Washing:
Washing your car is a step that is often overlooked and it’s one of the most important steps to take care of your vehicle. A lot of people wash their vehicle every week and think they are taking care of it but more often than not they are actually hurting their finish by washing improperly so it’s important to know the correct steps when washing your vehicle.
First things first … Always use a car wash, do not use any other type of soap. I see a lot of people using Dawn and they think they are doing good. Do not use anything but a car soap. Dawn will strip wax and oils from the finish. A few good soaps includes DP’s Xtreme Foam Formula Auto Shampoo which is meant for a foam gun but works well without it as well, other great soaps are Meguiar’s Gold Class, Meguiar’s Super Soap, Poorboy’s Super Slick & Suds, etc. Car washing should always be done at dusk or in low sun light settings. The paint should also always be cool. Both of these will prevent water etching and water spots. Next, always use a quality mitt. Do not use micro fiber mitts as they do not have enough “knap” and will trap dirt and it cause micro marring to your paint’s finish. My personal recommendation is the SM Arnold Lambs Wool mitt, it’s one of the best mitts out there.
A correct wash includes using the “two bucket method”. All this means is that you’ll use two buckets, one contains your soap and water and the other is plain water as a rinse bucket for your mitt. It’s also highly recommended to buy “Grit Guards” which sit at the bottom of the buckets to trap all of the dirt at the bottom of the bucket, instead of floating around to get into your mitt. Now dilution is very important when using soap. More is definitely not better in this sense. More soap than needed will strip your wax off of your finish. Most soaps will be able to use the 1 oz per 1 gallon of water rule. A foam gun is a great tool to use as well. I wouldn’t go without mine. I still use the two bucket wash method with the foam gun though so don’t think you can skip out there.
Now onto the washing process. There are two different ways that I believe are correct. If you are someone who believes in using a wheel cleaner than you’ll want to wash the wheels first. If you do get some cleaner on your paint, you can simply wash it off. If you do this, you will want to have a dedicated bucket for your wheels, tires, fenders, exhaust tips, etc. However, I do the wheels and tires after my washing my paint. I don’t use any cleaners though. I only use soap and water for my wheels. It’s the safest way to clean wheels and if you are cleaning your vehicle often as you should you’ll be fine. Once you’ve decided what you’re going to do there than you’re onto the next step.
Now it’s time to wash the paint. Rinse the vehicle thoroughly with a lot of water, more is better here. Hopefully you already have both your buckets ready (and your foam gun, if you’re going to use one). Now the best way to wash is always from the top to the bottom. Wash in sections, rinse and keep water on the paint the whole time you’re washing this will help prevent water spots. The two bucket method is used as follows. Dip the mitt into the soap bucket, wash your section, put the mitt into the rinse bucket, rinse the paint, and than wash the mitt out in the bucket, running the mitt against the grit guard and than back into the soap bucket. As far as bugs go on your vehicle, including glass and/or paint. I usually just use a yellow Honeycomb bug sponge that has been soaking in soap and water. There are a lot of products out on the market to remove bugs but I find that they will remove wax as well as the bugs. So, with that said I like to keep it simple and use soap and water. Keep repeating this process until you have finished the whole vehicle.
Once you have finished washing the paint, your wheels, tires, exhaust tips, etc it’s time to dry. Take the nozzle off of your hose and run the water on your vehicle from the top to the bottom. This is called the sheeting method and this will remove a lot of water. Drying is a key step in keeping your paint’s finish swirl free. I use a backpack leaf blower to get the majority of the water off. Once, I’ve removed nearly all of it, I’ll go back with a drying micro fiber like Meguiar’s Water Magnet or Pak Shaks Waffle Weave towel, etc. Water Blade types of tools are very sketchy, they have been known to induce straight line scratches. If you don’t have access to a leaf blower, than my recommendation is to use a couple of drying micro fibers. Go over the vehicle once with one, ringing it out when needed, and than follow up with one or two more to completely dry the vehicle to get a streak free shine.
Clay Bars:
Using a clay bar should be the first step to a full detail after washing your car. A clay bar is used to remove containments that have bonded to your paints surface which include tree sap, bird droppings, railroad and fallout dust, etc. Using a clay bar is very easy. Once the vehicle is washed you’ll want to use a Quick Detail spray to lubricate the surface and than take the clay bar and knead it. Now you can go onto ‘rubbing’ the paint with the clay bar. I like to use back and forth motions. Make sure you keep kneading the clay bar because containments will be picked up and you want to reduce the chance of micro marring and scratches. I’d recommend not going in circles. Once you have done a section you’ll want to remove the lubricant with a clean micro fiber. Make sure you keep kneading the clay bar because containments will be picked up and you want to reduce the chance of micro marring and scratches. Continue this process until the whole vehicle is done. Another good tip is to start at the top and work your way down to the dirtier surfaces. I prefer Poorboy’s World and Meguiars clay bar with Meguiars #34 “Final Inspection” as a lubricant.