Frequent and proper washing of your vehicle is necessary to preserving that show car shine. Classic Motoring Accessories and Proper Auto Care have been teaching proper cleaner techniques since 1988. Sadly, most swirl marks and light scratches are caused by the wash process, as grit and road grime are scrubbed against the surface. Over time these micro scratches reduce the gloss by diffusing reflected light and will thin the paint.
Products Needed For a Proper Auto Wash.
Wheel Cleaning Supplies
2 Five Gallon Wash Buckets with 2 Grit Guards
High Quality, Wax Friendly Car Soap
High Quality Wash Media such as Natural Sea Sponge, Lamb's Wool Mitt, or High Tech UltiMitt
2 Big Blue Waffle Weave Microfiber Drying Towels
Optional: Quick Detailing Spray an Bug/Tar Remover
Basics
Proper Auto Care recommends washing the wheels, tires, and wheel wheels first. This prevents wheel cleaner from spraying on a clean surface. Properly cleaning the wheels is also time consuming can lead to water spots if the rinse water from washing the car is still on the paint. For proper wheel care please click here.
It is best to wash your vehicle in the shade when the surface is cool to the touch. A hot surface will dry up the water or soap solution, leading to water spots. If you have shade available take advantage of it. If you cannot find shade, try to limit your car washing to first thing in the morning or later in the evening when the sun is close to the horizon and sun's rays are much less direct. After washing and rinsing, the standing water needs to be removed as quickly as possible to avoid leaving mineral deposits that cause water spots, which will actually etch or 'eat into' the paint.
The Two Bucket Method
Most people wouldn't drive to the beach and fill their wash bucket with a shovel full of sand before adding soap and water. Sadly, most of the dirt removed during washing is released into the soap bucket each time the mitt or sponge is reloaded with soap. After washing a couple of sections the soap solution becomes gritty and contaminated, and that grit is scrubbed against the paint. Even rinsing out the wash media after effect section is ineffective. Flowing water may remove some of the grit, but most of it is pushed back into the mitt or sponge. It is much easier, and far more effective, to use a second bucket to rinse the wash media in prior to loading it with more soap solution. Two buckets: The soap bucket and the rinse bucket.
Grit Guards ™ are an ingenious design that uses a grate and vane system to allow released dirt to sink to the bottom and prevents them from remixing into the water or soap solution. Proper Auto Care recommends using one Grit Guard ™ per bucket to give the best possible protection against scratching the paint with contaminated soap solution. When rising the wash media out in the rinse bucket, you should lightly scrub it against the grating of the Grit Guard ™ to help release grit.
Use a High Quality Car Soap Designed for Automotive Finishes.
Automotive soap is designed to remove dirty and road grime safely from the paint, with stripping the existing wax or sealant and will out scratching. Automotive soaps use surfactants to break the surface tension of water, allowing the lubricated solution to penetrate and encapsulate the dirt, reducing the potential for marring. Soap's such as Eimann Fabrik's Auto Spa and Blackfire's Gloss Shampoo are gentle enough to use repeatedly without stripping wax.
Use 5 gallon wash buckets to ensure plenty of soap solution is available to flood the dirt safely off the car. Fill the soap bucket about 4/5th's or 80% full of water before adding the recommended amount of soap to the bucket. Adding soap first results in too many suds and not enough water! Finish filling the water bucket with a stream of water to mix the solution fully. Place a Grit Guard ™ in the bottom of both the soap bucket and the rinse bucket.
Before washing, pre-rinse your vehicle with a steady stream of water to float as much dirt away as possible before getting started. Pre-treat any bugs and tar with a light mist of 1Z einszett Ant Insekt and Pre-Cleaner.
Wash with a Clean High Quality Wash Media.
Classic Motoring Accessories offers several different types of wash media: Natural Sheep Skin Mitts, Natural Sea Spongers, and the ultra soft UltiMitt, as well as various microfiber sponges and boar's hair brushes. Three of the most popular:
Sheep Skin (Lamb's Wool) Mitts are extremely soft and provide a long nap that prevents removed dirt from scouring the paint. Sheep Skin mitts require a more thorough rinse because they are so effective at holding dirt. High quality Sheep Skin mitts last about 6-12 months on average. There ability to clean paint gently and prevent swirl marks has proven through out the years.
Sea Sponges are incredibly durable if washed out after each use. I personally know of several people who have been using the same natural sponge for over 3 years!! Sea Sponges are very soft and will not paint. They also hod a lot of solution, but can be bulky and difficult to get into tight spots.
UltiMitts are a synthetic foam wash mitt, and they are my personal favorite. They release dirty extremely easily and hold a HUGE amount of soap solution, ideal for flooding the paint with soap during the wash. Proper Auto Care's UltiMitt is made out select Lake Country Concours foam, which is the softest available
Wash your vehicle a section at at time, start with the highest areas. Wash in straight lines, from front to back on horizontal surfaces such as the hood, roof, and trunk, and up and down on vertical sections such as the doors, fenders, and rear bumper to minimize the appearance of any accidental marring that may occur. Flood the section with soap water squeezed from the wash media before lightly washing the section in straight lines, rinsing with water after each section. Rinse the wash media in the rinse bucket before reloading it with more soap solution from the soap bucket.
Make it wet to dry it faster!
After washing and rinsing your vehicle a section at a time, remove the nozzle from the hose and do a final rinse with a gentle stream of water. Water has a natural viscosity, and by flooding the paint, it is possible to sheet off a majority of the standing water.
Big Blue III Microfiber Waffle Weave Drying Towels.
To remove the remaining water after flooding the paint toweling the surface is necessary. While a chamois or synthetic chamois do a great job of removing water, they lack a nap. Any dust or dirt that has settled on the paint will become trapped and rubbed against the surface. Big Blue III drying towels feature a woven microfiber that gives them the absorbency of a chamois while featuring a nap of fiber that hold any dust away from the paint. Although optional, using a detail spray such as Meguiar's M135 Synthetic Detail Spray offers many benefits during the final towel drying of the car. A light mist per panel (while it is still wet) will reintroduce some lubricity to the surface an prevent surface marring. The synthetic polymers will make the water easier to remove and clean any water spots. Wipe gently in the same directions as you washed, to minimize the appearance of any marring that may accidentally occur. Quality quick detailers will also boost the shine of the paint, helping to maintain that just waxed look!
CLIFF NOTES
Always wash when the vehicle is cool to the touch and avoid washing in direct sunlight if possible.
Pre-rinse your vehicle to remove loose soiling.
Pre-treat any bugs or tar with 1Z Anti Insekt and Pre-Cleaner
Wash, using the two bucket method with Grit Guards ™, a quality soap, an a high quality wash media. Wash in straight line motions a section at a time. Thoroughly rinse the section before moving on to the next section. Rinse the wash media in the rinse bucket often to prevent contaminating the soap solution.
After washing each section of the vehicle, do a final rinse with just a steady stream of water. This will cause the majority of the standing water to sheet off.
Dry remaining water with a Big Blue Microfiber and a detail spray such as Meguiar's M135.
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even though i have been using the 2 bucket method for about a year now (just became obsessed with detailing) i still read all these articles hoping to learn something new. and i definitely picked up a point or two from here that i will use from now on, which made this read 100% worth it. washing a car is not very hard, but scratching the surface is very easy to. great write up, thanks!
the way i wash my car is almost the same as yours. point for point except for the tar wash that i wish i had.
i also need an electric leafblower to get all the water out of the nooks.
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Cool write-up, I never really cared too much about my paint since it wasn't perfect, but now that it has a new paint job, I definitely need to get off my @$$ and get some grit guards
Thank you Hil, our Black Grit Guards are on sale for $7.99 each, item GRIT-1. Just put 2 in cart for 2 of them if more then one is needed. And if you need more supplies remember that order's over $39 bucks get free shipping (lower 48 only).
Perfect, I need to get some more sheepskin mitts. Winter doesn't stop me And the tip about removing the nozzle for the final rinse worked beautifully this past weekend. I only had to use the leaf blower on the rims and side view mirrors. Drying the rest of the car was a breeze. It snowed this morning but I'll be out there next weekend.
very good write up! ive purchased many of the products needed for when i wash, wax, and detail from proper auto care, and i absolutely love my car's finish. thank you!
How to Properly Wash your Car
And the tip about removing the nozzle for the final rinse worked beautifully this past weekend. I only had to use the leaf blower on the rims and side view mirrors. Drying the rest of the car was a breeze. It snowed this morning 
but I'll be out there next weekend.
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