quickly.

 

[S32B]

I've been doing a citrus pre wash and blast off with jet wash, then a snow foam and blast off with jet wash, then drip dry. Not perfect but gets most of the crud off, then once every 4th or 5th wash do a hand wash to get everything off and then use a QD to put some wax back on.

Alloys fully done each wash with bilberry and a brush, clean allys makes the car look cleaner than what it is!!!

 

[musicegbdf]

Mm a32b,
Sounds like a plan.
I didn't wash it ,after all. I put it in dynamic for the first time ( just got to 1500 miles) and took it for a blast.

Blimey., going to have to learn to drive again. Does it ever get into sixth gear in dynamic? Well at legal speeds.
I also had a go setting individual to dynamic with gears at auto. Then put it into manual and used the paddles. Great fun ..
Might give it a rinse over tomorrow. But then.........

 

[pburv]

Mm a32b,
Sounds like a plan.
I didn't wash it ,after all. I put it in dynamic for the first time ( just got to 1500 miles) and took it for a blast.

Blimey., going to have to learn to drive again. Does it ever get into sixth gear in dynamic? Well at legal speeds.
I also had a go setting individual to dynamic with gears at auto. Then put it into manual and used the paddles. Great fun ..
Might give it a rinse over tomorrow. But then.........

Jees! only just used Dynamic..I put it into dynamic on the first test drive. Frightened the Bejeezus out of the salesman...lol

 

[Scottyg]

It depends how confident you are in your own ability at cleaning a car? It shouldn't matter how minging a car is, if your wash routine and method is done properly then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. I wash mine/QD wipe down in the winter 2 times a week, weather dependant. In the summer it tends to be daily (yes I'm nuts, been told that many times) but I see no need for a car to be dirty. I have one mark on my paintwork that I will deal with before I apply, my recently acquired, Cquartz Uk. Once that's corrected the car will be pristine again.
You wash it as much or as little as you want. Just make sure you do it right.

 

[batch]

I'm being quite indiscriminate at the moment as I'm going to give it a full machine enhancement and protection in the next fortnight. So for now it's getting regular washes to keep it looking clean until I can go nuts with it!

 

[Jay_A]

Always snow foam ours first, then pressure wash, then wash by hand.

 

[Scottyg]

I'm being quite indiscriminate at the moment as I'm going to give it a full machine enhancement and protection in the next fortnight. So for now it's getting regular washes to keep it looking clean until I can go nuts with it!

Even if I knew I was doing what you're going to do I couldn't just wash it and not care what I'm doing to the paintwork. Your are in affect giving yourself more work to do.

 

[batch]

Even if I knew I was doing what you're going to do I couldn't just wash it and not care what I'm doing to the paintwork. Your are in affect giving yourself more work to do.

Didn't say I wasn't caring about the paintwork. I know my stuff - I'm just not going to town every weekend or indeed the opposite and neglecting it.

 

[Scottyg]

Just using the words 'being indiscriminate' filled me with dread.

 

[musicegbdf]

Jees! only just used Dynamic..I put it into dynamic on the first test drive. Frightened the Bejeezus out of the salesman...lol

I hope to keep it for five years so restrained myself.
Car was pro detailed two months ago and finished with gtechnik exo.
I use the full routine. Power wash the worse , then snow foam, two bucket with grit guard . Then lay microfiber towels. I peel the towels off . I do not wipe.
The snow foam does not "blanket" just beads. Guess the exo doing it's job.

 

[Scottyg]

Snowfoam should ideally be sprayed onto a dry car so that it clings, thus lifting off the muck etc. Putting it on after a power-wash will, as you say, drip off.....so in effect doing nowt other than wasting Snowfoam.

 

[pburv]

I hope to keep it for five years so restrained myself.

Fair doo's.Looking after your pride and joy.Some fun is allowed every now and then tho.

 

[Simon L]

+1 for weekly snow foam.....................main points being the car pretty much always looks clean and no chance for contaminents to build up in the first place.

As said definitely worth keeping on top of the alloys as they do get filthy very quickly. Bit upset with me brake disks at the moment as they're covered in rust spots..............knew it was coming from the various threads I'd read!! Think I might try me cape cod cloths on it...............gonna be a long job though me thinks!! lol

 

[Scottyg]

I've got the dreaded 'yawn', loud squeal when reversing first thing in the morning from the brakes. Will wait till its first service and get them to have a look.

 

[cuke2u]

There is a train of thought that suggests the less often you clean your car the fewer scratches and swirls you're going to get.

However some pr*tt will come along and write 'dirty please clean me' on your bodywork...

 

[musicegbdf]

Snowfoam should ideally be sprayed onto a dry car so that it clings, thus lifting off the muck etc. Putting it on after a power-wash will, as you say, drip off.....so in effect doing nowt other than wasting Snowfoam.

Ahhh that would explain it... If it is not raining tomorrow think I will snow foam and rinse only and see what happens.
Thanks...

 

[Stevier88]

I've ditched the 2bm due to the weather just now but will give it a touchless wash every week to keep it topped up.

Rinse
Apply citrus pre wash and leave to dwell
Rinse
Snowfoam
Rinse
Wheels with bilberry wheel cleaner and let drip dry.

If the car is protected well if should be fairly easy to clean with they methods.

 

[Jassyo06]

Best snow foams on the market for the winter months are Ultimate Snow foam and Valet Pro Snow Foam....2 applications of these, left on for about 10 minutes at a time, will takes all the **** of yer car....then wash when THE WEATHER is suitable....

 

[mikeyvee]

Washing in or before the rain is good as the water PH neutral and soft. Then comes up great the later when the rain stops and water has beaded off. That's providing you initially had some good protection on the paintwork.
Cleaning the wheels is essential particularly the front ones which I do every week without fail.

 

[SmileyS3]

Loving this thread! I'm really interested in this ' touch-less' cleaning....I do pretty much everything you guys have suggested but I also go over it with a pure wool mit /gyeon wash after the snow foam and then use gyeon spray for the beading afterwards. Then dry with a good quality towel.
Not using the mit or towel sounds even better! Does drip dry work ok?
I use bilberry and dragons breath.

 

[RichardT]

I clean mine even if it is pee'ing it down with rain, neighbours think I am a nutcase....

They're probably right ....

 

[SmileyS3]

 

[SmileyS3]

 

[SmileyS3]

Loving this! What you guys think?

 

[Rob2k68]

I still wash it during winter but sometimes don't get a chance due to the weather so it becomes monthly rather than bi-weekly. Snow foam and two bucket wash with grit guards as mentioned but picked up a Metro Vac Blaster Sidekick for Christmas so now only need to use one drying towel which used to be three - great little gadget. Also use a second wash mitt for the lower 1/4 of the car and the wheels. Wheels get jet washed and treated with Sonax Xtreme wheel cleaner plus and Wheel Woolies for the inside of the rims before a quick wipe down with the wash mitt.

Paintwork is swirl free so seems to be working. Gyeon detail helps a lot to prevent the dirt sticking in the first place I think.

 

[msdmjb]

Mmmm, 18months in and the only wash was by Audi at the service.
I like mucky cars

 

[Jassyo06]

Mmmm, 18months in and the only wash was by Audi at the service.
I like mucky cars

Each to their own mate if a mucky car does it for you, then so be it

 

[WarwickL]

I eliminated grit guards and the two bucket wash method over 10 years ago. Our cars have been remarkably swirl free since. I've also dropped foaming from the wash process. My science degrees found no value in the process.

Change is hard

 

[Simon L]

I eliminated grit guards and the two bucket wash method over 10 years ago. Our cars have been remarkably swirl free since. I've also dropped foaming from the wash process. My science degrees found no value in the process.

Change is hard

You what mate??

So how do you clean yer car.........................with an old jedi mind trick..................'clean this car will be...........yesss'!! lol

 

[Gazwould]

Yep , in the rain washer here too .

 

[WarwickL]

You what mate??

So how do you clean yer car.........................with an old jedi mind trick..................'clean this car will be...........yesss'!! lol

Passive cleaning (contaminant removal) of the wash mitts via the twin bucket method is pointless. I'll post up a link to the process I use sometime - a local pro detailer introduced it to me a while back.

Here you go

http://www.finalinspection.com.au/blog/cat/Information/post/Detail-TV-S02E01-Grit-Separators/

 

[Simon L]

Passive cleaning (contaminant removal) of the wash mitts via the twin bucket method is pointless. I'll post up a link to the process I use sometime - a local pro detailer introduced it to me a while back.

Ooooh ok then, Mr Secretive!! lol

BTW, I agree about the 2 buckets, can't be bothered with that nonsense........don't let the car get dirty enough to need it

 

[steeve]

As mentioned best to snow foam on a dry car. Allows the suds to sit there and not slither off (lovely word SLITHER).

Washing in the rain, a bit hit and miss as rain is not necessarily ph neutral, see below

"Normal rainwater has a pH of 5.6 (slightly acidic). This is because it is exposed to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide gets dissolved in the rainwater and forms carbonic acid (H{-2}CO{-3}). Rainwater with ph value below 5.6 is considered as acid rain."


Also its filthy, it picks up all the dust and dirt floating in the atmosphere on the way down. Just leave a clean container out in the rain and see what ends up in it.
We've all seen the Sahara dust that our cars get covered in. So I certainly wouldn't use rain water unless it was filtered. But that's just me.

Two buckets, it's once again a personal thing. Me? I'll continue to use two buckets with grit guards as even after snow foam and several rinses I am always surprised at the grit in the bottom of the rinse bucket.

 

[WarwickL]

Have you analysed the water coming out of your hose where you wash your car ? (I always do)

Here, most water is alkaline, full of dissolved minerals, often fluorinated and always chlorinated.

Our rain is rarely acidic.

As for snow foam - even with my vodkas on board I grimace when people suggest it as a useful detailing process

Two buckets - absolutely pointless but agree, surprise is rampant

 

[S32B]

Lies!!! I saw them touch the alloys

 

[steeve]

This is their zero bucket carwash process. On a nice clean car. Never the less a really nice expensive car though.
Ok, I'm going to be cynical and say they just happen to sell all this stuff. But they do run what seems to be a successful detailing business.

But I'm intrigued, though too frightened to try this, rubbing a mitt around my paint that is covered in dirt is not something I'm brave enough to try. I suppose I could try it on the wife's car and not tell her.

I'm always looking at improving my wash technique to reduce the damage to my paintwork. So I'm open to suggestions but I'm not ready to forsake my two buckets just yet. Though I will keep an eye on this.

 

[Simon L]

Have you analysed the water coming out of your hose where you wash your car ? (I always do)

Here, most water is alkaline, full of dissolved minerals, often fluorinated and always chlorinated.

Our rain is rarely acidic.

As for snow foam - even with my vodkas on board I grimace when people suggest it as a useful detailing process

Two buckets - absolutely pointless but agree, surprise is rampant

.........oh for sure, I always do a full chemical analysis before I undertake any detailing..................doesn't everyone??!!