just want to know the right way to wash and wax. i know there are some professionals on here and just want hints and other things like that. i want to be able to put my car in some car shows since i am the only ss up here in the seattle area that i am aware of and promote it that way. i want it supppppper clean. i do have a black ss so it is harder to keep carshow clean so if you want to start a how to do please share.
thanks a lot

 

Heres a tip:

Don't use thoes brushes at the car wash where you use the pressure washers. I scratched up my paint doign that.

 

I would recommend the "MIT" to wash your car. Look for the lambs wool one, not the carpet looking one. It is very soft and will not swirl your clear-coat. Don not use it to wash any thing else like; wheels, wheel-wells. A California Duster is also a good idea, works for interior and exterior, for daily maintance. Use top line products like Meguires for soap and for "final inspection" spray. It is like a wax, but alot easier to apply. Use micro-fiber cloths only, anything else will scratch the clear coat. These are the things that I have been using a the car looks great.

 

Well this is what I did when I first got my car:

-I washed it with Dawn dish soap
-The I used a clay bar on the whole car
-I then washed it again with Dawn dish soap to get the clay bar residue completely off
-Dried with 100% cotton bath towels from Bed bath and beyond (The $25 dollar ones, cause anything cheaper really isn't 100% cotton)
-Applied a fairly thick coat of Meguairs NXT tech wax (liquid) and let it sit overnight to completly dry
-Then took another 100% cotton towel and took the wax off the next morning. It's quite a task but the results are great!!

Then for upkeep, I just wash regularly with NXT carwash, and NXT Speed detailer. Works great!!

I do the whole waxing thing once every 3 months or so (except winter it's just too damn cold then).

Brian

 

i always use the brush at the car wash (i work there) just be sure the spray it down good before you use it

 

WOW using dish soap on your car!!! thats a sin man,lol... I do go to the car wash and use the brush but i take my time to check the brush for crap etc. Always start at the top and work ur way down, the secret is to have lots of suds that way they will lift the dirt, just shake the suds off once in awhile to keep the fresh soap comin! Always going to the same car wash is a bonus to, i've been going to the same for 5 years...

 

Why is this in Site Dev/ Help?

 

After spending a lot of time bucket washing my previous vehicles I actually splurged and bought the Mister Clean Pro Series carwash kit. This thing is amazing... it keeps the soap and water all in one convienient spray nozzle so no more running back to the bucket and sloshing water and soap all over. It also has a filter, which is great b/c we have horrible hard water here in Charlotte, which leaves spots like mad. I don't use the "Mister Clean" brand soap b/c it's way too expensive, I've found that any brand of bargain car wash soap will do (NOT dish soap).

I simply follow the instructions that came with the kit, and wash in sections (especially when the sun is out) and it's kinda hard to screw up. The auto-dry setting sprays a fine mist over the car which makes the water sheet and dry evenly so I never have to wipe the outsides of my windows. Simply wash, rinse, auto-dry, and walk away. Saves a heck of a lot of time.

As far as waxing goes I use the Meguiars (however that's spelled) NXT Generation Tech Wax. This stuff is the best and easiest wax I've ever used. Goes on easy, comes off easy, and leaves your baby silky smooth from roof to rims (yes, I wax the wheels too, helps keep off that horrible brake dust that these things seem to generate so much of). People I give rides to touch the door handle to close the door and are like "WTF is that silk??" Seriously, it's that cool.

 

Moved to appearance section.

 

Using dish soap is not bad if you are using it to remove wax off your car... its actually really effective.... Using regularly is not good...

Now using that brush.. THAT is a sin.... Its not the crap in the brush.. its the brush itself !!! Those bristles scratch the hell out of you clear coat !

 

Porter cable polisher 2474

 

I think you mean 7424...

Those are the shizzle !!

Mines broke though I gotta get a new one... the SS needs some lovin.

 

you will need a lot of supplies.

2 was mits (the good kind)
1 cheep mit
car wash soap
a bag of cloth diapers ( the best for waxing)
Mr clean auto wash if you want (it works and make it easy)
maguires detail spray
maguires wax
bucket
The Absorber (or some type of dryer)

1. Spray car down good enough to get all the big dirt off.
2. Fill bucket with soap and water
3. Do not wash in full sun!!!!!
4. Wash with first mit from top to 1/2 way down. rinse as you go
5. Wash rest except wheels. Use other cheep one for wheels
6. do final rinse.
7. Dry car with the absorber or other. Do not push down to hard.
8. Wax in small areas at a time till complete. Apply wax in small circles. Let haze. buff off with diapers or lit free cloth. Keep buffing till wax is all off and shine come back with out any wheels.
9. Clean wheels and dress tiers.
10. Clean windows.
11. Vac inside of car.
12. Damp cloth in side dash.

Your are all done.

to do it right will take almost all day.

 

I use meguire's gold class products's. But for places that have hardwater highly recommend that you wash at night or late evening. One for water spots are least likely to form and most sediments in water lines are at the lowest. I have a black SS also so I feel your pain

 

I bucket wash, not going into specifics about what tools but basically a soft clean cloth, and turtle wax car wash.

Yes using dish soap can dull your shine since it does remove wax, and using it regularly isn't a big deal if you wax it more frequently to restore what the dish soap removes. But in the long run it will dull your shine regardless of how sparsly you use it.

Just get a bottle of car wash, easy to find at autozone or something like that. Use a soft clean cloth to wash from top down. Then after the body is clean, then clean the wheels and rims.

After that I use a soft cloth, or two or three, to dry it.

No expensive cleaning toys, yet, just a little elbow grease!

 

I too have a black Cobalt (LS Sedan). I use a Mr. Clean Auto Wash System, I think it works great. The refill wash for it "IS EXPENSIVE", but it is all I've ever used in it. After reading some of these comments I'm going to try a different brand of soap, and see how it works out. I wash it at least twice a week. So, I use alot of soap.

 

The brushes at my local carwash are made of hog hair...havent scratched my cobalt yet, and its black. Just make sure the brush gets rinsed off before use and the car is good and wet. LOTS OF SOAP and everythings good....









__________________________

05 Black SS -Red Inserts
**Airbox Mod**
STAGED??......Yes Please!!!

 

I won't use automatic car washes anymore, someone in our town got their car trashed when some kids tied fishing weights onto the ends of the brushes at a car wash....and I've heard of that a couple of times....so not going there!!

 

that sh*t right there pisses me off . if i ever saw someone do that i would personally beat them wheather or not i used that carwash that just shows how f*cked up that is. . now im mad...

 

I find for drying the car after washing that micro fiber towels are much more absorbent than some of the chamois or other products.

 

1) Use a really good soap designed for car washing
2) Use micro-fiber washing mits to wash the car
3) Start from the top down when washing and do the side facing the sun last when washing and first when rinsing then drying.
4) Use an absorbent shammy to dry the car of larger amounts of water (Don't scrub with the shammy)
5) Use a micro-fiber towel to take off excess water
6) Then use a dry micro-fiber towel for the final dry process (if possible use a air compressor to push water out from cracks and lines to avoid tear drops)
7) Use a good glass cleaner and micro-fiber towel for the windows inside and out.
8) For the wheels use a spong with some soap and rinse when done.
9) Use a good tire cleaner/protectant like Black Magic and apply with a spong to the outside of the tires.
10) Use armor-all for the inside dash and panels to protect it from the sun.

 

Im pissed I went to get the Claybar but the only one left someone jacked the bar out of lol, gotta go somewhere else after work. I heard tons of people say good stuff about the mr clean autodry so I went ahead and bought that, i'll use it once i get off work

 

yeah the mr clean is aparently really good

 

Okay, you said you wanted some steps from professional detailer so here you go. We've been detailing for over 6 years so these tips come from LOTS of experience. First off we use ONLY Tropi-Care's (TC) line of car care products on all of our customers vehicles. Since you stated you wanted this as a SHOW car, also note that approximately 30% of our work is done on show only/show quality cars. We have had a great number (75% +) win in car shows after we detail their cars. So the steps I would recommend for you are:

EXTERIOR:
1. Wash car with Dawn using Microfiber Wash Mit (Use a seperate mit or wheel brush to clean wheels and wheel wells)
2. TC Clay Bar car
3. Wash with TC Premium Car Wash
4. Dry car with "TC Waffle Weave" Microfiber Drying Towel
5. Apply TC Swirl Cutter with Porter Cable #7424 and Yellow Foam Applicator Pad (or by hand with Microfiber Applicator Pad) ((IF NEEDED))
6. Buff off Swirl Cutter with Microfiber Polishing Towel (IF NEEDED)
7. Apply TC Car Polish with Porter Cable #7424 and Black Foam Applicator Pad (or by hand with Microfiber Applicator Pad)
8. Buff off Polish with Microfiber Polishing Towel
9A. (If you are going to a car show) Apply TC Premium Liquid Wax by hand using Microfiber Applicator Pad. Buff off using Microfiber Polishing Towel.
9B. Apply TC Premium Detail Spray and wipe using Microfiber Detail Towel (removes polish dust/residue and fingerprints etc)
10. Clean wheels using TC Premium Detail Spray and Microfiber Gray General Purpose Towel.
11. Dress tires using TC Premium Tire and Rubber Dressing and Tire Dressing Applicator.
12. (Optional) Dress all Rubber trim (VERY carefully) with either TC Premium Tire and Rubber Dressing or TC Leather/Vinyl Dressing and Microfiber towel.
13. Clean all glass using TC Premium Glass Cleaner and (2) Microfiber Towels
14. Polish your exhaust tip with TC Metal Polish and Microfiber Towel.

INTERIOR
1. Vacuum interior
2. Clean all rubber/plastic dash/instruments/door panels and using TC Premium Glass Cleaner and Microfiber Gray Towels
3. Dress Dash with TC Leather/Vinyl Dressing (If desired)
4. Clean leather with TC Leather/Vinyl Cleaner with Microfiber Towel (Including leather steering wheel and shifter)
5. Apply TC Leather/Vinyl Conditioner to all leather with Microfiber Applicator Pad or hands (Including leather steering wheel, door panels and shifter).
6. (Optional) Dress all Rubber trim (VERY carefully) with either TC Premium Tire and Rubber Dressing or TC Leather/Vinyl Dressing and Microfiber towel.
7. Clean all glass using TC Premium Glass Cleaner and (2) Microfiber Towels
8. Clean door/trunk jams with TC Premium Detail Spray.

Also if you're going to a show make sure you clean your engine bay. It may seem like a lot but we do almost all of this for EVERY car we detail, including daily drivers. Keep it up by at least washing it and using TC Premium Car Wash or TC Wash and Wax, and TC Premium Detail Spray about once a week.

Tropi-Care has a bucket kit you can buy that has pretty much everything you need to keep your car looking nice I would recomment the TC Deluxe Detailing Kit if you plan on taking your cars to shows. (Link Below)

If you want some picturs of cars cleaned by us/using TC please view the Photo Gallery on our website (Link Below). It's under construction so excuse the mess.

Hope this helps.

 

holy crap!
That took longer to read than it would to wash my car!

But serious, great tips!!! Thanks for such details. Is Tropi-Care's available thru retail stores? Is it really expensive?