Washing My Car

[Cup_of_Joe]

I plan on washing my car myself very soon. Going to start by clay barring it. But I'm new at this. Is there an order I should do things? I want to wax it after also. Can someone provide a list of things they do and stuff I need. I currently have nothing..

 

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[GhiaAddict]

Take it to a detailer. It's not a DIY job. You risk doing more damage than good if you've never done before. Don't use your car as a Guinea pig.

[JLGT]

It can be a DIY job, everybody starts somewhere.

 

http://i.imgur.com/OUZjJFC.jpg

 

http://rallyways.com/2445/complete-professional-car-detailing-step-by-step-process/

[Timothy.B]

There's a lot to detailing your car. I actually did mine all by hand because I don't have a buffer yet and it's a workout.

 

JLGT pretty much covered it.

 

I'd honestly watch videos online. There's a lot of tips and tricks to it. Of course use the two bucket method. Make sure you rinse REALLY well after that. Get some good chamois for drying. Atleast two of them. The Absorber XL I found works really well. Mother's Clay bar is what I would get because it comes with the clay lube spray. Also Griots Clay works well but doesn't come with the spray. They have some nice products. If you drop the bar on the ground, toss it. The dirt and whatever it picks up will scratch your clear coat. There's lots of videos to using clay.

 

After that, there's the polishing, then waxing, then I'll usually use the quick detail once over. NUMBER ONE RULE. YOU NEED LOTS OF MICROFIBER TOWELS. I'm not kidding. Go to the Dollar Store. I've found 5 packs there and they're basically the same thing you get at Advance Auto, etc but cheaper. You'll easily go through 10 of them.

 

Put aside a good 4 hours if you don't have a buffer to do it with. There's pads you can use that are pretty much full proof but I've yet to use one yet. I'd definitely have someone teach you how to use it.

 

If you're afraid it's too much work, I'd pay someone to do it. Probably $80. I don't see any need to clay your car more than once or twice a year. After that you can just wash it, rinse it really good, dry it off and use some quick detailer. I use Meguiars Ultimate Detailer. Works well for in between waxes. You're lucky to have silver. Mines black and it's a pain to keep it clean. I'll go every 3 weeks in the summer.

[dgoodhue]

The chart posted is accurate for a full detail. [i have never though about claying the wheels] I only polished my Legacy as needed (so far only spot area's), because I keep my car relatively clean for a daily driver. Personally I have only clayed my Legacy once since buying it new (last year). I initially was using a clay bar on all my cars on annual basis, but I found that since I keep my cars clean, I found little difference after only a year. Your 2010 likely would benefit from cleaning it with a clay bar because likely the prior owner(s) did not do it. I initially was going to recommend not use a clay bar for your first time, but if your car has been through car washes or neglected, it going to make a mess of your supplies.

 

I use mostly Mother's and Griots Garage cleaning supplies on my cars, but you will find everyone has a preference. It is not that hard to drop $200+ on car detailing cleaners & supplies. I initially tried some of the cheaper big name brand supplies ended up throwing them away after a couple years. The good new is most of the cleaners last quite a while. For instance if you are only doing one car, $40 of wax could easily last 10+ years.

 

If you have never detailed a car before. I would probably buy basic the cleaning supplies and car wax and then build on from what you have. I like cleaning my cars, it is therapeutic for me and takes my mind off every day life. For some people they absolutely hate doing it.

 

This Is what I would recommend

 

Clay Bar

Clay Lube

 

Buckets

Car Wash

Cleaning Mitt

Cleaning Sponge for the wheels (You will ruin the car cleaning mitt on the wheels)

Some type of Drying Towel (I use a chamois and compressed air)

 

Wax

Wax applicator

Terry Clothes

 

Window Cleaner

[LegacyUpNorth]

I plan on washing my car myself very soon. Going to start by clay barring it. But I'm new at this. Is there an order I should do things? I want to wax it after also. Can someone provide a list of things they do and stuff I need. I currently have nothing..

 

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It's not that difficult to do. I first started doing my vehicles about 4 or 5 years ago and never looked back. Watch the videos on youtube and when in doubt just take your time and be gentle.

 

There's no trick to it.

[DugsSin]

It's going to cost a nice hunk of change to get GOOD products to do the job but well worth it in the long run.

http://adamspolishes.com/shop/exterior/carwashing.html or http://www.chemicalguys.com/ ------ http://www.autogeek.net/washing.html you get the idea and enjoy the process

[s2baru]

The Rag Company | Premium Quality Microfiber Towels and More! http://www.theragcompany.com/ (Share from CM Browser)

Bit more affordable for you if wanting just miscellaneous items. They're a local business and will ship ANYWHERE. Call them if you have q's

[Rutchard]

I always had pretty good results with a 5gal bucket, a grit guard, and a washcloth.

 

Don't know why you'd need to hire a detailer if you want to do a claybar job on it. It's time consuming, but it's easy as heck. Only way you're going to damage the paint is if you keep dropping the clay on the ground and picking up grit with it.

 

Now a rotary buffer, that'll mess up your paint real quick if you don't know what you're doing...

[s2baru]

One thing too to keep in mind when washing is wash it 'horizontally', not in big sweeping circles and all over the place. If you're going to scratch your paint might as well have those little itty bitty nicks going in the same direction so when you do clay, cut, wax, buff they'll be less noticeable and easier to fill.

I use two bucket and wash the top half of the car first then refill the buckets then wash the bottom half with a new towel and rinse bucket

[Unsp0kn]

Not everyone would like to spend $600 having their car detailed. Clay barring is not that hard, read up on it and you can absolutely do it yourself.

[Cup_of_Joe]

Great feedback everyone! So what I'm learning from all this is, I can pretty much do everything up to the wax and buffer without messing it up. So should I wash and clay bar, and then take it to a professional wax-er? How much am I looking at to take it to a pro?

 

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[s2baru]

Orrrr you can wreck your car pay 8g and get a whole new paint job problem solved

[Picky1]

I agree with what everyone is saying but clay bars are things of the past, much easier and faster to use a nanoskin mitt or sponge. I can do my whole car in like 10-15 mins!

 

Two bucket wash in key, and be sure to get at least 1 grit guard per bucket. Also, use a separate bucket and wash mitt for your wheels and tires. I have an old electric leaf blower that I use to dry my car, and then I use a waffle-weave towel to finish things off. Be sure to use a quality sealer or wax twice a year (spring & fall), and I use a spray wax every other car wash to extend my base wax.

 

If this is the first time you are detailing your car you might want to wash it with dish washing soap to get all of the old wax etc. off then clay, IPA wipe down, polish if needed, IPA wipe down, and wax.

[Rutchard]

I don't see why you can't wax it yourself either. Waxing isn't rocket surgery. Rub on, buff off, profit.

 

Unless your paint is royally swirled/scratched, claybar is probably going to be more than enough to make a huge difference.

[s2baru]

Any good sealants you guys are using?

[Timothy.B]

It's easy. Mr. Miyagi can teach you.

 

http://i.memecaptain.com/gend_images/rtyKKw.gif

[Timothy.B]

I actually haven't used a sealant yet but I've been using Meguiars Ultimate Detailer. Works like magic after a wash and dry.

[islandborn]

Crap! I read thru this thread hoping for some great pics of hot chicks detailing your car?!?! Some suds, beautiful car, hotties soaking wet... Damn. Total buzzkill. :lol:

[dang528]

Clay barring is relatively easy, cheap and safe. Just keep it lubed with detail spray and check it for impurities. Critical that you wash your car super clean before you start. Personally I wipe down the whole car with a auto body degreaser before I clay bar, as it keeps the bar a bit cleaner. Once your done that, 3 step wax is good for most, although 5 step wax does a great job at getting out the deeper swirls. If you use a random orbital, it's fast and you don't have to worry too much about burning paint. The 3 step is a cleaner, glaze and finish. The 5 step has a medium and fine cut before the typical 3 steps.

 

P.S.

 

If you get wax on the black plastic trim, the easiest way to get it off is with a good white pencil eraser. (My preference is staedler)

[amidroc]

In my area it is frowned upon for washing your car. People give dirty looks when folks have their sprinklers running into the sidewalks. Suck living in a drought state.

 

So I take it to the detail shop. The reclaim the water they use to wash the cars....that's my way to be "green" I feel good about myself afterwards.

 

When I was able to wash the car. I took my time and used Meguairs products.

[Syndicate]

...like the others said it can be a DIY job, I wish I had more time to wash our cars. I actually find it pretty relaxing. However, a full detail can take the better part of the day. Most of the steps have already been covered, I would just add be sure use quality materials, I'm partial to Blackfire, Chemical Guys, Sonax, Einszett, and Meguiar's when I'm in a rush and need something off of the shelf. I usually get my stuff from Autopia, Autogeek, Detailer's Domain, or even ordering from Amazon if I need something more quickly.

[DrD123]

Wow. I think that 12 step program is pretty appropriate for something like a show car, but for a daily driver, it seems like overkill. I generally don't like to spend more than an hour or hour and a half cleaning the car...

 

I wash by first rinsing off the car (to knock of dirt, etc. that might scratch while being removed) then wash using a car wash soap of some sort (tutlewax car wash soap, usually - it doesn't have any strong perfumes... I use the low-tech single bucket method...), then dry using one of those absorber synthetic chamois, then every few times I wax using a synthetic wax (meguires tech wax at the moment, I think). Every time I wash, I apply the synthetic wax to the headlights/taillights. I use 303 aerospace protectant on plastic and the tires (it's not greasy and leaves a nice new-plastic look - not the wet ultra shiny look of armor all or things like that) once every two or three months, and a couple times each year I clean and treat leather stuff with lexol cleaner and lexol protectant.

 

I would really think twice about using a buffer unless you have been taught and have had a chance to practice - paint is very thin, and it is too easy to burn through the clear coat if you don't know what you are doing (particularly on edges/body lines).

 

For the carpet, vacuum it when it's dirty - that may translate into doing it a lot in the winter or if you live on a dirt road.

[Syndicate]

...I think at the very minimum you should use the two bucket method w/grit guards. When I wash our cars I do the following:

 

- Clean the wheels and tires. I use Sonax Total Effect for the wheels and fill up a bucket with car wash soap to clean the tires.

- Rinse the car off to remove loose dirt.

- Start washing the car at the roof, then move to each section one by one (front fender, hood, bumpers, and etc).

- After every section is washed I rinse the car and look spots I may have missed. Another tip is to never wash in direct sunlight and also use two different wash mitts/mediums for higher and lower parts of the car.

- I give the car one more rinse then pull it into our garage to dry it w/o waffle weave towel. You can also address the door jambs and other difficult areas at this time of you want.

- I then tackle the interior (including vacuuming) and glass. I use Einszett Cockpit Premium and Stoners Invisible Glass for this.

- After everything is dry you may choose to dress the tires if you like.

 

...if you're looking to polish and wax you would start after drying the car after the wash:

 

- Clay the car a section at a time, taking your time to check each section to make sure the contaminants are removed.

- Optionally you could wash the car again (some people do). If not it's time to polish, I do this by hand but an orbital buffer can be used for this if you've learned how to use one.

- The last step is sealing or waxing to preserve the awesome shine you've just created with polishing.

[IQ9]

try looking at Detailed Image's-ask a pro blog. It should give you all you need. Chemical Guys is another site for videos of their products in use or Auto Geek's blog. If you live in a drought state take a look at Optimum No-Rinse.