The Every Week Car Wash

[rsparks64]

I do a similar thing, but have to be careful because a lot of those car washes have hard water and can leave water spots, even if using a blower to dry or drying with towels quickly. I try to hit it with a spot free rinse if available before I go to the drying stage.

 

[Dixie_Flatline]

We live on a crushed rock road. The road rock is 3/4” with fines which means anything that goes through a 3/4” screen. Lots of limestone powder. Closest blacktop depending on direction is 2 miles, 2.8 miles or 4.7 miles. Drive slow they say. Ya right. Tried it once - made it to the end of the driveway. Tractors go faster than some people drive on crushed rock. Fun passing convertibles. Yes it has been known to happen and I wasn’t driving. Color of vehicle doesn’t mater. They all look the same color. When I wash them I use a turtle wash or dawn. Use the same to wash equipment. Key is to put them inside when done. In the winter I will go through a car wash that has the under body spray. Half the vehicles we see in neighboring towns have the same color coating ours does. Have lived in cities before. Country living is the place for me.

I grew up on a gravel road, and everyone's cars in the area do end up being the same color! Well, until it rains anyways.

My previous Expedition had lived its life in the south before I moved to California for a bit. After that it was up to New York, and just one winter up there started to absolutely EAT my vehicle. If I had known better I would have done one of those treatments like Fluid Film, then it would not have dissolved like it did. Kept wondering why I saw nothing but rust buckets all winter, apparently I was seeing the winter rats. The nice cars came out once the threat of salted roads passed in the spring, only to disappear months later. Guessing Michigan is a lot like that.

 

[customh]

My process is much like yours where @D.F.B adds all the steps I wish I had time for. If you're not going to go all out and buy the pressure washer and wall mount everything I feel like we're doing the best we can.

Surprised you don't go with the Griot's Bug Remover. I used it right after my bottle of TW BTR ran out- the Turtle had a lotion/wax consistency and the Griot's acts more like a soap/"dissolver" on the bugs. Much happier with it.

This kit would make washing my wife's SUV much faster I think. Maybe you'd benefit on the Rivian?

Wash Mop Stick Kit

The NEW & IMPROVED car wash microfiber mop. Get a Microfiber Wash Mitt's safe car washing power with the convenience and reach of a Telescoping Stainless Pole.

www.griotsgarage.com

Brake Buster is nice, I'm planning to try the following diluted 4:1 to see if I can get cost down.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/superior-products/superior-products-dark-fury-1-gallon-wheel-and-bug-cleaner/scp0/c661?q=dark+fury&pos=0

I think Griot's soap is way overpriced for what it is. Meguiar's Hyper Wash from Harbor Freight is the way. Crazy dilution ratio means a gallon will last forever.

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-gallon-hyper-wash-59320.html?_br_psugg_q=hyper+wash

I have used Griot's 3 in 1 Ceramic Spray Wax by spraying wet and rinsing off. Very happy with it and just need to make the time to apply "correctly" for longevity. I definitely don't have the time or fancy enough cars to go through the trouble of a full-on ceramic coat. This stuff still keeps things cleaner between washes and the vehicles get clean easier after applying it.

 

[KenC]

Way back when (you don't want to know how long), I worked in a full service station. We had a wash rack and a number of weekly customers, and monthly wax jobs too. We used a tire cleaner concentrate from a 30 gal drum. Can't recall the name but it was not like 'normal' WW cleaners today, more like a dish washing liquid in consistency, but diluted a lot. We sprayed dry tires then washed the car. Last step was just a wash mitt on the tires and hub caps(that's how long ago it was!). Rinsed, chamois dried and done. Also, we used the same stuff on the grille, headlights and front of the hood, dry, before washing. Just melted bug remains!

Sure wish I knew what it was.

Car care then and there was so different than now. One customer parked his car behind the station and walked to his real estate office across the street. It was our job to check the gas and oil daily, using the key in our cash register, wash if needed and wax monthly. And take care of anything else we found. Bright red 59 Buick two door HT Invicta. Gorgeous car!

No customer/service provider relationships like that could exist today. He trusted us, we did him right.

 

[D.F.B]

Check these out as a replacement for the Griots -

Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer Wipes - 30 Wipes

You practically live in your car and with Meguiar's Quik Interior Detailer Wipes you can quickly and easily keep it clean. Quik Interior Detailer Wipes are the fastest way to safely clean interior plastics, vinyl, leather, rubber, metal and even LCD and navigation screens. The gentle...

www.meguiarsdirect.com

P&S released Xpress Interior Wipes today. Having used the sprayable version of Xpress for many years now and love how it cleans and leaves no residue behind. Xpress is also pH neutral, which is safer on interior surfaces than typical alkaline leaning All Purpose Cleaners. Xpress can be used on all surfaces, including leather, fabric and carpet. In wipe form, these will be handy addition to the P&S lineup.

Xpress Interior Wipes

These versatile wipes take convenience and efficiency to a whole new level. Designed not only for cleaning vehicle interiors, they’re perfect for wiping down multiple surfaces both inside and out. Whether you're tidying up dashboards, door panels, or leather, or tackling exterior surfaces like...

psdetailproducts.com

 

[customh]

P&S released Xpress Interior Wipes today. Having used the sprayable version of Xpress for many years now and love how it cleans and leaves no residue behind. Xpress is also pH neutral, which is safer on interior surfaces than typical alkaline leaning All Purpose Cleaners. Xpress can be used on all surfaces, including leather, fabric and carpet. In wipe form, these will be handy addition to the P&S lineup.

Xpress Interior Wipes

These versatile wipes take convenience and efficiency to a whole new level. Designed not only for cleaning vehicle interiors, they’re perfect for wiping down multiple surfaces both inside and out. Whether you're tidying up dashboards, door panels, or leather, or tackling exterior surfaces like...

psdetailproducts.com

I also saw this yesterday and thought of posting here. Of course @D.F.B beat me to it!

 

[75gmck25]

I have had very bad experience with Turtle Wax rubbing and polishing compound when trying to clean up a few spots on my black Mustang. It looked so bad that I had to go back and buy Meguirs products to fix all the fine scratches I got from using the Turtle Wax products. I will not buy Turtle Wax products again.

 

[ZRX61]

I have had very bad experience with Turtle Wax rubbing and polishing compound when trying to clean up a few spots on my black Mustang. It looked so bad that I had to go back and buy Meguirs products to fix all the fine scratches I got from using the Turtle Wax products. I will not buy Turtle Wax products again.

In the UK they have *T-Cut*. It's basically a mixture of sand & mud. It removes the first layer of paint & scratches the hell out of whats left. I've no idea why, but it's the standard go-to over there.

 

[D.F.B]

In the UK they have *T-Cut*. It's basically a mixture of sand & mud. It removes the first layer of paint & scratches the hell out of whats left. I've no idea why, but it's the standard go-to over there.

Are they still making that stuff? Things have moved soooooooo far along from when that arrived.



I guess the same applies to Nu-Finish, that stuff won't die! I guess people keep buying it.

 

[Dixie_Flatline]

I was gifted a bottle of that stuff when I was 16! We lived in a very rural area so choices were limited to what you could find on the shelf. Many years of putting slime on the dashboard and this awful tire dressing that would fling off the first time you drove anywhere. It wasn't until I moved away that I discovered a whole other world of products that didn't ****.

Finally getting some rain here, so I will have to give the vehicles a wash once it stops. Lots of grime from construction up the road, trucks coming and going leaving those massive swaths of mud on the pavement behind them. If my elbow cooperates then they will get a full detail before winter is upon us.

 

[ZRX61]

Are they still making that stuff? Things have moved soooooooo far along from when that arrived.

The original formula is apparently still sold, but they have other (less drastic) products now.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I am too old/lazy to "detail" either the exterior of interior of any of my cars (no classics) !

Salt gets into everything too ... including body panel seams. Usually the outer body is the least of my worries. But then again, I suspect not many people are cruising around Michigan with vintage show room cars ... at least if they want them to last. Michigan would be the wrong place to live with such vehicles in pristine condition.

Agree 100%. My son just bought a 1995 Mustang, here in Michigan, that IS in PRISTINE condition ! For the past 25 years (and into the future), it was a "sunny day" car. Garaged when not driven. Not a spec of rust on it. 1 in a million for Mi !

My newest vehicle in an F150. Aluminum body ! I do need to Fluid Film some of the steel under body parts (spare tire mechanism, running boards) before winter get here.

There is a new car was in town. WhiteWater Express. It is a "subscription". $10/month, unlimited car washes.



EDIT : I forgot to mention, they offer free, self service vacuums, air blow guns, towels and general purpose cleaner (works good on non-carpeted car mats).

 

[lund]

I am too old/lazy to "detail" either the exterior of interior of any of my cars (no classics) !



Agree 100%. My son just bought a 1995 Mustang, here in Michigan, that IS in PRISTINE condition ! For the past 25 years (and into the future), it was a "sunny day" car. Garaged when not driven. Not a spec of rust on it. 1 in a million for Mi !

My newest vehicle in an F150. Aluminum body ! I do need to Fluid Film some of the steel under body parts (spare tire mechanism, running boards) before winter get here.

There is a new car was in town. WhiteWater Express. It is a "subscription". $10/month, unlimited car washes.



EDIT : I forgot to mention, they offer free, self service vacuums, air blow guns, towels and general purpose cleaner (works good on non-carpeted car mats).

I bought an electric pressure washer with a decent gal per min rating and use a long wand to wash the underbody, seams, etc a few times in the spring. That helps significantly. Fluid film is good, but it is a lot of work to coat everything and then you have to touch it up a lot and redo it regularly. The roads are so awful in Michigan it is like a grit blast with salt mixed in. So no surface protection lasts long. I moved here from Cali. They did not allow road salt (water issue) and cars can last very long with no underbody rust. Plus Michigan has surreal temp cycles going from the 90s on hot summer days to well below zero and cold to hot cycles happen rapidly. This puts a lot of stress on everything including underbody paint and engine seals. In Cali if you maintain a car it can last for decades easy. Here, that is hard to get long body/frame life even with a lot of work.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The roads are so awful in Michigan it is like a grit blast with salt mixed in.

Governor Whitmer is FINALLY getting around to "fixing the damn roads" this year ! Many are multi year projects (I-696 east from I-275 and I-96 west from I-275 to Kensington Road) and may start up again in spring.

Many different branches of the the Rouge River run through the western suburbs of Detroit with many corresponding bridge. These have patches on patches on PATCHES ! Some have broken completely through ! This year and last, they are trying to REPLACE all of those bridges, all of which are over 50 years old !

It has been a LONG "orange barrel/cone" season this year ! Add in major gas line and water line replacement in my neck of the woods. Many have already closed down for the year and most that are still working will be done before the end of the year.

If your from California maybe now you will understand why some people buy a "beater" car just to drive from November through March !

 

[theoldwizard1]

Fluid film is good, but it is a lot of work to coat everything and then you have to touch it up a lot and redo it regularly.

Make sure the drain hole in the bottom of the doors are clear. Run clear water through them and low them out. Drill some small holes in the lower part of the door and after letting the moisture drain out, shoot some Fluid Film in there. Worth doing in winter even if you don't have time to flush the doors out.

Various vehicles have "hidden" pockets. You won't find a steel bodied pickup in MI more than 5 years old that doesn't have rust caused paint bubble above the rear wheel wells. Pickup rear cab corners are also notoriously bad. Rocker panels on all cars are bad.

Segue - The Chevrolet Vega was notoriously bad for rust through on the top of the front fenders within 2 or 3 years. It was so common, GM had a "customer satisfaction campaign" that would replace the fenders with the customer only paying for paint, no labor ! At that time that was less than $200 for the front two fenders !

 

[bobg03]

What is the process to remove bugs that has been on the car for years and isn't coming off easily? I haven't tried the turtle wax bug remover yet, but I did get some bug remover from Adam's Polishes, but it didn't seem to faze the baked in bugs. Before i attack it with a harsher cleaning pad, I'm open to suggestions.

It's been awhile since I owned a bike, but Harley Davidson sold a bug remover in a spray bottle in different sizes that did not harm the finish or the wax on my two custom painted CVO's or my Red Superglide.

 

[Sumboodie]

I try to wash my stuff 1-2x a year.

Blow the interiors out with the leaf blower, quick vacuum or sweep to the floors, maybe wipe down the dash and gauges with a rag and Armand All if I'm getting really ambitious.


Can't stay I've ever heard cleaning a car called "detailing". Do they also "detailing" the dishes? The toilet?

 

[67carl]

The flat front of the Rivian is a straight serial killer of bugs. Cruising back and forth to California a few weeks ago, I tried every bug cleaner known to man—Chemical Brothers junk, some highbrow concoction from AMMO that was supposed to be the best, and a **** ton of others I picked up along the way. Hell, every time I stopped to charge, I had to scrub down the windshield, so I started pre-treating with bug remover before the glass cleaner.

Shockingly, Turtle Wax outperformed everything else I tried.

In the car wash, I’d just spray it on the bug-riddled front, blast it with the wand, and boom, it was gone. So long as the bugs weren’t fossilized on there, that’s all it took.

Any experience with tree sap on paint with the Turtle wax? I had a car that got pine tree pitch on it and I used Goo Gone to remove it. It ended up taking some of the paint with it.

My Cayman has tree sap all over the front hood and I'm very reluctant to try and remove it myself. So much so I'm seriously looking at taking the car to a detailer. I wonder if having a go with the Turtle wax, gently, might be worth a try.

 

[Ryan]

Any experience with tree sap on paint with the Turtle wax? I had a car that got pine tree pitch on it and I used Goo Gone to remove it. It ended up taking some of the paint with it.

My Cayman has tree sap all over the front hood and I'm very reluctant to try and remove it myself. So much so I'm seriously looking at taking the car to a detailer. I wonder if having a go with the Turtle wax, gently, might be worth a try.

I haven’t, but I wouldn’t be scared of trying it…

 

[ATC]

Any experience with tree sap on paint with the Turtle wax? I had a car that got pine tree pitch on it and I used Goo Gone to remove it. It ended up taking some of the paint with it.

My Cayman has tree sap all over the front hood and I'm very reluctant to try and remove it myself. So much so I'm seriously looking at taking the car to a detailer. I wonder if having a go with the Turtle wax, gently, might be worth a try.

Take this for what it's worth, but I used to use rubbing alcohol on pine sap. We used to have a large pine tree over our parking area when I was younger. An old credit card (or plastic scraper) to get the bulk of the sap off, then a folded paper towel soaked with rubbing alcohol to get the residue off. Worked well with no ill affects to the paint (25+ year old vehicles...so not sure about today's paint).

 

[Dixie_Flatline]

Today was brutal. Got out there early and cut the grass, the washed the mower because I am being optimistic that I won't have to mow again this year. After that I washed the camper, which took me short of forever. Getting all the bugs off I thought would be the worst part, but it was just the fact that it's so large and tall. Well, that and I need to have surgery on my elbow so it slows me down quite a bit. In my head I was saying I will just give it a good wash right quick then put on a coat of wax so it'll look good on our upcoming trip. Yeah, not happening today!

 

[Qualitytools]

There are disk brake pads that don't create as much dust, which helps reduce cleaning and maintenance. If I remember correctly PBR deluxe is one choice that still provides good braking power.

As far as detailing products go I wish Lexol hadn't discontinued Vinylex, I really liked that stuff for tires and interior vinyl.

The other brand of brake pads that is great for low brake dust is AKEBONO.

 

[mikegt4]

The other brand of brake pads that is great for low brake dust is AKEBONO.

+1, I have been using them for 30 years, hardly any dust and they grip well too.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I’m almost ready to do my second wash of the year. Have to wait until we are seeing freezing temps for the rest of the season until spring surfaces. And then it starts all over again with another wash cycle.

 

[Squankum]

I'm not much of a shiny car guy, because mechanical things keep coming up first. But I've been a Griot's fan for decades now. Sometimes, they just have some great stuff. Sometimes, it's like they've done the shopping and have found something neat -- and you would be wise to heed their judgement, but shop hard elsewhere. (For example, I got a set of Wiha screwdrivers from them as a gift in the 90's, still using them, still love them.) Sometimes I pay a little extra to get something through them because they're one of the fading number of companies with a no-quibble lifetime warranty.

For bugs, I've heard it around that Schaeffer's Citrol is very effective on bug buildup. Check out the reviews at:

https://www.amazon.com/Schaeffer-Manufacturing-Cleaner-Industrial-Degreaser/dp/B008I6T7S4/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I've used a can or two just as a convenient degreaser. I don't know if it's any better than my usual Super Clean, but I don't have tough cleaning jobs a lot of the time. I've seen one of my fave YouTube celebrity mechanics receiving it by the multiple boxload (in the background, he did not plug.) Anyway, not cheap, but they're a nice little family owned company making greases and oils since pioneer wagon days in St. Louis, so please consider giving it a try!

 

[Squankum]

Also, more car washing ideas:

I discovered the Grit Guard maybe ten years ago, used it, then thought, if one is good, won't two in the bottom of the bucket be even better? So I got a second one.

Then I heard, just about three years ago, about the two-bucket method and felt like a complete caveman. So now I've been using a two-bucket system (rinse mitt, move to bucket two, acquire suds) and remember to use both buckets 95% of the time!

A few weeks ago I was watching an AMMONYC video where he was detailing a dirty old (but very intact) Acura NS-X and I noticed -- he had a one bucket system! And a big stack of microfiber fluffy towels. New towel, dip into suds, wipe/scrub, toss into some other tub, grab new towel for next wiping. Now that is keeping the grit to a minimum! In this era where microfiber towels grow on trees (in China) that really does make sense.

 

[Daedalus]

Take this for what it's worth, but I used to use rubbing alcohol on pine sap. We used to have a large pine tree over our parking area when I was younger. An old credit card (or plastic scraper) to get the bulk of the sap off, then a folded paper towel soaked with rubbing alcohol to get the residue off. Worked well with no ill affects to the paint (25+ year old vehicles...so not sure about today's paint).

Garage journal for the win! Google didn't make alcohol sound too promising, but based on this^ post I gave rubbing alcohol a try with some sap I found on the hood of my wife's car when washing it today. Soap/water wouldn't touch it, so I was happy to see the alcohol took it right off in about 2 seconds. Not as harsh as acetone, which would have been my the next thing to try.