My Noble Spinel Mica/Cashmere LS460L is now 8 days old, and I'm loving every minute of it. My only problem is that it shows every spec of dirt/dust. From far away, it looks great, but when you get close, and the sun hits it right, you see the accumulation of dust/dirt.

My question to the club is what is the best and easiest way to keep the car clean, without damaging the finish. Can I wipe dust away with a soft, dry cloth, or do I always need to wash it. I'm curious how others are keeping the car looking clean.

 

i used those california duster in the past, they actually work pretty damn nice, maybe you can give it a try. i would just use a soft dry cloth to wipe it, even if it's microfiber, since you can potential scratch the car or put on a swirl marks

 

Scrappy, there's an Automotive Care & Detailing Forum with very helpful threads.

I'm in the same boat (literally and figuratively), I have the Noble Spinel Mica with Cashmere interior.

 

As long as your car is clean and it's just dust than the duster works great. Keeping your car in a garage is a must for keeping the paint clean and lasting long. Check out this detailing book from Griots http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.jsp?searchtext=book This is a good book to learn how to maintain the paint. I've used all their products for years.

When my car first arrived at the dealership I had them clay the car and hand wax it with 100% carnuba wax. I hand wash my car about once a week using 3 sponges, one for the belt line up, the other for the lower car and one for the wheels. Always use 100 cotton towel or the new micro fiber to dry the car or it could scratch the paint, meaning leave swirl marks. I can go on and on but they make a total line of car care products, each one I have found is excellent.

Maguires and others make some good products but the support is not their. The best wax results is Zanio's, it's labor intense, takes 2-3 days to do the car but the result is stunning.

Good Luck....

 

the new zfx has shorten the time by a great deal. i was able to do a full detailing (wash, clay, 3 polish, and also 3 layers of wax) within a day

of all the wax i have used, zaino is not the shiniest but more long lasting, imho the best middle point. carnuba is more shiny but it doesn't last as long. maguires are daily popular stuff, they are ok.

to me most of the work is in the preping, meaning clay bar and polishing

 

If you wash your own car, there are two mandatory tools: A leaf blower with at least 200mph blowing speed to dry your car spot free, and a claybar to remove road film, tar and other environmental crap that is thrown at your car. After that, detergents, cleaners and waxes are subject to your own preference. If you like to detail the car, then a Porter Cable random orbital polisher/buffer is "de rigueur".

Don't get too **** about swirl marks - my car is black, btw. After all, it'll spend most of its life outdoors, and not coddled in your living room. If you do, then the PC buffer should keep things in check.

 

Wow, you actually use a leaf blower to dry clean? Yeah I suppose it's not possible to use distilled water to have no spots.

 

i think a lot of shops actually use it

but one note though, please be caution. make sure the room / garage where you wash the car is clean, and also that the leaf blower preferably is not used to really blow leaves. A LOT OF TIMES, those blower will have small rocks/dust, or partial leaves in them

at that HIGH speed blowing those stuff on the car, you can forget about water spots. you got scratches to deal with.

i have seen something like that before, it's much harder to deal with. and personally, i usually just dry the car as much as i can, and then drive around the block. most of the water would be drained out

 

I use ONR (Optimum No Rinse) to wash my car and MF towels to dry it. I can perform a complete exterior wash in about 15 minutes (about once a week) and with a high quality MF towel, I don't have any swirls on my paint. Using ONR is easy and fast so washing once a week is no longer a chore.

 

I purchased the leaf blower to be used exclusively for drying the car. Leaf blowers imho are a WOT doing what they were designed for, as they just spread the mess around. Much better they be used to dry a car, especially a black car. They don't look too good in the sun and need all the help you can give them to eliminate dry spots.

 

that's what i am talking about! do it right