Hand Car Wash

atrixblue.-MFR-.

I do mine myself, 2 bucket method with strainers in the bottom. 2 grit guards and 2 normal black buckets less than £15.00 (pounland buckets and BNQ grit guard all in one kits are around £25.00.


depending on the amount of dirt build up I may give the car a good soaking with some snow foam with the pressure washer let it sit 5 mins then mist spray it down gently to remove the grit and contiminants. i'll then move onto my buckets with a microfiber "noodle" mitt, dry off car then use my medium pile microfiber towel (I have about 30 in big bag) with some spray wax and wipe and fold and renew towel when full and repeat. i'll then start on the tar build up round the lower doors and arches and sills, then ill clay it, seal it, hard wax, soft wax.


That's something a handwash outfit could not give you, the reuse all their sponges and use lorry TFR liquid (traffic film remover) which Is high in alkali content (erodes most paint finishes) as it only costs about £19.99 per 20L drum as apposed to the propper car wash stuff that costs £39.99-£49.99 per 20L drum that not got corrosives in that's PH balanced, has conditioners in them to preserve paintwork. And then the "wax soap" they use you may aswell and go and pour harsh washing up liquid on your car.

sparky260500

blacksta wrote: »

two bucket approach anytime.. So called car washes do more damage than any benefit. You will always notice once you get home that they missed patch and also washing the car with the same soapy bucket without rinsing out wash mitt before dipping into soapy bucket actually scratches your paintwork.

no grit on wash mitt if done properly 100% recommend the men that do mine

sparky260500

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

I do mine myself, 2 bucket method with strainers in the bottom. 2 grit guards and 2 normal black buckets less than £15.00 (pounland buckets and BNQ grit guard all in one kits are around £25.00.


depending on the amount of dirt build up I may give the car a good soaking with some snow foam with the pressure washer let it sit 5 mins then mist spray it down gently to remove the grit and contiminants. i'll then move onto my buckets with a microfiber "noodle" mitt, dry off car then use my medium pile microfiber towel (I have about 30 in big bag) with some spray wax and wipe and fold and renew towel when full and repeat. i'll then start on the tar build up round the lower doors and arches and sills, then ill clay it, seal it, hard wax, soft wax.


That's something a handwash outfit could not give you, the reuse all their sponges and use lorry TFR liquid (traffic film remover) which Is high in alkali content (erodes most paint finishes) as it only costs about £19.99 per 20L drum as apposed to the propper car wash stuff that costs £39.99-£49.99 per 20L drum that not got corrosives in that's PH balanced, has conditioners in them to preserve paintwork. And then the "wax soap" they use you may aswell and go and pour harsh washing up liquid on your car.

How long does that take?

atrixblue.-MFR-.

sparky260500 wrote: »

How long does that take?

2 bucket method about 20 mins.


heavy dirt then snow foam in pressure wash bottle, 3 mins to apply 5 mins to lift the dirt 5 mins to mist wrinse then 2 bucket method 33 min approx.


towel and spray wax method after, about 15 mins.


clay bar about 45-1hour.


to seal paint, apply time about 20-40mins, leave to haze 5-10 mins or maybe leave 24hours depending on level you want to achieve buff is how ever long you want to take to achieve desired shine


hard wax same as above but not 24hours buff time as long as want depending on what you want to achieve.


softwax 10 mins leave to haze buff as long you want to level of shine you wish to acheive.

JustinR1979

It's a mornings work to give it a proper clean, as Atrix lists, but he must be keen if he does that more than once or twice a year!


A good wa!!!!!t alone will be a big improvement on how 90% of people wash a car.


A good quality drying towel is a must to save time.


Edit: How is wash mitt in the swear filter??

atrixblue.-MFR-.

JustinR1979 wrote: »

It's a mornings work to give it a proper clean, as Atrix lists, but he must be keen if he does that more than once or twice a year!


A good wa!!!!!t alone will be a big improvement on how 90% of people wash a car.


A good quality drying towel is a must to save time.


Edit: How is wash mitt in the swear filter??

It gets a proper detailing august/September, then again in may/june.


just washes and soft waxing inbetween.

JustinR1979

Similar to me, well if I had a decent car anyway!


This thread has inspired me to get some sealant (only have wax), Meguiars Pro 21 Synthetic Sealant, has good reviews.
My green car needs all the help it can get.


I would recommend to anyone to try a claybar.
Leaves the paint as smooth as glass, never fails to impress people.
I use them often on windscreen too to help wiper blades last longer.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

JustinR1979 wrote: »

Similar to me, well if I had a decent car anyway!


This thread has inspired me to get some sealant (only have wax), Meguiars Pro 21 Synthetic Sealant, has good reviews.
My green car needs all the help it can get.


I would recommend to anyone to try a claybar.
Leaves the paint as smooth as glass, never fails to impress people.
I use them often on windscreen too to help wiper blades last longer.

I use a razor blade and spray wax to clean the screen as claybar doesn't pick up the ingrained stuff in the laminate effectively, same as a clay bar use a spray wax generously and use the razor at an angle and just scrape in a downward stroke form top of screen with little pressure. many are put off by doing it "just incase" but once you've done it a few times you build up confidence, after this I coat the windows in rain x, i use nail varnish remover on cotton wool pads to clean the wipers.

I do use the maguiars line but the polymer no20, but I also have dodo supernatural sealant/wax that is little easier to buff off depends what mood im in and how well im feeling. on dark colors I would use a maguiars nxt tech paste or liquid as it gives a wetter deeper shine than other dark rated waxes it not cheap either £18.99 but the past should last about 1-2years before you need to replace.
with the clay bar kit its cheaper to buy a refill claybar, and their budget spray detailer as its essentially the same stuff in the bottle, the claybay refill is what you originally get ion the kit, should save about £3.00 over the kit price.
I never use the whole claybar, I cut about quarter of an inch off them spread them out then start to work on the car, only when its obviously full up with dirt I cut another piece off, usually on my kia proceed 2 1/4 cuts is more than enough for the whole car I then wrap the unused bar in cling film and keep it in a small lock tight food container.
I'm really liking the G3 ferracla superwax at the moment, not cheap either £27,00, but it comes with a waffle applicator pad, and its soo smooth to apply that one dab in the paste it does a whole panel and little bit more, so should last me 2-3 years and the beading it gives is amazing.

I buy poundshop microfiber (small) cloths whenever im near there, £1 for three types of cloth.
but I do buy large microfiber towels quite often to stuff in a water proof bag I have about 30 of them here in supersoft absorbant, large medium waffle small waffle,large pile, medium pile, short pile and window cleaners. I have 6 pure lambswool hand mitts. my next objective to make my life easier is a DA buffer!.


I cringe when see the local petrol stations forcourt that has executive motor go in for a clean and see them stick the nozzle about an inch away from the paint, at those pressures, the water pressure itself will scratch the paint work with lorry TFR solution added to clean it, then they wax wash then they high pressure rinse it, then go over it with a high pile dirty cloth, use a air compressor to dry it off with those plastic squeegies It like watching a car crash!.

JustinR1979

Did look at that Dodo. My car is dark green, and next car probably carbon black, so went for sealant - and for it's long lasting over wax.
Does have very good reviews.


DA - Dual action? Don't bother go straight to a rotary.
Be there for weeks with a DA, especially on a German car.
Silverline are cheap.

vansboy

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

It gets a proper detailing august/September, then again in may/june.


just washes and soft waxing inbetween.

I like your attention to detail, detailing.

What is the car you have, that is so well preserved?

VB