nathantse

Car is white, probably why I don't notice the water spots. Not sure how hard the water is in my area.

vital

What's a better soap than meguiars gold class?

nathantse

I know a lot of people use Chemical Guy's, there stuff suds real good. But, it is pricey. I use Gold Glass, and its cost effective. I'm thinking about giving Meg's Wash & Wax a try though.

blkisf7

I'd recommend Adam's Polishes Car Shampoo. I buy it buy the gallon and use about 3 ounces in my foam cannon and 1 in my bucket. High end detailing products are definitely a bit more expensive but well worth the higher upfront cost. If not, buy any PH- Neutral soap but my personal favorite is Adam's and I have been detailing my own cars for a long time. Chemical Guys is more of an amateur brand IMO; all marketing with pretty bad videos.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Unless you live in the very northern part of CA, your water will be hard. I get a reading of 250-300ppm in my area and got major water spotting when someone accidentally sprayed water onto my car without me knowing. It etched into my car's coating and didn't go away with washing. Had to use water spot remover, Look closely at your paint and you should be able to see whether you have water spots.

Chrispies

Electric 1600psi pressure washer and generic foam cannon.

SwiftIS

Actually, same product. I was there when Adam's started and knew Chemical Guys made relabeled products for Adam's, same for Smartwax. This was before anyone knew anything about CG...except the commercial/professional detailers.

CG got smart and blew up in sales when they started promoting their own products.



As for me, two bucket w/ cyclone dirt traps. Occasional foam cannon with CG products.

nathantse

I live in the Bay Area lol. I'll have to double check when I wash my car.

Any who, I'm always don't trust myself when it comes to drying. I feel like I will be scratching the paint as a dry. And I would like to say I use pretty good quality towel too. (Meg's Water Magnet, cost me like $8 each)

klycambo

When you use it, do you get a lot of foam or its kind of runny with the electric pressure washer?

EMOgs3

I use chemical guys honeydew foam soap. The more soap u use the more foam it is. But you only need a little bit of the soap and the rest water

Chrispies

I've only used it twice now, and not with the recommended soap. I have a gallon of the Chemical Guys CWS_101 Maxi-Suds II laying around I want to use up. Still figuring out soap/water ratio, and also adjustment of the cannon's valve. It's been on the runny side but i think with more soap and the right setting it should get a good amount of foam next time. The prewash with the pressure washer does knock off the majority of the dirt, bugs, etc. I'll try and get some photos next time I wash my car.

premier3IS

thank me later

best microfibers I have ever used, someone recommended me these, never even thought of getting anything else after using these. trust me, worth every penny.

Aeromotive

Garry Dean wash method using Optimum No Rise and then drying with extra thick microfiber (pat dry, not dragging). Two keys to success :

1) Do not introduce dirty towels to clean water (even with 2 buckets, grit guard and mitt it can happen). In my wash method I use 20-ish microfiber towels that I discard after only one use.
2) Never drag a drying towel across the paint, no matter how confident you are with your wash. Pat drying is best.

nathantse

Thanks! How water absorbent are these though? They aren't marketed as drying towels.

I also heard that using detailer spray or quick wax drying will decrease the chance of scratching as well as leaving some protectant?

SwiftIS

That is true. You can use any spray wax/sealant during drying. I'm a huge fan of CG V7 hybrid during drying. Buy the gallon